Community Engagement Student Intern (Student Intern II) (Vacancy)

Definition

About the Internship

The Columbus City Attorney’s Office is looking for a curious and committed student to join our External Affairs Division as a Policy Advocacy & Community Engagement Intern for the Fall 2025 semester. You may work up to 20 hours/week (may need to verify w/fiscal), plus occasional events outside of business hours.

This internship is ideal for individuals interested in public policy, community engagement, local government, or law. You will help our team build stronger relationships with community stakeholders, organize outreach efforts, and support policy research that turns neighborhood input into action.

You will work on real projects, gain firsthand experience in how municipal government operates, and gain concrete tools and materials for your resume or portfolio.

The rate of pay for this position is $21.00/hour.

Internship Roles and Responsibilities

• Help build and maintain a stakeholder database that tracks community organizations, local leaders, nonprofits, and others who work on housing, public safety, youth, and consumer protection issues.

• Organize stakeholders by topic, region, and relationship strength.

• Create basic social and power maps to help our team prioritize outreach.

• Track contact history and help us follow up with partners after events.

• Attend select community events as part of our team.

• Research best practices from other cities on topics like housing enforcement, victim services, and consumer protection.

• Write short memos or issue briefs summarizing findings and policy options.

• Help draft one-pagers or outreach tools for use with community members and partners.

• Work with staff to connect community concerns with relevant legal and policy strategies.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities

• Policy and issue research.

• Professional communication.

• Event and outreach coordination and Community referral resources.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality or privileged information.

Preferred Qualifications

Actively enrolled full-time in an undergraduate or graduate program in a college, university, or

technical school. As well as:

• Interest in public service, government, policy, or law.

• Strong writing and communication skills.

• Organized, proactive, and able to work independently.

• Comfortable working with spreadsheets or learning new tools.

• Able to handle sensitive or internal information with professionalism.

• Prior community involvement, outreach experience, or second-language fluency (e.g., Somali

or Spanish) is a plus but not required.

About the Columbus City Attorney’s Office

Civil Division

Located at 77 N. Front, the Civil Division is responsible to defend the city and its employees in

contract disputes, claims for personal injury or property damage, constitutional violations,

wrongful death, tax disputes, and claims requesting money damages.

Prosecution Division

Located at 375 South High Street in the Franklin County Courthouse complex, the Prosecutor

Division is responsible for the prosecution of misdemeanor offenses on behalf of citizens of the

City of Columbus and the State of Ohio in the Franklin County Municipal Court. From case

initiation in our Prosecution Resources Unit to defense of successful prosecutions in our

Appellate Unit, the Division provides a wide array of services attendant to the resolution of

criminal allegations and complaints. In addition to the services, we provide the citizens of the

City of Columbus and the unincorporated areas of Franklin County, this Division also represents,

by contractual agreement, a number of Franklin County municipalities. The Division consists of

Assistant City Prosecutors, the Legal Assistant Unit, the Prosecution Resources Unit, the

Domestic Violence & Stalking Unit, and the Appellate Unit.

For more information, please visit our website:

*This is a temporary position limited to 480 hours in a rolling calendar year.*

Under immediate supervision, is responsible on a part-time basis for learning, collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information used by technicians, professional workers, and administrators; performs related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Actively enrolled full-time in an undergraduate or graduate program in a college, university, or technical school, OR actively enrolled in a cadet program in the Department of Public Safety.

Test/Job Contact Information

Recruitment #: 25-0782-V15

Employment Type: Part-Time Temporary (480) Limitation

Should you have questions regarding this vacancy, please contact:

Chadd Smith

Columbus City Attorney

77 N. Front St.

Columbus, Ohio 43215

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The City of Columbus is an Equal Opportunity Employer