Communications Intern WANTED AT WORDS BEATS & LIFE

 

 
REPORTS TO: Executive Director as member of Executive Staff
PURPOSE: To assist the organization’s communications program with tasks associated with outreach and publicity. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, generating blog/website/newsletter content, drafting press releases and media advisories, maintaining social media presence, and other tasks as requested by the Executive director.

About Words Beats & Life, Inc. Founded in 2002, Words Beats & Life transforms individuals and whole communities through the core elements of hip-hop culture. At the heart of all that we do is the belief that hip-hop can serve as the necessary filter between hope and despair for the youth of the District of Columbia. WBL currently serves 150 students at its three Urban Arts Academy sites in D.C. and up to 300 students during the summer. At WBL, we feel that hip-hop is the ideal means for creative expression to break the cycle of hopelessness because of its history and culture, which is rooted in the community itself. By valuing hip-hop culture, we validate the students themselves. Our staff develops curriculum, projects, and programs geared specifically towards breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. WBL also organizes a local and national network of hip-hop based organizations (The Cipher), which equips organizational leaders with the tools and experiences necessary to build sustainable communities. WBL accomplishes its goals through two main program areas—The Urban Arts Academy, a pre-vocational arts program for youth ages 5-23 in the District of Columbia, and The Cipher, a growing resource for our ever-expanding network of hip-hop based organizations. This year, The Cipher will expand to four geographies for its third national gathering, Remixing the Art of Social Change: A Hip-Hop Approach teach-ins: St. Paul, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, D.C. Past teach-ins have drawn a total of over 150 organizations from around the U.S. doing comparable work that were previously working in isolation from one another. The Cipher is a multi-component program that is completely unique in the hip-hop nonprofit field. However, the focus is singular—to serve as an invaluable resource to hip-hop independent artists, non-profit organizations, scholars and activists both nationally and internationally. This is accomplished by providing research-based resources, convening members of the field, establishing promising practices for this field, advocating on behalf of the field with members of the foundation and corporate communities.

Words Beats & Life in Uganda

About DC Urban Arts Academy At the heart of all that we do is the belief that hip-hop can serve as the necessary filter between hope and despair for the youth of the District of Columbia. WBL is committed to producing learning journeys through hip-hop that lead Academy students to succeed in our three focus areas: Employability, Skill Mastery, and Post-Secondary Education. We accomplish our goals through two main program areas—The Urban Arts Academy and The Cipher. The Academy is a pre-vocational arts program for youth ages 5-23 in the District of Columbia.

Our Vision: The Urban Arts Academy seeks to use hip-hop culture as a vehicle to increase youth development in employability, mastery, and self-awareness. To foster a new generation of students and scholars who see the value in preparations, mastery, and extended learning.

Our Mission: It is through the development of intergenerational relationships rooted in hip-hop culture, the staff of the Urban Arts Academy work closely with the students as Mentors. These mentoring relationships allow the teaching artists, to share their skills as a means of increasing the students cognitive, communication, and interpersonal skills. To use our talents as artist to be the buffer between hope and hopelessness. To use, hip-hop as the ideal medium through which to create such a buffer. To use the sound aesthetic movement written language of the culture to teach geography, science, art, history and more.

Our Goals:
 1. To promote post secondary education to all our students
 2. To create a positive community young scholars, artists, and musicians
3. To host the premiere events for young hip-hop artists in the Washington DC area
4. To develop an appreciation for the history, techniques, and developments of the elements of hip-hop.
 5. To promote the study and evaluation of hip-hop culture in an academic environment.
6. To promote youth development through the arts; particularly hip-hop.
7. To decrease the number of students in gang activity, drug activity, and destructive behavior.
8. To expose the DC community to the talent and contributions of its young people.

Mazi at WBL Mural

PRINICPLE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITES:
• Generate text for the website/blog
• Generate text for the newsletter
• Managing social media outlets
• Draft press releases and media advisories
• Research media outlets and journalists to disseminate press releases to
• Distribute press releases and advisories
• Maintain database of past media coverage

QUALIFICATIONS:
 • Must be knowledgeable or have a small a working knowledge of hip-hop
• Must have the ability to work independently, at the same time, being able to follow through on multiple projects/deadlines with minimal oversight;
• Must have strong interpersonal and written communications skills

OUTCOMES:
• Securing at least one form of media coverage per month (Blog, Radio, TV, print)
 • Creating press release and media release for all major WBL programs, events and projects.
• Update the WBL website weekly with reviews, photos and event descriptions and reviews.
• Help to manage relationship with WPFW to insure the broadcast of WBL panel discussions

LOCATION: 1525 Newton St NW Washington DC 20010
HOURS: 10am-6pm
PERSONALITY/WORKSTYLE: Outgoing, loves to smile, great interpersonal skills, experience working with people of diverse backgrounds, organized, works well independently, and a positive attitude towards learning.

Start date

June 4, 2012

End date

August 17, 2012

Application deadline

May 1, 2012

Hours per week

10

Compensation

Unpaid