Jobs.

Summer Intern Opportunity: Apply by Sunday, March 30, 2025

Job Title: Academic Intern (Unpaid)
Reports to: Director of Policy & Advocacy 
Eligibility: Must be in an enrolled academic program and be able to receive academic credit.
Start Date: Rolling start aligned with Fall/Summer/Spring semesters

About the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice 

The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) is a ground-breaking and growing criminal justice reform organization.

RBIJ supports organizers, advocates, and campaigners in the criminal justice reform space by bringing the voices of businesses, financial sector actors, and trade representatives to the table. Our work is designed to champion fairness, equality, and effectiveness in systems of punishment; to end mass incarceration and the collateral consequences of a criminal record; and to stop extreme sentencing. We do this by combining a network of issue experts and community-based organizations with the social capital, influence, and internal capacity of businesses and their leaders. Our work falls into three broad categories:

1. Reform Justice Systems: We help businesses use their voice, platforms, and leverage to move critical criminal justice reform initiatives at both the state and federal level through both public and private advocacy. Since our founding, RBIJ has worked in 20 states across nearly a dozen policy reform areas, including Clean Slate, bail reform, expanding access to occupational licenses, ending Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) sentencing, death penalty abolition, and more.

2. Reframe Narratives: We build and entrench the narrative that fair and equal systems of justice are good for business. Our communications help engage businesses, promote awareness of us and our programs, drive narratives that employers and investors care about justice issues and justice-involved individuals, and provide invaluable support to campaign partners on the ground. RBIJ’s work has been featured in CNN, Forbes, Vice, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, The Independent, The Hill, and state publications across the country.

3. Restore Communities: We work with businesses to ensure systemic change is translated into real-life impact for justice-involved individuals. We believe that businesses are essential stakeholders in the implementation phase of criminal justice reform and that companies’ internal policies and practices must match their advocacy. We work with companies to address their supply chains, investments, and recruitment practices so they can be effective partners in rebuilding and restoring communities that inequitable systems of justice have disproportionately impacted.

About the Role 

RBIJ is seeking student interns to gain field experience and to work alongside RBIJ's international team in a hybrid work environment. The interns will support the organization's engagement with the business community in advancement of the activities described above. The ideal candidates are dynamic and entrepreneurial, seeking opportunities to develop their interests and experience in criminal justice reform or corporate social responsibility. The interns will have opportunities to develop their skills in campaign planning and execution, legislative research, and day-to-day operations of a policy and advocacy organization.

Responsibilities 

Policy & Advocacy team interns will gain valuable experience through the following supervised duties: 

• Assist in the planning and execution of ongoing justice reform campaign efforts through extensive mapping of businesses, trade associations, and their leaders in each state in which we work.

• Conduct research and prepare internal memoranda about the general political, economic, and criminal justice reform landscape in identified states, notably those that are new to RBIJ.

• Monitor federal and state legislation on priority criminal justice reform issue areas in identified priority states and/or on issues across the country.

• Track and prepare internal memoranda on executive orders that impact the business community and/or the U.S. criminal justice reform landscape.

• As needed, help identify and conduct research on criminal justice reform issues that are new to RBIJ.

• Support the day-to-day operations of their team to track progress across a variety of deliverables.

• On occasion and under the direction of the relevant team, assist in organizing in-person and virtual convenings (such as conferences, roundtables, and webinars).

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Requirements 

• Must be able to satisfy school credit during the internship.

• Currently enrolled in an accredited college or university degree program. RBIJ will verify enrollment prior to start date.

• Demonstrated interest in criminal justice reform and/or increasing economic inclusion.

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work well in a team.

• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage competing deadlines and quick-turnaround deliverables.

• Entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to think creatively, be a self-starter.

• Ability to work on a distributed team in a remote environment.

• Commitment to RBIJ’s mission and goals (available on our website here) is essential.
  
  

How to Apply

To apply please submit (1) a one-page cover letter detailing your interest in RBIJ, its work, and the position, and (2) your resume (combined into one pdf) to: applications@rbij.org no later than Sunday, May 30, 2025.

Candidates who perform well in preliminary interviews may be asked to submit a writing sample and/or respond to a prompt to assess their critical thinking and communications abilities.

Compensation, Benefits, and Location 

RBIJ is seeking an intern who will gain school credits for this role. RBIJ will work with the candidate and school/program to make appropriate arrangements and meet established requirements. This is an unpaid internship, with no benefits, and with no promise of employment following the conclusion of the internship.

RBIJ is an international organization with a hybrid work environment. We are flexible with the location of the post-holder, although applicants based in New York, NY and Washington, DC will have the opportunity to work alongside other members of the team. Applicants must be actively enrolled in an accredited college or university degree program for the full duration of the internship (proof of enrollment required).

RBIJ is a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy.

RBIJ and NEO Philanthropy are an equal opportunity employer and candidates from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. We especially encourage justice-involved individuals and those with family members impacted by the justice system to apply.

We respect and value a positive work-life balance and we strive to offer opportunities for growth and self-fulfillment while working with us.