ANCA Summer Internship Application Deadline Set for April 25th

March 31, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC — University students interested in advancing Armenian American policy priorities and experiencing federal-level pro-Armenian advocacy firsthand are encouraged to apply to the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Leo Sarkisian Summer Internship (LSI) and Maral Melkonian Avetisyan Fellowship by April 25, 2022.

The six-week in-person Washington DC session will run from June 13th to July 22nd, 2022. Detailed information and online application forms are available at anca.org/internship. Students looking for internship opportunities participating in the UCDC Program, CalState in DC and Pepperdine University DC Programs are also welcome to apply for summer positions at the ANCA.

“The ANCA is excited to welcome our 2022 summer interns and fellows to strengthen their pro-Armenia/Artsakh advocacy and gain a deeper understanding of geopolitical realities facing the Armenian nation, while making friendships that will last a lifetime,” said ANCA programs director Alex Manoukian. “With Capitol Hill and Washington, DC’s policy and political institutions opening back up for in-person work, events, and meetings, we look forward to our interns once-again being fully immersed in the daily life of our nation’s capital.”

The ANCA’s LSI Summer Internship provides participants a unique opportunity to engage in the public policy issues in the nation’s capital but also allows them to network with the ANCA’s vast network of ANCA Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway alumni and LSI alumni residing in the DC area and across the country. For more than three decades, it has been the Armenian American community’s signature advocacy training program, preparing hundreds of leaders who actively advance ANCA policy priorities on campuses and in communities nationwide.

Last year’s ANCA Leo Sarkisian Internship and Maral Melkonian Fellowship participants encouraged broad-based civic outreach to Senators and Representatives in support of continued US funding for life-saving demining and rehabilitation services to the people of Artsakh.

Established in 1986 and named after the ANCA Eastern U.S. leader Leo Sarkisian, a pioneer of ANCA grassroots advocacy, the LSI program is a cornerstone of the ANCA’s nationwide efforts to educate, motivate, and activate Armenian American youth to expand advocacy efforts in their hometowns and campuses. It was augmented in 2019 with the establishment of the Maral Melkonian Avetisyan Fellowship, established as a living legacy to a devoted youth leader whose community activism and commitment to the Armenian homeland continues to inspire new generations of young Armenian Americans.

The participants work on a wide variety of projects based on their individual interests while gaining hands-on experiences within the American political system. A bi-weekly lecture series features guest lecturers, including members of Congress, ambassadors and Armenian-American leaders. During the six-week Washington, DC program, interns live at The Aramian House, named in honor of the late community leader and philanthropist Martha Aramian of Providence, Rhode Island and located a short distance from the ANCA’s Washington, DC headquarters.

In addition to opportunities in Washington, DC, the ANCA Western Region and ANCA Eastern Region offer internships and fellowships in Los Angeles, Sacramento and virtually throughout the East Coast.

#####