Masakhane Facilitator Internship

(2025 - 2026 School Year)

Masakhane’s Facilitator Internship is a 9-month internship specifically designed for folks who want to go into sex ed work. As with all of our internships, this internship aims to create a collaborative community of people who learn and unlearn together, support each other in this work, and provide different perspectives and insights into a variety of sexuality subjects.

This internship includes an extensive training on a variety of sexuality education topics, as well as facilitation and program development skills. Interns in this program will work together, using the information provided through our expert training, to facilitate sexuality education workshops with young people in and around the Newark. NJ community.

Interns who complete the program receive a $500 stipend. Disabled folks, trans folks, and gender expansive people are strongly encouraged to apply.

INTERN TASKS

• Co-create sex ed workshop plans specifically designed for young people.

• Co-facilitate sexuality education workshops for young people.

• Co-create short videos about a variety of sex ed topics.

• Collaborate with our volunteers to create a variety of supplemental educational materials, including social media posts and zines.

INTERNSHIP SCHEDULE

This 9-month internship involves two segments:

1. September 23, 2025 – December 18, 2025 takes places mostly online, with interns completing a comprehensive sexuality education training filled with collaborative games, activities and discussions. Interns also observe and practice facilitating in-person workshops during this time.

2. January 13, 2026 – May 14, 2026 takes places mostly in person, with interns co-facilitating workshops at local schools and youth organizations in Newark, NJ. This time also includes some online collaboration sessions where interns work on projects together.

Due to the highly collaborative nature of this internship, all interns are required to attend the same group collaboration sessions on:

• Tuesdays and Thursdays

• 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

*Masakhane’s internship takes a break between December 19th and January 12th. All of Masakhane is off during this time period and interns do not work during this time.

Optional Weekend Collaboration

Volunteers and board members meet online on the second Sunday of every month from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Interns are welcome to join us to collaborate on a variety of organization-wide projects.

Collaboration Sessions

Our online collaboration sessions all take place via Zoom. The sessions are captioned using the auto-transcription on Zoom, and recorded for interns to revisit throughout their internship. Interns are expected to participate as fully as possible, including being on camera (when necessary).

Our in-person practice time and workshops all take place at local schools, libraries and youth organizations in the Newark, NJ community.

During both online and in-person sessions, we take multiple 15-minute breaks during the day, and one longer 1-hour break in the middle.

Trainings

The training portion of the internship takes place from September 23rd to December 18th. The training is facilitated by Masakhane team members, as well as other experts that partner with Masakhane.

Training consists of interactive games and activities that provide interns with the knowledge and skills they need to co-facilitate sexuality education workshops. Interns are also expected to watch videos and read our curricula during this training period.

WHAT KIND OF FOLKS ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

• People who can provide sex-positive, pleasure-focused, non-judgmental sexuality education to young people.

• People who can work in a creative environment and bring their creativity to the role.

• People who enjoy collaborating with others.

• People who are comfortable learning and unlearning in a supportive environment.

• People who support and advocate for the liberation of all peoples.

• (Preferred) People who have experience working on community-led projects outside of a school setting.

STIPENDS

This internship comes with a $500 stipend. Stipends are distributed upon completion of the internship in May.

HOW TO APPLY

The deadline to apply for the internship is Friday, August 22, 2025. You can apply by submitting an application here. Have questions about the internship? Check out our FAQs or email Stephanie Franklin at safranklin@masakhanecenter.org. Please do not make follow-up calls.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the application process? All applicants are contacted via email within a week of submitting their application. If someone is selected for an interview, their email will contain details about the interview process. Applicants can expect to receive an internship acceptance or rejection email within a week of their interview.

Do I have to be a student in order to intern? No. Masakhane does not have any educational requirements for this internship. We do provide assistance to folks seeking school credit for this internship experience.

Can I still apply after the deadline? No applications are accepted after August 22nd.

What does the day-to-day look like? The internship days vary depending on what we’re working on. This includes training days filled with interactive games, activities and group discussions, and workshop days, where interns co-create workshop plans and facilitate workshops.

We believe in resting and recharging here at Masakhane, which translates to lots of breaks during the Tuesday/Thursday sessions, as well as one week-long break every month. These week-long breaks are taken by everyone at Masakhane, and interns are not contacted or tasked with assignments during this time.

I am not available for the Tuesday/Thursday hours, can I still apply to intern? No. Our internship program is highly collaborative, pairing interns with each other, training interns together, creating workshops and projects together, etc. This requires everyone to be on the same schedule, making it imperative for everyone to work the Tuesday/Thursday schedule for the entire internship.

I can’t intern the entire time; can I still do this internship? No. Again, with the collaborative nature of this internship, we require folks to intern for the entire time. Interns can take time off for personal reasons throughout the internship, as needed.

Are there any requirements for receiving the stipend? The only requirements to receive the stipend are: being present, participating in the program to the best of your abilities, and successfully completing assignments.

What can I expect to get out of this internship with Masakhane Center?

• Interns receive extensive training on a large variety of sexuality topics, as well as leadership, and general communication skills.

• Interns have the ability to practice teamwork, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills that can be applied in future community work, academic environments and/or professional careers.

• In addition to the $500 stipend, successful interns receive a strong letter of recommendation.