Looking for a trauma informed, resiliency focused internship?

@Max Taylor posted:

It's a complex topic, but feel compelled to at least raise the question about a trauma-informed organization continuing the practice of unpaid internships.

I don't know where the PACEs Connection budget is at and do know this broader field constantly has to fight for scraps and generally survive on wafer-thin funding. That said, we also know that unpaid labor can also fairly be called exploitation. We know there's inequity questions that arise with ability or non-ability to take these career-furthering jobs. And so on.

I'm sure the PACEs Connection staff is already aware of most of the arguments for and against unpaid internships.

I very much worry about "resiliency" at times coming to mean "learn to tolerate or even accept exploitation and a just enough to survive but not enough to thrive culture". Instead of radical acceptance, I favor radical protest. Do not tolerate the intolerable.

That being said, much empathy for the lack of funds on offer from broader society for doing the important work at hand. And many thanks to the volunteers who, by choice or by lack of choice, push progress forward without pay. That injustice is itself sometimes traumatizing.

Hi @Max Taylor,

Absolutely! Thanks for taking the time to make this comment. This is something we discussed quite a bit in planning for internships. If we had unlimited funding, I don't think we would ever dream of having unpaid interns!

You can learn more about our budget and funding in a recent post from earlier this month, PACEs Connection needs bold funders who are in this for the long haul!

The internships we offer are part time with an extremely flexible schedule to provide the best experience possible for our interns and let them gain experience. I chose to acknowledge the internship as unpaid upfront to be as transparent as possible since a lot of people cannot afford to do unpaid work with the time and responsibilities they have. As you point out, there are issues of extreme inequity that arise with the ability or non-ability to take these career-furthering internships. We are planning for future years of interns ahead and looking at ways we can dismantle some of the barriers to gaining career experiences like this in our organization, such as current education attainment and valuing lived experiences more.

It's a complex topic, but feel compelled to at least raise the question about a trauma-informed organization continuing the practice of unpaid internships.

I don't know where the PACEs Connection budget is at and do know this broader field constantly has to fight for scraps and generally survive on wafer-thin funding. That said, we also know that unpaid labor can also fairly be called exploitation. We know there's inequity questions that arise with ability or non-ability to take these career-furthering jobs. And so on.

I'm sure the PACEs Connection staff is already aware of most of the arguments for and against unpaid internships.

I very much worry about "resiliency" at times coming to mean "learn to tolerate or even accept exploitation and a just enough to survive but not enough to thrive culture". Instead of radical acceptance, I favor radical protest. Do not tolerate the intolerable.

That being said, much empathy for the lack of funds on offer from broader society for doing the important work at hand. And many thanks to the volunteers who, by choice or by lack of choice, push progress forward without pay. That injustice is itself sometimes traumatizing.