Join the Youth Visionary Collective (YVC) at Roots & Routes IC!
Are you interested in intercultural collaboration, nonprofit work, environmental justice, and amplifying Indigenous and ancestral Black voices? Roots & Routes Intercultural Collaborations (R&R IC) invites you to join this special remote internship opportunity that offers hands-on experience while expanding your job possibilities.
About Roots & Routes IC
Roots & Routes Intercultural Collaborations is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. At R&R, our mission is to strengthen the ancestral roots of wisdom, build solidarity among people of diverse cultures, and weave shared routes toward justice. Amidst a global ecological crisis, we emphasize the importance of intercultural collaborations—for example, bringing to the table all sorts of cultures and sciences—to address the most complex socio-environmental issues. We are bridge builders between Indigenous and ancestral communities, academic researchers and activists, and elders and youth, connecting people across cultures through education, action, and re-storying our relationships to the world.
Since its conception, the organization has fought for the visibility of the Ecuadorian Chocó Biogeographic Region. Indigenous and ancestral communities’ rivers are contaminated by palm oil monocultures. With their lives on the line, their fight for visibility is more important than ever.
Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/rootsroutesic/
Website: https://www.rootsroutes.org/
Current Campaign
Roots & Routes’ principal project has been our documentary film, “*_Together for Water: Defending the Chocó Rainforest_*.” In the process of creating a collective documentary with an intimate and artisanal gaze, Afro-descendant and Indigenous youth of the Chocó Rainforest in Esmeraldas, become inspired by their elders’ life stories and ongoing defense of territory and denounce a common experience of marginalization and contamination of their rivers.
- Check out the film here: https://www.together4water.com/
About the YVC Program
The Youth Visionary Collective (YVC) is a program at the heart of Roots & Routes IC that brings youth from around the world together to collaborate across cultures and support the community-based work. This opportunity provides both collective work experience and an educational experience. It is remote and educational. Internship credits may be provided for educational pursuits.
YVC interns work directly with Roots & Routes Executive Director Dr. Juli Hazlewood, a University of California Santa Cruz college professor, filmmaker, and activist with global experience in environmental and Indigenous/Afro-descendant justice. Over the past eight years, we have worked with interns from over 45 countries. Individuals have gone on to intern with the UN, earn a Columbia Master of Arts degree in Climate and Society, pursue a bachelor's in Earth Systems at Stanford University, and more.
Internship Overview and Requirements
The YVC has four 10-week seasons each year.
We are currently recruiting for our Summer season, which runs from July 27 - August 25, 2026.
During their 10-weeks, interns work on creative and promotional projects. Interns are placed in the following teams:
- Social Media & Newsletter Team: interns manage our Instagram and Facebook accounts and will create weekly Canva and/or reel posts in addition to conducting research on marketing strategies on our three Instagram accounts in alignment with our campaign “We Are Water People.” Social media posts contribute to the foundations of the newsletter, and the Social Media team help bring the “Seasonal Offerings” newsletter to fruition (editing and reel-creation, communication, and Canva skills needed)
- Film Distribution Team: interns will research and compile a running database of university libraries where R&R has contacts and where there is potential to sell the rights to the film and expand its impact with university communities (*_research and google sheets skills needed_*)
- Bilingual Grants Team: interns will work with R&R’s Director of Communications to document and update film festival database, research film production funds, locate grant opportunities for R&R and the YVC, and translate media content from English to Spanish/Spanish to English. (*_English-spanish translation, editing, and communication skills needed_*)
- Chocó Map Team is helping to put together a database about Chocó key fauna and flora, rivers, researchers, and ancestral communities that can contribute to the bases of an interactive storymap and/or webpage (*_research and google sheets skills_*)
- Futures Team will research and develop a new R&R educational program by customizing a curriculum, maintaining outreach, and designing a certification system for past and future YVC interns (*_curriculum planning, outreach, and Canva skills needed_*)
- Steering Team: interns organize and discuss the future of the YVC. Each member will learn to facilitate meetings, manage communications, and recruit new interns. The steering team is made up of the five other team-leaders and requires a few more hours of dedication (*_leadership, communication, and organizational skills needed_*)
Interns should possess or be willing to learn the following skills:
- Social Media & Marketing
- Graphic Design on Canva
- Reel-making on Veed
- Newsletter Creation
- Data-base creation
- Research
- GIS Skills
- Time and Resource Management
- Leadership Skills
- English and Spanish bilingual ability (required for the Bilingual Grants Team)
Interns will attend one collective (YVC-Wide) meeting along with one team-specific meeting per week. The YVC is based on cultivating an environment of respect and compassion for one another.
Expectations
- Interns must be available forthe scheduled weekly meeting times.
- Interns must commit to a minimum of 6 hours per week on their assignments.
- Interns cannot miss more than 3 total meetings during the 10-week season.
- Interns must swiftly respond to all communications via WhatsApp.
- Interns must show up to meetings on time.
Next Steps
All accepted applicants will be emailed and scheduled for group interviews. Chosen interns will be onboarded until the season starts on 27 July, 2026.
Job Type: Part-time
Pay: $10.00 per month
Work Location: Remote
