Internship Opportunities
*Our Summer 2020 Internships will remain open to applicants as we remain optimistic about the containment of COVID-19. We are monitoring the situation as closely as possible and will update our policies as time goes on. Thank you for your patience & understanding.
About us:
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) was founded in 2000 with a single defined objective: accelerating meaningful therapeutic advances and, ultimately, a cure for Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Foundation provides a distinctive combination of scientific, business, and media assets to this core focus. This triple-pronged, singularly-defined strategy towards disease research enables a dynamic, motivated, and young organization. MJFF has quickly grown into the largest global funder of Parkinson’s disease research outside of the federal government and has funded over $900 million in research projects across academic and industry labs worldwide.
MJFF raises over $90 million annually. We deliberately have no endowment or reserve because we believe that our capital needs to be invested today to find a cure for PD as quickly as possible. We start our fundraising from zero each year and deploy funds raised as quickly as possible, in a strategic, targeted, and vetted manner. The Foundation has approximately 165 full-time employees who are based in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Position Summary:
This position is located in Washington, D.C.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation advocates for government policies that accelerate the development of Parkinson's therapies and reduce barriers to care and support services. The Foundation works to educate government leaders on patient needs and represents the patient voice in conversations with federal agencies, drug developers and insurance companies. MJFF leads a cohesive research and policy effort to bring new treatments to market quickly and increase quality of life on behalf of the Parkinson’s community. The role of the public policy Intern will be to assist department staff with a variety of duties. We believe the internship offers an excellent opportunity to gain experience in government relations and learn about field-wide research within a non-profit organization. This internship will begin in the summer of 2020 and will be unpaid. Our general business hours are 9 am to 5 pm. The schedule for the summer intern will be flexible, with days of the week, hours, and total hours to be arranged with the manager.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
- Monitor legislation and regulations that could impact people with Parkinson’s including, but not limited to, relevant research, funding, and health care legislation as well as proposed rulemaking.
- Monitor some targeted state legislative efforts.
- Follow-up with congressional offices that have requested additional information about one of our policy priorities.
- Compile monthly ‘round-up’ reports on department activities
- Public policy research projects
- Event and meeting coordination
Qualifications and Skills:
- Undergraduate or graduate student with previous experience in public policy or advocacy through educational curricula or prior work/volunteer experience
- Competency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint
- Ability to work independently, be proactive, and take initiative
- Excellent organizational skills
- High level of attention to detail
- Strong written communication skills
How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter describing your specific qualifications and interests. Applicants who best match the position description will be contacted. Submissions without cover letters will not be considered.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.