ILR High Road Ithaca Fellowship
Ithaca City of Asylum

ILR High Road New York is statewide program that aims to teach ILR students practical methods for civic & community engagement and leadership. The High Road Ithaca Program offers students paid community engaged internships with partner organizations committed to social and environmental justice, diversity and equity, access and education in Ithaca and surrounding areas during the fall or spring semesters. Students work 5-10 hours a week and participate in critical reflection activities throughout the semester.

Ithaca City of Asylum (ICOA) provides two-year residencies in Ithaca, New York, to writers and artists whose works are suppressed, whose lives are threatened, whose cultures are vanishing, or whose languages are endangered. ICOA provides residents and their families with legal, financial, professional, and social support, helping them meet the challenges of a new environment. ICOA also works in the Ithaca community to foreground the importance of free creative expression and the power of writers and artists to bring about change. ICOA is an all-volunteer project of the nonprofit Center for Transformative Action and a member of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). Since our founding in 2001, we have hosted 9 resident writers and artists, from China, Iran, Swaziland, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nicaragua and Russia.

ICOA seeks an intern with interest in social justice, human rights, and free expression issues to assist us in planning a year of programming in 2026 to commemorate our 25th anniversary as an organization. We are particularly interested in broadening our target audience and involving younger audiences (college age and early professionals) in our events, and eventually in our work itself.

The intern would work on publicity and communication plans, newsletter writing and production, developing a social media presence for the organization, and assist in fundraising and grant writing activities necessary to carry out our 25th anniversary events. The intern would be invited to attend Advisory Board and subcommittee meetings, as fits their interest and availability, in order to become more familiar with the work of this volunteer non-profit board.

Successful candidates will be detail-oriented, strong writers, and be interested in expanding their knowledge about free speech and free press issues. We are especially interested in (but do not require) candidates with some experience in public communication and/or event planning.