Summer 2026 Development Internship

ArchCity Defenders (ACD) is a holistic legal advocacy organization that combats the criminalization of poverty and state violence especially in communities of color. ACDs foundation of civil and criminal legal representation social services impact litigation policy and media advocacy and community collaboration achieves and inspires justice and equitable outcomes for people throughout the St. Louis region and beyond.

ArchCity Defenders envisions a society liberated from systems of oppression where the promise of justice and racial equity is realized; communities where our approach to public safety prioritizes investment in well-being health and transformation without relying on criminalization and incarceration; and people living freely in their communities thriving regardless of their race or income.

ArchCity Defenders is working on broad-based change to the St. Louis regions criminal legal system. One way we advance this agenda is through the use of impact order to effectively file and argue civil rights impact cases it is necessary to have extensive knowledge of legal precedents state and federal statutes and county and municipal ordinances. Although impact litigation has become one effective tool for change ArchCity Defenders remains dedicated to representing our clients and changing the lives of our clients on an individual basis. To this end we provide direct representation in housing elder consumer family criminal and other areas of the law.

ACDs Development team educates the community and donors about the organizations missioninitiatives and services; advocates for issues important to our client community; supports the work of ACDs staff by providing monetary in kind and volunteer resources; coordinates with local national and international funders; and supports the work of ACDs Communications team.

ArchCity Defenders is looking for a development intern to join its dynamic and innovative development team. The intern will research nurture and develop relationships with funders and donors in support of the development team enter information into our databases and assist with planning and executing events to support our funding efforts.

Responsibilities:

• Spark Creativity: Unleash your innovative spirit by brainstorming fresh and excitingcommunication ideas.
• Craft Captivating Content: Write engaging stories and materials for our events and marketingefforts.
• Master of Data: Dive into the world of data as you update our development database usingBlackbaud.
• Champion of Grants: Research and create compelling materials for grant applications and fundingopportunities.
• Connect with Donors: Discover and nurture relationships with potential individual and corporatedonors.
• Storytelling Guru: Summarize our weekly achievements and progress for our Director ofDevelopment.
• Explorer Extraordinaire: Embark on missions to find potential donor sources small businesspartners mission-aligned celebrities and corporate champions.
• Team Player: Attend development update meetings to collaborate and share your insights.
• Mission Ambassador: Support the mission of ACD and collaborate with our fantastic team toachieve it.
• Adventurous Spirit: Embrace any challenge that comes your way all in the name of helping our Development team thrive.
• Any other duties as assigned to help the Development team do its best work.

Qualifications:

• Word Wizard: Harness your impressive written and verbal communication skills to make animpact.
• Tech Trailblazer: Proficiency with Microsoft Office and CRM is a plus and we love a good techexplorer willing to learn new systems.
• Relationship Builder: Whether you have experience or just a burning interest youll get thechance to develop valuable connections with businesses and individuals.
• Social Butterfly: Your outgoing personality will shine as you interact with diverse stakeholders.
• Admin Prodigy: Basic administrative skills will come in handy but youll also have the chance to expand your skill set.
• Event Enthusiast: If youve got event or fundraiser experience great! If not youll have the opportunity to learn and grow.
• Problem-Solving Champion: Tackle challenges head-on work independently within deadlinesand make an impact.
• Adaptable Dynamo: Flexibility is your middle name and youll always be ready to meet ACDs evolving needs.
• Champion of Justice: Commit to our mission of racial and economic justice and drive systemschange.
• Embrace Diversity: Show cultural awareness and sensitivity toward diverse populations andunderstand the structures of power privilege and oppression.

The Summer 2026 internship cohort will work alongside ACD staff members in our new headquarters at the Northside Movement Center in St. Louis. It is an exciting time to join our team. The interns will have opportunities to interact with community partners clients and the community to attend legal and organizing skill training sessions to participate in community events have small group learning opportunities and more.

Important Internship Information:

• We host unpaid internships. However we have provided interns with a stipend of up to $4200 if they are not able to obtain funding from their school or other programs. The Summer 2026 stipend amount will be determined and communicated to applicants soon.

• We plan to host Summer 2026 interns and practicum students in person and they are required to work in person at our new office at 5939 Goodfellow.

• That plan is subject to change to remote work at any time due to public health requirements work locations and expectations and school-related policies and procedures.

• Summer 2026 interns and practicum students must be able to work for ACD from May 26-July 31. (There can be start date exceptions for students still in school.) Interns may stay beyond July 31 but cannot end their internship before that date.

• Interns will be expected to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday in person (or in court or the community with staff) and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Fridays in person or remotely.

• There is a mandatory in-person orientation from May 26-May 29 2026. The only exception will be for interns still completing their school semester.

• Due to the potential for conflicts of interest (among other reasons) we are not able to accept interns or practicum students who seek to simultaneously engage in more than one internship while working with ACD.

• ArchCity Defenders is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color persons with disabilities women LGBTQIA and gender non-conforming applicants.

Cover Letter & Writing Sample Submission Instructions:

• Please submit your cover letter as a single PDF file that includes your cover letter followed by a writing sample.

• Your writing sample should illustrate your professional writing ability. While were not looking for a specific type of sample or number of pages it is ideal to submit a sample that is relevant to the role you are applying for. You may attach an existing piece of work or something newly drafted to the end of your cover letter.