Call for Applications: Humanities EXCEL Fellowship with WILDR Santa Cruz–Communications and Community Development Intern 2025-2026
We encourage work-study and non-work-study students to apply. This internship is only open to undergraduate students with a declared or proposed Humanities major or minor and requires work authorization.
Application Deadline:
The Humanities Experiential Career Exploration and Learning (EXCEL) Program connects undergraduate Humanities majors and minors with community partners for paid internships. Fellows gain valuable professional experience while exploring potential career paths.
Internship Details
Partner Organization: WILDR Santa Cruz
Location: This is a primarily remote position, with in-person meetings once/month.
Duration: Academic Year 2025–26
Hours: 10 hours/week
Pay: $20/hour
Mentorship: Regular check-ins and support from WILDR Co-Chair Erica Padilla Chavez
What You’ll Do – Communications and Community Development Intern
WILDR empowers progressive women to pursue elected and appointed leadership roles in Santa Cruz County through training, networking, and leadership development. Committed to equity and justice, WILDR supports values including racial and gender equity, reproductive justice, housing and education access, and a fair economy. While nonpartisan and not endorsing candidates, WILDR cultivates a pipeline of leaders who reflect and uplift their communities.
This position will allow you to build engagement among a spectrum of community members to support the work of WILDR. You will learn how to apply techniques to develop community engagement, especially among younger women and women who have, through cultural, sociological, and other barriers, historically yet to learn how to engage in public service in the county of Santa Cruz.
- Community Engagement & Network Development (60%): Expand WILDR’s network by connecting with underrepresented groups, including college communities, South County residents, and non-native English speakers. Research and engage relevant UCSC and Cabrillo organizations, and strengthen ties with existing partners like Cradle to Career and the South County Triage Group.
- Communications & Outreach (40%): Draft and distribute content via social media, email, and text to engage WILDR participants. Maintain and organize the participant database, and help improve communication systems and messaging.
- Humanities EXCEL Programming: Attend two cohort meetings each quarter when possible and participate in asynchronous Canvas experiential learning reflection.
Eligibility & Qualifications
- You must be a declared or proposed major or minor in a Humanities Division department and have good academic standing. If proposed, declare by June.
- Eligible majors: Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism, Classical Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Feminist Studies, History, Jewish Studies, Language Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Spanish Studies
- Eligible minors: Black Studies, Classical Studies, East Asian Studies, History of Consciousness, History, Italian Studies, Jewish Studies, Language Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Philosophy, Spanish Studies
- You have work authorization (required)
- You can work independently and collaboratively (required)
- You have a strong interest in the work of WILDR and in working to get more women engaged in serving in public office in Santa Cruz County broadly.
- You are reliable; you can meet deadlines and communicate proactively using multiple media (email, text, Zoom, in-person, etc.); you have strong time-management strategies to handle a flexible remote role.
- You are committed to learning about barriers to serving in public office and how to successfully bring more individuals to be involved with WILDR.
- You are committed to and interested in learning communication techniques to encourage broader WILDR support.
- You are bilingual in Spanish and English and confident in reading and writing in Spanish.
- You have experience and skills in social media communications, WIX website tools,
- You have experience using Google documents, including familiarity with Google Sheets (Or, you’re interested in developing skills to use Google Sheets as a database management system.)
How To Apply
- Updated resume
- 1-page cover letter addressing:
- Why you’re interested in this role and WILDR Santa Cruz (explore their website!)
- How your background and skills apply
- What you hope to gain from the experience
- Address your letter to the WILDR co-chair Erica Padilla Chavez
Review these resume and cover letter resources to ensure you are a strong candidate! For application help, see Humanities Career Engagement.
Questions? Email Kylie Rachwalski at hum-experiential-learning@ucsc.edu
The Mellon Foundation, The Helen and Will Webster Foundation, The Humanities Institute, the UCSC Humanities Division, and private donors generously support the Humanities EXCEL Program.
Misconduct Disclosure Requirement:
As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.
- “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC’s policies addressing some forms of misconduct:
