Read our interns testimonials below!

 Clara Roberts, Rice University

Summer 2013

During my time at the League, I’ve had the opportunity to work with different departments on diverse projects, including authoring blog posts, designing handouts, coordinating with event venues, making website updates and researching for the advocacy department. In addition to direct professional experience, the League internship also allowed me to glean a better understanding of the day-to-day work of non-profits and grassroots organizations.

Staff members were unconditionally friendly, helpful, and eager to share their experiences. Though lively, the office environment is also relaxed and the internship provides the flexibility to allow students to explore the nation’s capital during their time in DC. The position not only accommodates for external experiences, it also provides opportunities to attend events for the League. One highlight of my time here was having the opportunity to ask Representative John Lewis about his opinion on the Voting Rights Act Supreme Court case and then reporting on his response. A second highlight was attending the League’s biennial National Council, where I was able to meet state and local League leaders from across the country and hear about their passionate efforts to improve our democracy.

I encourage potential applicants to read about the League’s long history and its multifaceted and fruitful policy efforts. Perhaps the most significant benefit of a League internship is the assurance gained from contributing to an organization that has integrity and a deep history of fighting for the public good. Through this position, I was able to gain tangible work experience, exposure to non-profit and advocacy work, connections to dedicated and successful co-workers, and a sense of fulfillment. 

 

 Sam Pevear, Connecticut College

 Summer 2013

 Through my studies at Connecticut College I have found my passion in the fields of Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies. I felt as if I was walking through my majors without a clear sense of  where they could take me. Luckily that changed with the opportunity to intern at the League.  I was able to meet multiple women who had majored in Gender and Women’s Studies, which boosted my  confidence in my academic pursuits with an added drive.

Everyone made sure to make me part of the group while keeping me in the loop with events happening in and out of the office. My first week in DC I was able to attend a lecture with Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis. During my time here, I sat in on many meetings, such as one with women from Kosovo who were looking for advice on how to successfully integrate democracy into their own country.

The League of Women Voters is a community I feel honored to have become a part of. The passion within all of the members of this organization is palpable from the national to local level. Everyone understands that the role they play is significant, and I appreciated them taking time out to thank me for every task I did. Overall I got a better sense of how an NGO operates on a grassroots level, and can honestly say this experience has provided me with a spark to delve further into the possibility of pursuing a career in the nonprofit world. I can not thank all of the members of the League enough for affording me with such an invaluable experience

 

 Bethany White, University of Warwick, United Kingdom

 Spring 2013

 Interning at the League of Women Voters has been an incredibly valuable experience. As an international student with only three months in DC I wanted to make the most of what the city has to offer.  My aim was to secure an internship that reflected my interests, but also one that challenged me and provided me with the opportunity to get involved with varied work. I applied to many positions, but  the important work that the League does and the friendliness and commitment of the staff made it easy to make a decision about where I wanted to spend my time as an intern. The League has fulfilled all the hopes I had for my experience interning in Washington. It has been enlightening and exciting to work in a nonprofit environment in which everyone is committed to a mutual goal—improving democracy and advocating for important issues. Over the course of my internship I have been fortunate enough to work with most of the League’s departments, including Membership, Development, and Communications. This has provided me with a strong working understanding of how a national organization operates on all fronts. It has also given me insight into the strengths and challenges of organizing people at a grassroots level, as the League does across the country, and the degree to which thousands of people working and mobilizing locally can have such an impact on a national scale. The projects I worked on at the League were interesting and varied, from conducting research to working with Twitter and Facebook to helping organize events. The staff members I have been lucky enough to work with have all been incredibly friendly and helpful, and consistently appreciative of the work that I contributed.

All in all, my internship has struck a perfect balance between developing my abilities to contribute to the League’s work while also giving me substantial new skills and knowledge about the political processes in this country. The League has a great history and reputation that I feel very fortunate to have been part of.  I could not imagine a better internship experience for anyone interested in democracy, advocacy, or working for a nonprofit.

Vegard Tveito, University of Oslo, Norway
Fall 2012
At an internship bazaar at American University I met Sarah Peterson and Sara Sanders, representatives for the League of Women Voters. They were so friendly and interested that I felt very comfortable talking with them. Not only was the League a non-partisan organization advocating voting, and perusing issues that I myself cared about, they were also looking for an intern that could do digital content and social media, which was just what I was looking for. A couple days later I secured the internship, and I was very relieved.

The work I have done for the League of Women Voters has been multifaceted, interesting and enjoyable. Most of all I have enjoyed the work environment. Every single person has been friendly and thankful for the work that the other interns and I have done. No matter how small a task, I always receive positive feedback, which makes it a joy to come in to work. I am also always invited to any meeting that relates to the work I do, where I can see what I am doing means for the League in the bigger picture. This serves as a great motivation.

Sarah and Sara have done a great job of providing me with work from different departments, as well as inviting me to go to events outside the office to learn more about the issues that the League of Women Voters fight for. They have struck a balance between utilizing my skills for the League, so I am actually contributing to the organization, while also making sure that I am learning about the League and Washington D.C on a whole.  Interning for the League of Women Voters has provided a great opportunity and experience for me personally, and my respect for the Leagues work has only grown in the time I have been here. It has been great.     

Catherine Makoski, Moravian
Fall 2012
As I was making my decision regarding which internship to take for this semester, I considered why I had come to Washington in the first place. I was here for this semester because it was to be an exciting one, given that the race for the presidency would be coming to an end, and I was here to study activism and public policy. It seemed as though an internship with the League of Women Voters was the best way to immerse myself in all of this.

As someone with a background in journalism and politics, I was very much interested in an organization which made unbiased information free and accessible for the purpose of bettering our system of democracy.  I also appreciated that through our efforts to increase voter turnout, we were sending out a message of personal empowerment and efficacy—that each individual is responsible for participating in the political process and can accomplish something by doing so.

What I most enjoyed about my time as an intern for the League of Women Voters was being able to feel as though I was helping my country as a whole by providing services to individual leagues and individual citizens. It was very rewarding to have been able to connect with individuals on National Voter Registration Day and the week of Election Day. Moreover, I was able to use some of the information and skills which I had accrued through my internship to help my friends and roommates register on time and send in their absentee ballots. I appreciate that so much of what I learned here is directly applicable to my personal life and my studies.

I also was able to learn a lot about community organizing by studying the hierarchy of local leagues, state leagues, and the national league. This was very interesting to me. I was impressed by how active certain local leagues were in setting up public forums to discuss candidates and issues. I also enjoyed sitting in on webinars in which we as the national league were able to coordinate with state and local leagues in order to improve certain aspects of the organization and its mission overall. This allowed me to gain a lot of insight on how nonprofit organizations of this kind are structured and how to mobilize individuals at a grassroots level in order to have significant influence at any level of government.

Cristine Lovato, University of Redlands
Fall 2012
I have always been fascinated by elections, when I was 8 years old I can remember sitting in front of the television screen with my notebook out, recording the number of electoral votes for George W. Bush and Al Gore, respectively. When it came to studying in Washington, DC for a semester, I knew I wanted to be here during fall 2012 so I would have the opportunity to be immersed in the election. An internship at the League of Women Voters was a no brainer.

As I began researching potential internships, I stumbled upon the League of Women Voters. It combined many of the issues I have found crucial during election sessions – educating the American public of the issues.

I have loved my time at the league! I have been able to work on projects that I feel really benefit the organization. Perhaps my favorite project of the semester has been working on tweets to celebrities encouraging them to encourage their followers to use VOTE411 for their election questions. The response we received was amazing.  

I would recommend this internship to anyone even slightly considering it. The office environment is so comfortable and everyone in the office is warm and friendly. I’m grateful for the time I’ve had at LWVUS.

Sharon Burk, American University
Fall 2011
I would recommend interning at the League of Women Voters because in the time that I worked there, I did not feel like an intern. Even though I was a first semester freshman at the time, I felt that all of the work I did had purpose and was helpful to the functioning of the organization. Not once did I feel that I was given meaningless busywork, which says a lot about how the League values their interns. I felt very welcomed by all of the staff in the office, which made my time interning all the more enjoyable. I was able to approach all of the staff if I had a question about a project and never felt like I was bothering them. Overall, I feel that being able to apply my experiences interning at the League of Women Voters will benefit me greatly in the future.

Leah Koechlin, American University
Fall 2011
After interning with the League of Women Voters I have gotten a feel for the amount of work that goes into any non-profit organization.  I could not have asked for a better internship.  The group that works with the League is truly an incredible mix of smart and hard working people.  I found that each person that I came across was very passionate about the work they were doing.  As an intern, I was included in staff meetings and was given opportunities to attend events.  Everyone was very dedicated to making sure the work had depth and the interns in turn were getting real life experience from the internship.  It made everything I did more meaningful knowing that there was an end goal and voters would be becoming more educated.  The mission of the League is an extremely valuable one that I was happy to be a part of.  The work that was given to me all had purpose, there was almost no busy work, it all felt important.  The League of Women Voters is a great place to intern.  I feel lucky to have picked such a great organization and to have gotten as much out of it as I did. 

Safia Razzuqi, George Washington
Summer 2010
My internship at the League has been such a learning experience. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. The League truly wants to involve and engage its interns by integrating them into meetings and projects. The staff is always willing to answer any questions and there is never a shortage of substantial work. My most rewarding projects involved research on the National Popular Vote and writing a grant report on climate change for Oxfam America. I have acquired valuable skills and met dedicated people along the way!

Emily Carlton, University of California, Berkeley
Summer 2010
Interning at the League has been an awesome experience! I got to do a serious research projects on topics like access to Online Voter Registration for young, minority and poor communities, and shady election practices in Georgia, but it was all in the context of a relaxed, fun environment. Everyone at the League made me feel welcome and appreciated, and I was always happy to go to work in the morning. If you aren't into the stuffy, formal setting of Capitol Hill and other government organizations, the League is the way to go!

Carol Felicio, George Washington University
Summer/Fall 2011
I chose to intern at the league because I wanted to figure out a career path for myself. As a Psychology major at the George Washington University, I was unsure as to what career I would enter after college. I thought working for a public advocacy group founded in feminist beginnings would be a great place to start because both of those subjects interest me and they were a break away from all the psychology classes I had been taking. I quickly learned that the league is more focused on advocating for minorities, rather than solely for women, and their main areas of interest are voter registration and identification. As a part of the Elections division, I was able to learn more about the redistricting process taking place around the country and work with people who are genuinely invested in making sure every voice is heard. In fact, all of the research I did for the league instilled a sense of civic duty that I was lacking before. It helped me realize where my true interests lie and I am now a Human Services major. I sincerely believe working at the League of Women Voters can be a life changing experience if you go into it with a passion for public advocacy and a desire to learn. I got out of it what I put into it and it truly made a lasting effect on my future.

Clairmine Cyrise, Florida Atlantic University
Summer 2011
My internship at the League of Women Voters of the United States was inspiring, informative and enjoyable. The staffs were always helpful, courageous and cheerful. The environment was pleasing and comfortable. The other interns were respectful, amusing and helpful on my projects when I asked them for comment. Working with the League I get the experience of having a professional and a personal side of the staffs. I have learned a great amount of skills while working with the League. I have learned great details of information while doing research projects for the League.