Internships / Fellowships

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Serve Your People, Secure Your Future

An internship with NCAI offers a unique opportunity for young leaders from throughout Indian Country to be on the front lines of legislative action and policy development from within the oldest, largest, and most representative organization of tribal governments.

In order to ensure opportunities for participation by the wealth of emerging young talent in Indian Country, NCAI offers the following options:

Students enrolled in institutions of higher learning are invited to apply for semester or summer-long internships (for which most institutions will offer college credit), with one to two applicants selected for each term;
Applicants with a college degree or equivalent experience are invited to apply for eleven-month fellowships (for which a stipend and benefits will be available through the Youth Leadership Endowment), beginning the first week of September each year, with two to three applicants selected to serve annually.

All interns and fellows will be selected through an application and interview process.

We challenge Tribes and individuals to contribute to the NCAI Youth Leadership Endowment, which will be used to provide ongoing support for the intern and fellowship program. Tribes may also opt to directly sponsor an intern or fellow through a direct arrangement with the individual and NCAI.

We challenge young leaders to consider applying for an NCAI intern or fellow position. The NCAI intern and fellowship program will include legislative, development, administrative, and grassroots outreach elements. Each intern or fellow will participate in one of the legislative issue teams, and will be considered full-time members of the NCAI staff for the duration of their appointment.

Specific duties for each intern or fellow will vary, depending on the nature of the legislative issues being addressed, the experience each brings to the position, and the individual working style of the legislative team. Responsibilities may include the following:

Advocacy - Attending committee hearings and meetings of coalitions and interest groups that work on topics related to NCAI priorities; tracking legislation of concern to tribal nations; communicating with congressional offices under the direction of NCAI Governmental Affairs staff; contacting NCAI member tribes and supporters when key legislative activity arises; responding to general information inquiries as requested; participating in staff meetings and discussions; preparing legislative updates; and performing additional duties to support NCAI's work.
Research - Studying background material, keeping up on current developments in assigned areas; reading government documents, committee reports, non-governmental organizations' materials, and relevant articles; maintaining current issue files; surveying information, opinions, and attitudes of various sources via telephone or correspondence; and occasional library research.
Writing - Preparing drafts of articles for print and electronic publications and other background documents in the assigned areas of work; and correspondence as needed.

Applications are being accepted now for semester internships and for eleven-month fellowships beginning in September 2007. For more information or to request an internship application, please contact Nketia Agyeman (nagyeman@ncai.org) at NCAI or (202) 466-7767.

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National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
1301 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 200, Washington D.C. 20036
Phone: (202) 466-7767, Fax: (202) 466-7797
Email: ncai@ncai.org