Youth Safeguarding & Autonomy Intern

About the role#

Ashoka is seeking a proactive intern to support the Youth Safeguarding team. This role focuses on the intersection of safety, youth agency, and systems change. You will contribute to a growing field that rethinks how youth-serving organizations create environments that prioritize trust, autonomy, and shared responsibility over restriction.

What you'll do#

• Support the design and improvement of Youth Safeguarding and Youth Autonomy trainings to ensure they are practical and engaging.
• Lead updates to the Youth Autonomy Toolkit, incorporating lived experience and feedback from young people.
• Conduct research on the insurance landscape for youth-serving organizations, including trends and policies that shape definitions of risk and safety.
• Identify opportunities to influence the field by mapping strategies that frame youth agency as a strength.
• Engage with educators, partners, and young people to gather insights and test new ideas.
• Contribute to internal strategy discussions, synthesis documents, and external-facing materials.

What you'll need#

• Strong research and writing skills with the ability to synthesize complex ideas into actionable insights.
• Comfort working independently in a remote environment while collaborating across a distributed team.
• A willingness to learn from young people as co-leaders.
• Interest in challenging assumptions regarding risk, safety, and control in youth development.
• Ability to work in ambiguous situations and translate ideas into concrete outcomes.
• Pursuing or holding a background in Psychology, Political Science, Sociology, Human Resources, or Public Health.

Location & details#

• Location: Arlington, Virginia (On-site).
• Commitment: At least 30 hours per week with flexible scheduling.
• Status: This is an unpaid, full-time internship. Ashoka can support requirements for university-based paid internship programs.
• Requirements: Must be based in the United States and able to pass a background check.