YATI Speed Organizing

Youth Action Team Internship

The Youth Action Team Internship empowers female-identifying Catholic high school juniors and seniors to act for social change in their local communities. Through faith-based community organizing workshops, this internship builds interns’ confidence in their identities, nurtures unique leadership gifts, and teaches interns to strategically build movements for social change. Through intern-centered formation, workshops, and diverse spiritual practices, we cultivate a deep sense of agency and solidarity, ensuring that each intern leaves the program knowing they are powerful and capable of creating positive social change.

INTERNSHIP BENEFITS
Community
Spiritual
Formation
Leadership Development
Social Change
Empowerment
Service
Hours
OUR PROCESS

The Youth Action Team Internship is a two-part process spanning over an academic year.

Part One: Becoming a Community Organizer

September to December
Receive weekly intern-centered workshops designed to help you become a faith-based community organizer!

Sample Schedule
Weeks 1-3: Identity Development
Week 4: Storytelling
Weeks 5-8: Listening and Communication Skills
Weeks 9-12: Listening Campaign
Weeks 13-14: Collective Discernment

Part Two: Building a Movement for Social Change

January to May
Interns build a social movement to address a social justice issue they collectively identified in part one of their internship.

Past Movements

2023-2024: Mental Health Campaign

YATI 2024 Conflict to Ceasefire

The interns built a mental health campaign asking for the implementation of near-to-peer support, parental support programs, and social emotional learning curriculum in Catholic schools to address the mental health crisis for Gen Z. The campaign materials were presented to the Archdiocese of Seattle in May 2024 for their consideration for the following academic year.

2022-2023: Addressing Ableism and Racism in Catholic Schools

2023-23 YATI group
YATI and leaders celebrating their accomplishments of social changes within their schools, at the IPJC Spring Benefit.

After hearing from over 100 Seattle community members, the interns identified racism and ableism as major issues affecting their peers. Through the “At the Table” social action, they shared personal stories and called on Catholic schools to adopt more inclusive practices. As a result, schools took steps such as hiring a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, forming DEI committees, adjusting schedules for later start times, and reforming curricula and grading to promote equity.

2021-2022: Support for the Philippine Human Rights Act

Rep Smith Town Hall 2022 visit
In support of the Philippine Human Rights Act, YATI attending a town hall meeting with the Seattle Filipino community.

In partnership with the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Seattle Chapter, the interns collaborated to plan and implement a townhall meeting with Representative Adam Smith. The townhall allowed Filipinos to share their concerns about militarization in the Philippines and demand Rep. Smith cut funding for military aid to the Philippines to stop extrajudicial killings of Filipinos.

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE INTERNSHIP?

The internship application for the 2024-2025 internship cycle is closed. If you will be a rising junior or senior during the 2025-2026 academic year, the application will open here on May 1, 2025.

In the meantime, join the Catholic High School Leaders for Social Change – a student-led coalition working on social justice issues in Seattle.

For questions about the Youth Action Team Internship, please email Sarah Pericich-Lopez at spericichlopez@ipjc.org.