Communications and Program Intern

The Detroit Writing Room and Coaching Detroit Forward are seeking a summer 2025 communications and program intern to help promote events, coaches and our summer camps for Detroit high school students.

Detroit Writing Room events may include book talks by notable authors, writing workshops and panel discussions with leaders and experts in the community. The position involves promoting our coaches and other writing services and engaging with our community on social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Interns will also help with promoting events and coaching sessions offered by The New York Writing Room, an all-virtual chapter with a team of 12 coaches based in New York. 

In addition to literary-focused events, The Detroit Writing Room supports summer journalism and photography camps hosted by Coaching Detroit Forward, the DWR's nonprofit arm. There will be a two-week Journalism Camp in partnership with Planet Detroit at Wayne State University; two-week Beginner Photography Camp at Bamboo Detroit; and one-week Advanced Photography Camp (location TBA), which are all free for Detroit high school students. Camps will be held early July through mid August. The intern will work with the Multimedia Intern to document the camps on social media through daily posts and Instagram stories. The intern will also work one-on-one with the student attendees to write social media spotlights and assist them with their articles and photography spreads that will be published in Perspectives Magazine 2025.

The position entails designing flyers and graphics on Canva as well as taking photos and videos for Instagram stories and reels. The intern will also help with camp operations, which may include assisting coaches with workshops, overseeing students during photo walks in the city and more.

Between events and the camps, the intern will have the opportunity to learn from some of the top writers, photographers and designers in Detroit and New York. The intern will have a unique opportunity to network with these professionals and interact with them to come up with creative new social media campaigns. The intern will also work closely with Stephanie Steinberg, Coaching Detroit Forward’s executive director and The Detroit Writing Room’s founder and CEO.

Requirements:

• Applicants must have strong writing and communication skills and understand how to use social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
• Experience working on a high school or college newspaper is preferred.
• Experience with photography, design or videography is a bonus, but not required. 
• Must be skilled in using Canva to design flyers.
• Applicants should enjoy mentoring high school students.
• Applicants must love writing and the arts. They must also enjoy working with a small team of people in an entrepreneurial atmosphere where no day is the same.
• Must have transportation to get to and from camp and events.
• Must be fully vaccinated and boosted.
• Must be a current college student.

The intern will be expected to attend the two-week Journalism Camp, two-week Beginner Photography Camp and one-week Advanced Photography Camp. Camps are held Monday through Friday. Interns will otherwise work virtually at least 3 days a week when camps are not in session. Interns will also be expected to attend several intern networking and programming sessions led by Applebaum Family Philanthropy throughout the summer.

Compensation:

The student will receive a $3,000 stipend at the end of the summer, thanks to support from the Applebaum Family Philanthropy. Daily camp lunch and parking will be covered.

Timeline:

Internships start May 2025 and end August 2025. Start and end dates can be flexible.

To Apply:

The deadline to apply is Jan. 10, 2025.

Please send a cover letter and resume to Stephanie Steinberg at stephanie@detroitwritingroom.com. 

Please also send 2 examples of how you would promote an upcoming DWR event on Instagram stories. You can screenshot your designs and attach it as JPG or PNG. You may also use Canva to create a design.

Coaching Detroit Forward is part of the Applebaum Family Philanthropy Internship Program. Partner organizations include Detroit arts and cultural nonprofits such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Historical Society, Motown Museum, Detroit Zoo and others. In your email, please indicate if you would like your application to be shared with other nonprofits seeking summer 2025 communications and program interns.