Position overview
Are you interested to learn about what Detroit sustainability and environmental justice project work surrounding key topics like food sovereignty, waste diversion, nature access, policy-making, community organizing, equitable community development, looks like in action? Do you want to work at the nexus of policy and governance, research, direct service, and social entrepreneurship this summer? Then the Sacred Spaces’ Project Management Assistant internship is the right internship for you!
Through this Ginsberg Center-funded internship, you would support us with the implementation of our ongoing restricted grant projects to help us advance the three pillars of our work - regenerative agriculture, compost and nature access - all the while making connections with a wide range of sustainability and social justice practitioners in varying fields across and around Detroit. This internship will contribute to building the capacity of our nonprofit to better fulfill and service the community.
About Sacred Spaces
Sacred Spaces (SSp) is dedicated to promoting personal and environmental well-being, healing, and connectivity in the neighborhood of Riverbend – located in the Lower East Side of Detroit. Here in Riverbend, our goal is to nurture future leaders who care deeply about the environment. We want our neighbors to find joy in nature, take responsibility for protecting it, and honor the sacred ways that preserve our planet’s resources. As the nonprofit arm of Sanctuary Farms (SF), a small community-based business also located in Lakeview in Riverbend, one cannot discuss SSp without describing SF. At SF, our philosophy is rooted in deep ecology, which views the natural world as an interconnected system where every element holds intrinsic value. Through this lens, we approach farming and composting as an opportunity not only to cultivate the land but to repair and restore the relationships between people, the environment, and food. So while SF focuses on the application and implementation of closing the food loop and providing nature access in Riverbend and beyond, SSp focuses on the educational aspects of this work. A website and social media presence are currently underway for the organization.
About the position
Sacred Spaces’ Project Management Assistant will support us with the implementation of our ongoing restricted grant projects that align with SSp’s commitment to stewarding WASANA (Water, Air, Soil, Agriculture, and Nature Access). More specifically, these projects cover a range of area issues, including but not limited to: sustainable agriculture, community empowerment, environmental justice, and green infrastructure.
Through their work, SSp’s Project Management Assistant would therefore support our team in carrying forth our vital projects that service the community in Riverbend, Detroit, and beyond. The intern would also have an opportunity to support us in further refining our strategic planning efforts for Sacred Spaces as a nonprofit in its early stages of development. By collaborating with us at SSp, they will learn about what community self-determination and self-reliance projects look like in action.
Core responsibilities
The main tasks and responsibilities that the intern will undertake as it relates to the projects that they will be actively involved in are the following:
- Helping to reach out to project partners and to coordinate meetings with them Researching and providing options for resource procurement
- Collaborating with the SSp team to co-develop timelines, deadlines, workflows, and promotional materials
- Supporting with grant-writing, grant reporting, and partnership development efforts
- Reporting to the Sacred Spaces Board and leadership team.
Last but not least, at SSp, collaboration is inherent to our work, which means that we would want our intern to actively help co-design their internship scope of work and goals so that these may reflect the talents and gifts they bring to our team, but also so they may be beneficial to their personal, professional growth, all the while remaining supportive of our mission and vision at SSp.
Required qualifications
We welcome candidates with the following skills to join us in our mission to create a more food just and equitable Detroit for current and future generations
- Strong organizational skillsInterdisciplinary and creative thinking abilities
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and Cloud-Based Softwares like Google Drive, as well as virtual meeting platforms like Zoom.
- Community outreach or work experience (desired but not required)
The skill areas, or competencies that the intern we work will likely gain and use during their time working with us at SSp, are the following:
- Leadership and decision-making
- Project management Grant-writing
- Content creation, media, and marketing
- Networking and relationship-building.
Schedule, compensation & total amount of funding available
The Project Management Assistant will be invited to work a total of 100 to 125 hours this summer between mid May and late August of 2025. They would be welcome to either work:
- 10 hours a week for 12 weeks, or
- 20 hours week for 6 weeks
Students will be paid an hourly wage as per the Ginsberg Center’s guidelines:
- $16/hr - undergraduate students
- $18/hr - masters students
- $20/hr - doctoral students
Sacred Spaces has a total of $2,000 of funding available for this internship.
This internship will be remote and largely take place during days of the week (i.e. Monday through Fridays) with opportunities to connect regularly with the SSp team in Detroit. This internship does require attendance at 3 volunteer days (June 14th, July 12th and August 9th) and 3-5 community events in Detroit (dates to TBD). We are happy to work with prospective interns on ensuring that their schedule best aligns with their needs and those of SSp.
Instructions on how to apply
Interested applicants, please:
- Submit your application on the Connect2Community online portal; and
- email your resume/CV and cover letter to info@sacredspaces.green and to catdiggs@umich.edu.
- In your cover please be sure to reflect on the following prompts:
- What do environmental justice and reparative justice mean to you?
- If you were not born and raised in Detroit, consider what ethically engaging and collaborating with a community that you are not from entails.
Applications are due by 5/16 at 11:59pm ET.
