04/10/2019

The Advocacy Success Story Behind Congress’ Paid Internships

How a former intern's insights highlighted the inequities unpaid internships perpetuate

Given all the news coming out of the halls of power on a daily basis, you might have missed a major win for congressional interns last month. But it’s worth noting, because it shows how grassroots advocacy success on one issue can fuel a pivot to another.

Last month, a congressional committee approved a program that will allow congressional interns to be paid as much as $1,800 per month. Previously, individual congressional offices had to budget to pay their own interns, and many did not, so many interns went unpaid.

But then came a push from a group called Pay Our Interns, launched by Carlos Mark Vera, 25, a former unpaid intern. A 2017 report by Vera and a number of collaborators, including cofounder Guillermo Creamer, changed the conversation by listing the congressional offices that were—and were not—paying interns at the time.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.