Development and Communications Intern

Development & Communications Intern

Position Description

THE ORGANIZATION 

Kakenya’s Dream seeks to empower and motivate young girls through education to become agents of change and to break the cycle of destructive cultural practices in Kenya, such as female genital mutilation and early forced marriage. These future leaders will improve their community, their nation, and the world. We challenge ourselves to come up with the best educational system for young African girls and we promise to share our models with others. 

Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya is a leading advocate for girls’ education and empowerment. Surviving female genital mutilation and avoiding an arranged marriage as a child, Dr. Ntaiya went on to become the first woman from her community to go to college in the US. She founded Kakenya’s Dream to continue paving the way for the next generation of women leaders in her community. 

THE POSITION

Kakenya’s Dream is seeking a paid development & communications intern to support external communications and fundraising, and ensure that in-house operations run efficiently and effectively by supporting the administrative staff as needed. This person will contribute as an active member of cross-organization teams, working collaboratively with other staff to advance program and organizational goals. 

This person must be detail-oriented, creative, and a strong writer, and should be interested in working in a fast-paced environment in a mission-focused organization. This position will help tell and share the story of our work, our girls, teachers, and wider community in Kenya with our global audience. 

Responsibilities 

Development Support (50%)

• Conduct prospect research on individual and institutional funders.
• Work with the development team to support individual giving fundraising efforts, including incorporating student stories into written fundraising campaigns, drafting appeal language, and developing content for funder reports.
• Assist development team with fundraising campaign mailings.
• Conduct relevant research to bolster grant applications and for compelling communications and grant narratives.
• Assist with donor stewardship, including updating donor info and mailing thank you cards, and with gift processing, such as printing and mailing acknowledgement letters.
• Support outreach and travel logistics for upcoming fundraising events or trips as needed.
• Assist in backfilling donor information from archival documents into the organization’s CRM database. 
• Other development and fundraising tasks as requested.

Communications Support (40%)

• Draft 1-2 blogs each month for the website.
• Assist with day to day social media content creation focused on thought leadership and program updates from the field. 
• Create regular round-ups of relevant global news and issue reports for staff.
• Support content creation (drafting copy, video editing, designing graphics), planning, and execution for campaigns as needed.
• Other communications tasks as requested.

General Admin (10%)

• Sorting files, data entry and quality control, etc.

Qualifications

Required:

• Current or recently graduated undergraduate or graduate student.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Creative writing/storytelling and social media experience.
• Self-starter with the ability to work independently with minimal supervision and take ownership of certain projects.
• Ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to work in an ever-changing and fast-paced environment. 

Additional Desired Qualifications:

• Cultural sensitivity and basic understanding of child protection mechanisms and standards as it relates to external communications. 
• Nonprofit and/or fundraising background.
• Video editing and graphic design experience.
• International experience or knowledge, especially related to East Africa, education, violence against women/girls, and/or empowering girls preferred. 

Position Details

• This internship will be hybrid in-office and remote. Must be able to commute to our office in Arlington, VA, U.S. 
• Approximately 20 hours per week. Schedule can be flexible pending supervisor approval, but must be during regular business hours and consistent week to week. 
• Start and end dates are flexible, roughly January to May with the opportunity to extend through the summer if it’s a good fit on both sides. 
• $17.50/hr compensation.
• Please email resume, cover letter, and a creative writing or blog sample to jobs@kakenyasdream.org. Please title and your name in the subject line: “Internship, Your Name.”
• Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. 

Kakenya’s Dream is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons without regard to race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age (40 or older), military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, citizenship status, or any other factor protected by federal, state, or local law. For more information, please visit us at www.kakenyasdream.org.