Youth Leader (2 positions)
Application Deadline: Friday, May 9, 2025
Stats: June 16, 2025-August 8, 2025 (8 weeks)
20 hours per week
Hybrid with 1-2 weekly in-person sessions in Center City Philadelphia required
Stipend: $4,000
About #VoteThatJawn (#VTJ) and Summer Jawn 2025
#VTJ adds value to youth voter engagement initiatives (its own and partner programs) by coordinating and facilitating creative content (long- and short-form writing, social media visual and video content) that is created by and amplifies high school and college youth voices.
Through a six-week hybrid program in the Summer of 2025, #VoteThatJawn will engage a dozen paid high school and college students, (20 hours per week), to create written, spoken, videoed, and other creative works with spoken word poetry as anchor.
Spoken word taps into Philadelphia’s vibrant spoken-word scene, and its feisty recent history of national excellence. In addition, we will encourage plenty of blog writing and other creative forms about subjects that matter deeply to our youth: education funding, from K-12 to higher ed loans, justice, climate, gun control, gender parity, LGBTIAQ rights, and abortion access. Vote That Jawn and its content is non-partisan, focusing not on party, but on issues affected by voting, emphasizing the local and organic, as we near the November 2025 elections. Art lets young people be seen. Voting can let them be heard.
The Position:
The Youth Leaders (2) will work with #VTJ Co-Youth Directors to deliver a joyful and powerful summer experience for a total of ten high school and college youth workers. The Youth Leaders will collaborate with community leaders, spoken word artists, and #VTJ staff through a weekly curriculum, delivered virtually and in-person. Interns (and youth leaders, if they like) create work to be published and shared all year and as part of the inaugural ArtPhilly Festival in May 2026. All of the youth workers are paid and are expected to actively participate 20 hours per week.
As part of the #VTJ team, each Youth Leader will:
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Provide structure and opportunities to create an environment that is fun, respectful and supportive for all of the participants.
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Coordinate a small group of five youth workers (20 hours per week for six weeks) from Philadelphia area high schools or colleges as they create written, spoken, videoed, and other creative works with spoken word as the anchor. The content is voting. Our assumption, as we near the November 2025 election and aim towards the mid-term elections in 2026, is that everything that matters to young people is votable!
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Coordinate presentations by three guest poets as well as speakers on democracy and voting who will lead workshops. From these tutorials, youth leaders will create short tutorial videos that will be archived in the civics curriculum of our partner, Committee of 70. Teachers in classrooms across PA will be invited to use them to generate more spoken word and poetry content.
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Support youth as they work independently on writing projects, and create opportunities for the group to build community through shared performance, learning, and voter registration out on the street.
Apply here!
Note: There is a possibility for limited, continued work in the fall of 2025.
Summer Intern
Application Deadline: Friday, May 9, 2025
Stats: June 23, 2025-August 1, 2025 (6 weeks)
20 hours per week
Hybrid with 1-2 weekly in-person sessions required in Center City, Philadelphia
Stipend: $1,800
About #VoteThatJawn (#VTJ) and Summer Jawn 2025
#VTJ adds value to youth voter engagement initiatives (its own and partner programs) by coordinating and facilitating creative content (long- and short-form writing, social media visual and video content) that is created by and amplifies high school and college youth voices.
Through a six-week hybrid program in the Summer of 2025, #VoteThatJawn will engage a dozen paid high school and college students, (20 hours per week), to create written, spoken, videoed, and other creative works with spoken word poetry as anchor.
Spoken word taps into Philadelphia’s vibrant spoken-word scene, and its feisty recent history of national excellence. In addition, we will encourage plenty of blog writing and other creative forms about subjects that matter deeply to our youth: education funding, from K-12 to higher ed loans, justice, climate, gun control, gender parity, LGBTIAQ rights, and abortion access. Vote That Jawn and its content is non-partisan, focusing not on party, but on issues affected by voting, emphasizing the local and organic, as we near the November 2025 elections. Art lets young people be seen. Voting can let them be heard.
About You:
You’re a creative, open-minded high school or college student (recent grads count!) who is excited about using their voice to get out the youth vote and amplify the issues that matter most to young people.
Maybe you have a specific passion for graphic design, writing, creating videos, or doing spoken-word poetry-- all the better! New to all of this? We welcome your application. Summer Jawn is a place to learn new skills and grow your existing ones. Enthusiasm and a willingness to learn are the most important aspects of being a Summer Jawn intern. We are especially looking for candidates who are excited to share their creativity with others.
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About the Internship:
As a Summer Jawn intern, you are expected to work 20 hours a week. While the majority of this work will be remote, interns will meet in person once a week in central Philadelphia for workshops, one-on-one meetings with their supervisors, and occasional guest speaker events. Interns will be paid via check on a biweekly basis.
Responsibilities and requirements for this role include
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Weekly meetings with your assigned youth leader and/or a VJT co-director
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Attending all in-person events
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Creating regular content in one or more of the following areas: audio/visual projects, writing blog posts, spoken word poetry, or graphic design.
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Collaborating with other Summer Jawn interns on content development and creation
Successful applicants will demonstrate enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, and creativity!
Apply here!
