After more than 12 years, Executive Director Brandon Letsinger is stepping back from his role with CascadiaNow! Help us wish him well on his journey!
CN! Store Spotlight Edition 1: Seattle Flag Makers
Welcome to the first edition of our CascadiaNow! Store Spotlight! First up: Seattle Flag Makers. Carol Anderson, owner of Seattle Flag Makers, has been in the flag making business for 35 years (before the conception of the Doug flag itself!) so it is safe to say we trusted her when she told us our flags are being made by one of the top printers in the country.
We are looking for interns!
Looking for a meaningful internship experience to boost your resume, meet awesome new people, and learn a few new skills while also taking part in on of the bioregion's biggest social movements? Become a CascadiaNow! intern!
CascadiaNow! is an exciting place for interns from all over the bioregion to learn the inner workings of a small, grass-roots non-profit organization. Internship opportunities vary, but we will work with you to make sure that your passions and skills are utilized to help energize the Cascadia social movement!
Our internships are offered typically at least one academic quarter, either for individual study or for school credit. You may be asking yourself, "Do I have to be in school to participate in a CN! internship?" Nope! We welcome people of all ages, experiences, backgrounds, and skill sets to join the team and create projects that both the staff and intern will find mutually beneficial.
Below are a few of our current internship offerings:
Finance and Administration Intern
CascadiaNow! seeks a motivated intern with a strong work ethic to document all finance and administration workflows. This position will report to the Associate Director and will have a unique opportunity to help formalize the operations of a nascent nonprofit.
Minimum time commitment: 8+ hours/week for three months
Duties include:
Shadowing the Associate Director to learn all current finance and administration workflows
Making recommendations on workflow improvements
Formalizing workflows in an easy-to-navigate document
Conducting research projects related to human resources best practices
General administrative tasks as needed
Required skills:
Proven ability to work independently and meet deadlines
Close attention to detail
Strong written and verbal communication
Successful candidates will have an interest in nonprofit management as well as bioregionalism and/or the Cascadian social movement.
Social Media Intern
The CN! Outreach team is looking for a tech savvy social media guru to help streamline our branding and increase our online presence! This position will report to the Director of Programming and Outreach and will have the opportunity to grow our ever-expanding network across the bioregion.
We ask for a time commitment of 8-10 hours a week.
Duties Include:
- Maintaining social media presence including weekly posting to various platforms
- Blog and content writing
- Research and promote topics/articles/events relevant to CN! and Cascadia for dispersal to 22K+ person base
- Assist in creation and dispersal of social media campaigns
- Consistently work with staff to improve visual design and social media strategy
- Hone a consistent narrative and voice for CN! across digital platforms
Required skills:
- A niche for social media and communications and familiarity with diverse social media platforms
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to work independently
A successful candidate will have an interest in social media management as well as bioregionalism and/or the Cascadian social movement.
Graphic Design Intern
The CN! Outreach team is looking for a passionate graphic design intern to help us with new Cascadia driven programming projects! This is a fantastic opportunity for an up and coming graphic designer looking to add to their portfolio, while also having their work displayed to a large online audience! The Graphic Design Intern will report to the Director of Programming and Outreach.
We ask for a minimum time commitment of 8-10 hours a week.
Duties Include:
- Collaborating with the Outreach and Programming team to create promotional images and materials for programming/activism campaigns, such as Made in Cascadia.
- Creating graphics and design layouts for posters, flyers, email newsletters, the CN! website, blog, and social media accounts.
- Utilizing strong written skills and bring effective visual ideas from concept through to completion
- Engage in projects assigned by various staff members related to different operational needs.
Required Skills:
- Must be proficient in Adobe Creative Suite
- Open to collaboration and constructive criticism
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Self starter who takes initiative to complete projects
A successful candidate will have interest in pursuing a career in graphic design and a passion for bioregionalism and/or the Cascadian social movement.
Video/Photo Database Design Intern
CascadiaNow! seeks an intern with both a sense of visual story-telling and a knowledge of database design. This person will define and build a searchable visual library that is scalable for our future growth. This position will report to Development Director and will be given freedom to incorporate their own ideas and experience into structuring a highly-intuitive library.
Minimum time commitment: 8+ hours/week for three months
Duties include:
- Review with Development Director the types of images currently available and likely to be added
- Recommend search categories and/or terms, including required permissions information.
- Create a draft library for presentation to current staff for feedback.
- Making recommendations on how to select existing images for archiving or current access.
- Write a basic Library “Procedures and Policies” guide to enable current and future staff to easily find and/or add new video and still images
Required skills:
- Proven ability to work independently and communicate regularly
- Willingness to seek information and answers from a wide variety of sources.
- Familiarity with Google Drive.
- Comfort working with people whose technology familiarity varies widely.
Strong candidates will be able to demonstrate awareness of the Cascadia bioregion, and describe how this internship supports their career goals.
Corporate Grant-Matching Research Intern
CascadiaNow! seeks an intern who is interested in contacting HR departments throughout the Pacific Northwest electronically and by phone. This person will create an internal searchable list of organizations which offer “matching” for employee donations of time and/or money.
Minimum time commitment: 6+ hours/week for four months
Duties include:
- Work with Development Director to identify company identification variables, priority of contacts.
- Establish internal files to collect, save and search results of communications.
- Develop e-mail template to initiate inquiries, send to selected companies as test of clarity and responsiveness.
- Refine email and telephone process, begin sending emails in priority order by group.
- Gather data and input into internal files; report regularly to Development Director about results and challenges
- Make phone calls to gather information from non-respondents
Required skills:
- High level of responsiveness to email communications
- Ability to deal with incomplete data and find answers and/or continue with partial information.
- “Friendly” persona when communicating with company personnel.
Strong candidates will be able to demonstrate awareness of the Cascadia bioregion, and describe how this internship supports their career goals.
BENEFITS TO INTERNING WITH CASCADIANOW!:
A unique perspective on the inner workings of a blossoming grassroots nonprofit and social movement.
Networking opportunities with many passionate Cascadians!
Professional references upon successful completion of internship.
Lots of free stickers.
Do any of these sound like YOU? Fill out the form below!
We support the Johnson Amendment. A personal letter from CN! associate director Naomi Botkin
"It’s the responsibility of 501(c)(3) organizations to further the greater common good - to create positive impacts that make us all a little better off. Is it possible for an organization to choose sides in the political world and still serve everyone? In my limited experience, I have to answer 'absolutely not.' Which makes me all the more proud to be part of team that supports keeping politics out of charitable work." - Naomi Botkin, CN! AD
Cascadia Climate Action: Welcome Our Newest Fiscally Sponsored Project
Vertical Generation's First Outdoor Climbing Trip with Youth From the International Rescue Committee
The first weekend of October marked a momentous milestone for Vertical Generation, a project of CascadiaNow!, who held their first outdoor rock climbing trip with youth from the International Rescue Committee (IRS,) an awesome organization that provides support to humanitarian crises around the world and refugee families.