2027 Research & Community Engagement Internship
Washington, DC, DC
Internship
Research
Student (College)
Research & Community Engagement Internship
Reports to: Director, Local Arts Agency Community Team: Research
Engagement & Equity in Research
Session: Summer Location: Remote
FLSA Status: Full-time, Hourly, Non-Exempt Employment Type: Student Intern
FLSA Status: Full-time, Hourly, Non-Exempt Employment Type: Student Intern
Pay Rate: $18.40 per hour. – This internship is intended for educational benefit; we support receiving school credit for participation.
Application Deadline: The application portal will close on January 3, 2027, 3:00 pm ET
Who We AreApplication Deadline: The application portal will close on January 3, 2027, 3:00 pm ET
Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading arts advocacy organization. We mobilize advocates, produce trusted research, and secure bipartisan wins that protect funding and expand arts access nationwide — work we've been doing for more than 65 years. We advance the people, organizations, and systems supporting arts and culture across America through advocacy, research, and national convening. We envision a nation where freedom of creative expression is upheld as a fundamental human right, where arts and culture are woven into the fabric of civic life, resourced in every community, and accessible to everyone.
About the Team
The Research team is a trusted source of analysis, data, and information about arts and culture across the federal, local, and national arts and cultural ecosystem. This arts and culture field looks to the Research team for reliable data and storytelling produced from anchor projects that include the Arts and Economic Prosperity studies, national public opinion studies, and local arts agency field surveys.
The Research team supports the organization by working across teams with a focus on evaluation work with Programs, advocacy support for Government Affairs and Executive Office, and producing reliable data to support Marketing and Development.
The Research team is led by the Vice President of Research and comprised a senior director of research services, and director of local arts agency community engagement and equity research. The team values integrity, equity, accountability, rigor, relevance, non-extractive, and collaboration, which permeate throughout its work. We are ready to support a summer intern who has a desire to evaluate and measure the impact of AFTACON 2027, creatively and community centered.
About the Position
The Research and Community Engagement (RCE) Intern will help AFTA understand the impact of AFTACON 2027 — our national convention for arts leaders and advocates. This position will assist in survey design, support focus groups, and conduct follow-up conversations with arts leaders that capture both the numbers and the human stories behind the event. This internship offers hands-on experience in nonprofit program evaluation, showing how research informs strategy, equity, and advocacy in the arts sector.
Participation in this program provides the opportunity to attend our annual conference, in Atlanta June 7 – 11, 2027, and working across teams to learn more about the arts and culture field and support advocacy and policy related initiatives.
The desired outcome of this internship is to have greater insight into how large-scale events are evaluated and how data can support meaningful change in communities.
Key Responsibilities
Research Support
- Gather and organize participant feedback,
- Support basic data analysis
- Help organize registration and participation data
- Support follow-up outreach with a small group of attendees
- Take and synthesize notes during focus groups or structured conversations
- Assist with post-event surveys and feedback collection
- Identify themes in survey responses
- Help summarize findings into clear, accessible language
- Contribute to reports or presentations that share impact
- Explore the potential of leveraging AI tools to support data analysis
- Participate in team meetings and strategy discussions
- Maintain a reflective journal on your learning
Candidates are encouraged to apply, even if they do not possess all the experience and skills listed:
- A commitment to advancing the AFTA mission, with a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility and a passion for arts, research, arts advocacy, public policy, and non-profit advocacy.
- Is pursuing (or recently completed) studies in arts administration, nonprofit management, public policy, sociology, education, or related fields.
- A passion, curiosity, and excitement to learn about impact and equity in research and arts and culture.
- Comfortable organizing information in Excel
- Strong communication skills and interest in translating data into clear and accessible language
- An independent self-starter who also enjoys being a part of a team.
Eligibility:
- This experience is best tailored to graduate student, post undergraduate individuals, or those looking to transition to a new career field in the arts and culture ecosystem.
- Must be eligible to work in and reside within the United States
- Must be available to work between 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET, Monday – Friday (37.50-hour work week) and commit to participating for the full 12 weeks program.
- Ability to attend in-person AFTACON 2027 in Atlanta, Georgia, June 7 – 11, 2027. Travel and lodging cost are fully covered as part of your participation in the internship.
- The program is scheduled to run for a 12-week period. We anticipate the program to begin in Summer 2027, starting in late May and concluding in mid-August.
- There is the potential for flexibility in the start and end dates, depending upon the ideal candidate and team needs.
- This is a remote internship; however, if a candidate resides in the DC region there is the option for the staff to work from our DC based office.
- We have a 7.50-hour day Monday - Friday, for a total of 37.50 hours work week.
- You will be provided with a laptop and other equipment in support of the internship.
- In person dress code is business casual.
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