Summer 2025: Youth Intern *Unpaid*

IRC BACKGROUND: Founded in 1933, the IRC is a leading organization providing relief, protection, and resettlement services for refugees and victims of oppression throughout the U.S. IRC in San Diego has resettled over 31,000 refugees to San Diego County over the past 50 years and provides numerous program services. In San Diego, the IRC opened its doors in 1975 and has grown to serve approximately 7,000 refugee and immigrant individuals from 115 countries of origin each year through 5 different departments.

SCOPE OF INTERNSHIP: IRC San Diego has operated Youth Programs in San Diego County since 1996, helping more than 300 refugee youth every year successfully stay in school, graduate, and transition to college or a career. The Youth Department's focus is on newly arrived refugee and immigrant youth who may have experienced trauma and continue to navigate a great deal of stress through the process of acculturation and language acquisition. During the summer, IRC's Youth Department facilitates summer programming to support students develop social emotional assets, acculturation, and plan for their future.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Youth Summer Interns will be responsible for supporting summer programming. Interns will assist Youth Program Department staff with program development, program implementation, administration, and field trip support as relevant. All Youth Program Department work is focused on the development of social emotional assets in the areas of Brain Building, Emotion Regulation, Positive Social Skills, Conflict Resolution and Perseverance. Interns will learn how to facilitate programming in a trauma informed, culturally responsive manner; and learn how to cultivate an equitable, welcoming environment.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Interns will assist in implementing weekly summer programming.

1. Interns will learn how to coordinate engaging, skill-building leadership activities for high school students using trauma-informed and culturally/linguistically responsive practices.

1. Intern will be able to provide basic program management support included but not limited to intake, data entry, lesson planning and group program facilitation

REQUIREMENTS: Currently enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate of certificate program. Must be living in San Diego, CA and comfortable working in person. Must have reliable transportation. Must have availability Monday - Thursday between the hours of 9am and 3pm at least twice per week. Schedule will vary by program site (City Heights or El Cajon). Experience working with youth, refugees and/or English Language Learners ages 13 - 18 is a plus. Experience working in a diverse, multi-cultural setting is a plus. Able to commit 10 - 20 hours per week through August 9th 2025. Bilingual or multilingual strongly preferred in Pashto, Farsi/Dari, Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, Haitian Creole, or other common refugee languages is preferred.

This position reports to the Youth Program Specialist.

COMPENSATION: This is an unpaid internship opportunity.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT: The IRC Youth Department offers a collaborative and diverse work environment designed to help interns gain insight on various refugee and immigrant issues and support the systems that enable them to thrive. The youth internship fosters creativity and leadership skills, encouraging interns to think outside the box and bring new ideas to the table. The pace of work can vary based on weekly activities. Adaptability and time-management are key to success in this role.

• The Youth Internship is in-person at the San Diego office.

• San Diego Office hours are scheduled Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm PST. Selected interns can choose their hours based on this window of availability.