United Religions Initiative Fellowship
Description:
The goal of the 2010 summer fellowship in Online Resources and Community Organizing is to support URI’s 10th Anniversary initiative, a 72-Hour Global Celebration Through Service (www.uri.org/anniversary), through online outreach that leverages the growing interest in peacebuilding, youth, the environment and interfaith cooperation in general, as well as URI’s 10th Anniversary milestone.
Under the supervision of the Manager of Special Projects and guidance from the program
staff in the areas of peacebuilding, youth, the environment, and development, the Intern will reach out to URI members, friends and press, primarily by e-mail and the web, coordinate the moderators of blogs and forums related to global topics and service projects, facilitate online community activities, organize digital resources so that they can be accessed by theme or project, and document the processes and progress for others who may take up these roles after the fellowship is completed.
Depending on the skills and talents of the particular individual(s) considered for this fellowship, the following responsibilities will be adjusted to maximize the experience and the final products of their work.
Reach out to URI members, friends and press, primarily by e-mail and the web. Conduct an initial online survey of URI Cooperation Circles that can be sent out periodically to discover CC members who are interested in the environment and peacebuilding; track
responses and the responders’ contact information. Also, track and follow-up with CC
members who identify service projects to be highlighted or initiated for URI’s anniversary.
Follow-up will include asking those who express interest in the global topics and service
projects if they would moderate those areas on the online community and then guiding them in those responsibilities.
Coordinate the moderators of blogs and forums related to global topics and service
projects: Help moderators to set up blogs and forums to support themes and service
projects; coordinate introductions of members; moderate discussions to make sure it is
relevant and in line with the guidelines; energize the discussion weekly with thoughtful posts and invite stories of the participants in action around the global topics or projects.
Facilitate online community activities: Plan, coordinate, schedule, publicize and support
periodic open community activities, such as live chats on the global topics, where experts in the field and participants are invited to share their stories.
Organize online resources so that they can be accessed by theme or project: Collect,
compile and create resource material relevant to the global topics; post resource material on the website and share them via the blogs and forums; update with fresh content periodically.
Document the processes and progress for others who may take up these roles after
the Internship is completed: Summarize and tag all activities for future reference.
Skills Required:
- A natural networker who has a mind for connecting ideas, people and resources.
- Comfort and ease with online communication (social networks, blogging and e-mail).
- Training and/or experience in multimedia management (video conversion and basic editing), OR public relations, OR electronic library/archive organizing.
- Solid writing, editorial, and verbal communication skills.
- Organizational skills with attention to detail.
- Superior interpersonal skills with sensitivity and the ability to project professional
- competence and personal maturity.
- Independent, creative and critical thinking with common sense.
- Team-oriented, task-oriented and performance-driven.
- Ability to take initiative and follow direction as appropriate to the task.
- Knowledge of other cultures and languages is a plus.
- Willingness to take on tasks as needed to help fulfill URI’s Purpose.
Unique Opportunities this internship Provides:
URI is very grassroots in its nature—which is not always easy to do as a growing global organization! The founder and executive director work in the global office and the fellow(s) would have regular access to them, as well as the other staff. Working directly with the project manager, the fellow(s) will gain experience with some aspects of organizing a global event. Working directly with the Global Assembly teams, the fellow(s) would also be able to connect with leaders and delegates in the URI network who are inquiring about the assembly or needing follow-up assistance with their arrangements. Also, the URI office is located in the Presidio of San Francisco, a hub of non-profit organizations focused on interfaith, environment, conflict resolution and many other important issues of our time. For more information, visit www.uri.org, www.thoreau.org, and www.presidio.gov.
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