Lily interned with the D.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club in Spring 2021. As a non-political science major, she was wary of the utility that IIW might offer her, but found that she was granted an invaluable introduction to the non-profit world in D.C.
As an Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability major (ESES), and a minor in public relations, I didn’t know if IIW was the right program for me. Normally, when I think of careers in D.C., I think about campaigning for politicians and political think tanks. However, there are way more options for my career path than I initially thought.
I am currently working remotely as an Environmental Policy Intern for the D.C. chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental grassroots advocacy non-profit organization. I was able to obtain this internship by emailing the Chapter Chair of the organization. When searching for an internship, I would recommend emailing individual people rather than simply submitting your resume through LinkedIn because it is easier to make an individual impression that way.
[Lily and Amanda on a Google Meet for interns at the D.C. Chapter of the Sierra Club.]
The unique part about my internship with Sierra Club is that it is 100% volunteer based and run. This internship has served as both a great learning experience and networking opportunity because I am meeting many people in the D.C. area who work in paid positions in the environmental industry. This internship involves communicating with many different stakeholders, writing and editing pieces for the chapter newsletter, as well as developing a comprehensive legislative agenda on a variety of important environmental justice issues pertaining to the D.C. area. Although the internship is remote due to COVID, I believe it has allowed me to become more familiar with the D.C. non-profit landscape.
Throughout my internship, I was able to work four different committees within the chapter on a wide array of projects. I attended D.C. Council meetings on behalf of the Clean Energy Committee and took notes on the environmental justice subjects they were interested in as well as helping to organize a large data set categorizing clean energy buildings in D.C. I also worked heavily with the Zero Waste Committee by helping their subcommittee, the Single-Use Plastic Committee plan and execute the first webinar in a series on takeout containers. This project was super exciting because webinars are a new form of event planning that a lot of jobs require these days. I am so grateful for this experience because now I can confidently plan my own webinar at my next job!
Since I am a public relations minor, I made clear from the beginning that I would love to help out with chapter communications. The organization has been very mindful of my personal interests and have constantly included me in all aspects of the communications efforts on behalf of the chapter. For each event I was involved with, I was in charge of the social media and largely responsible for outreach efforts to various stakeholders. I also wrote one chapter for the newsletter and helped other people edit their newsletter submissions.
[A flyer Lily designed for a webinar that she helped organize.]
Overall, I loved my internship with the Sierra Club because everyone I worked with was extremely kind and generous with their time, especially when they are all volunteers! The best part about my internship was that I was able to get involved with any project that interested me. At first, I was a bit disappointed that it was “unpaid,” but I would honestly recommend applying for unpaid internships because they can be very rewarding if you can afford them. There are less harsh expectations which also tends to lead to more flexibility within your internship in terms of project involvement etc. Everyone at the Sierra Club has been extremely supportive and helpful throughout my internship and I would recommend IIW to everyone considering an internship in college- even if it isn’t a traditional political one!