*Mayor’s Office of Community Engagement interns and staff at a donation drive for WEAVE, Inc. The donation drive was organized by intern Garima Penumechchu.*

Jan 10, 2023 (Sacramento, CA) - Students seeking to gain local government experience have a new way to connect with Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s office.

The Mayor’s Office of Community Engagement launched a new page on the mayor’s office blog, EngageSac.org, in January 2023 to help potential interns learn more about internship opportunities. The site is engagesac.org/internships.

Internships in the Mayor’s Office offer a variety of experiences, according to Mariela Medina, the coordinator for internship programming. She said interns will learn firsthand how the Mayor’s office responds to constituent needs, how city departments and other agencies and governments work together, and how local governments can influence policy at the state and federal levels.

“Not only are our interns an incredibly valuable part of our team, but I hope they come away from this opportunity feeling empowered to go make positive change in their communities and neighborhoods,” Mayor Steinberg said.

*Mayor Darrell Steinberg with interns and youth volunteers from the 2021 State of the City address at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center.*

High school, college and graduate students have often proposed their own projects or events. Current intern Garima Penumechchu organized a donation drive for WEAVE, Inc. Keishaun Turner, an intern in the summer of 2019 as part of the Improve Your Tomorrow Fellowship program, organized a community coffee in his home neighborhood of Valley Hi focused on young people and mental health with Mayor Steinberg.

Turner now works full time as a community engagement and outreach coordinator for Elk Grove Unified School District while focusing on communications classes at Sacramento City College. He says his experience working on this project and responding to constituents helped him develop his professional communication skills, his public speaking skills and gave him more confidence to connect and grow professional relationships.

“You never know who you will meet or what will come from it,” Turner said.

*Interns in 2018 working with Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment staff on a big outreach project.*

Community Engagement Interns perform a variety of duties including:

Responding to resident inquiries
Research on issues important to the Mayor’s office
Assisting with important meetings, community events, and press conferences
Scheduling, logistics
Professional writing (certificates, proclamations, resolutions, memos, etc.)
Special projects

Working alongside senior staff is a key feature of interning in the Mayor’s Office of Community Engagement. Interns have worked on major projects like the Mayor’s Commission on Climate Change, Great Plates food delivery, and doing extensive research for a racial equity project.

*Interns Michelle Young and John Michael Marcelo in 2018*

Claire Thomas, now a graduate from UC Davis in political science, interned in the summer of 2021.

“The best thing I learned was to always keep your mind open because you never know what might pique your interest and where that interest will lead you career-wise,” Thomas said. After interning in the Mayor’s office, Thomas went on to be a lead organizer for the 2022 statewide Proposition 1 campaign.

Thomas credits her internship in the Mayor’s office helping her understand how to navigate within a large organization and giving her some basic skills using CRM software like Salesforce.com. She recalled working on a graphic design contest on climate change where she collaborated with senior staff from the city’s Climate Action Office, the city’s Office of Arts + Culture, SMUD and Sacramento City Unified School District.

“It was such a welcoming environment, you just felt like you were part of the team,” Thomas said.

Applications for the Mayor’s Office are accepted year-round and positions are filled on an as-needed basis. Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and their resume to Mariela Medina by emailing her at mmedina@cityofsacramento.org.