Intern, Marketing & Communications

The Context

Atlanta leads the nation in income inequality and has one of the lowest rates of social mobility in the entire country. In fact, recent research suggests that a child living in poverty in Atlanta has about a four percent chance of moving out of poverty and into a higher income bracket in his or her lifetime.

Despite these odds, Atlanta’s students have dreams for their futures and their families. In 2015, Achieve Atlanta (AATL) was launched by a group of local leaders determined to support these dreams. Coming together initially with the goal of dramatically increasing the number of Atlanta Public School (APS) students who earn a degree. Achieve Atlanta today, inspired by the power of strategic, coordinated action, and using data as the spark for change, has expanded its vision for the future to include eliminating the degree attainment gap in the city, expanding scholarship access to Fulton County Schools (FCS), and making Atlanta a place where race and income no longer predict postsecondary success or upward mobility. 

The Work

In pursuit of its vision, Achieve Atlanta’s mission is to help APS students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. To do this, Achieve Atlanta:

• partners with college advising providers with proven results to serve APS students while they are in high school;
• establishes strategic formal relationships with postsecondary institutions that can successfully serve APS graduates, especially those who are first generation or come from underrepresented populations;
• is progressing along a plan to mobilize broad community support by leveraging data to accelerate collaborations that further college access, persistence, and completion in Atlanta; and
• provides Achieve Atlanta Scholarships to students to reduce financial barriers to college enrollment and completion.

The Results

It’s clear that Achieve Atlanta’s endeavors are yielding significant gains; driving an increase in college enrollment and persistence, creating greater access to financial aid and scholarships, securing meaningful commitments from partners, identifying and removing barriers to college completion, and supporting APS to institutionalize a culture that raises awareness of and encourages the pursuit of postsecondary education, thereby enhancing individual students’ ability to realize their own potential.

The Opportunity

Achieve Atlanta is seeking an enthusiastic Intern, Marketing & Communications, to support the coordination and execution of all aspects of the organization’s marketing efforts and external events. This key role entails supporting the organization’s communications strategies and goals.  Reporting to the Manager, Marketing & Communications, the Intern will work closely with other AATL team members to support the organization’s communications strategies and goals.

Primary Responsibilities

• Supporting the Senior Director, Marketing & Communications in guiding the organization’s comprehensive communication strategy and stewarding Achieve Atlanta’s brand such that it represents both impact and influence in the educational equity and access to opportunity spaces
• Supporting the Manager, Marketing & Communications in executing on the day-to-day marketing tasks and campaigns
• Performing research on partners’ social media and marketing partnership opportunities
• Writing and creating content
• Organizing organization-wide talking points and data summaries
• Conducting social media research, outreach, and planning
• Editing social media videos
• Designing Instagram stories and posts in Canva
• Organizing graphics, photos, and video files
• Brainstorming marketing/social media campaign ideas
• Supporting the drafting of e-newsletters
• Supporting event execution
• Performing additional assignments as needed

Education, Experience, & Knowledge  

• Pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in communications, marketing, or a related field.
• Experience using social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and/or YouTube)
• Experience writing professionally
• Experience using Canva 
• Experience using Dropbox or a similar online storage platform
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite and email

Skills & Abilities

Project Coordination and Execution

• Demonstrates strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines with guidance
• Supports project coordination by tracking tasks, timelines, and deliverables
• Shows curiosity and awareness of trends that may impact marketing and communications work
• Collaboration and Relationship Building
• Builds positive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, contributing to a collaborative team environment
• Demonstrates a service-oriented mindset, supporting team and stakeholder needs
• Shows openness to feedback and a willingness to learn from others

Communication

• Demonstrates strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey ideas
• Assists in creating and editing digital communications (e.g., social media, newsletters, website content)
• Approaches communication with empathy and respect for diverse perspectives
• Demonstrates humility and eagerness to learn and grow

Adaptability and Initiative

• Works effectively in a fast-paced environment while balancing multiple priorities
• Shows willingness to take initiative and complete tasks with appropriate guidance
• Adapts to changing priorities with a positive, flexible attitude

Analytical and Problem-Solving

• Applies basic analytical and problem-solving skills to support team projects
• Pays strong attention to detail to ensure accuracy and quality in work
• Uses feedback and data to improve performance and outputs

Technical Skills

• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Familiarity with or willingness to learn graphic design tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Creative Suite)
• Exposure to or interest in using tools such as Grammarly, Asana, and social media platforms

Organizational Competencies 

• Mission and Values Driven: Understands how job contributes to the greater mission of AATL; operates within the core values; supports and performs responsibilities with Mission and Vision in mind. 

• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates awareness of one’s own and others’ emotions, attitudes, biases, belief systems, strengths, and limitations to adjust behavior and thus manage interactions successfully and create a psychologically safe workplace.  

• Strategic Approach: Understands and processes complex information for use in long-term planning and execution. 

• Partnership: Works collaboratively across internal and external boundaries to build relationships and achieve common goals.

• Growth and Development: Actively seeks to improve skills and knowledge to meet the organization’s vision and commitments, to fulfill current job responsibilities and prepare for future career goals and opportunities.

• Leading: Takes personal accountability for the organization’s success. 

Organizational Culture 

Achieve Atlanta is a value-driven organization, grounded in principles that guide everything we do.

• Unwavering Belief: A steadfast confidence in our students is the inspiration and fuel for everything we do.  Their dreams are the foundation for our work.
• Champion for Students: We back our belief in students by acknowledging historical inequities, breaking down systemic barriers, earning students’ trust, and building their agency to become their own champions.
• Expectation of Excellence: We foster a culture of excellence through consistent effort, tenacity, and integrity, resulting in work we can stand behind. It is the standard we set for ourselves and the example we model for our students and community.
• Intentional Collaboration: We cannot achieve our vision alone. We deliberately work together internally and build strategic partnerships externally to identify and accomplish shared goals in changing environments.
• Continuous Improvement: We are constantly learning, remaining curious, and reflecting on our systems, processes, and outcomes to meet our mission.  We encourage critical analysis of our work to make thoughtful adjustments, innovate, and take risks to create solutions.

Salary and Hybrid Requirement

This is a part-time (10 hours/week), paid position at $19/hour. Achieve Atlanta has a hybrid work model, and the candidate must be able to come into our Atlanta office at least one day a month. The intern must be able to use his/her own laptop and phone for work projects and must provide their own transportation for office visits/meetings/events. Parking fees related to office visits and work travel will be covered by Achieve Atlanta during the internship.

Achieve Atlanta is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of qualifications. Achieve Atlanta policy prohibits unlawful discrimination in any employment decision based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religious creed, color, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age, sexual orientation or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law or ordinance or regulation.