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.
