Current Opportunities for Smithsonian Latino Center

Young Ambassadors Program

Opportunity Type: Pre-college Program
Application Deadline: April 06, 2024
Description: The Smithsonian Latino Center's Young Ambassadors Program (YAP) is a national program for graduating high school seniors that fosters the next generation of Latino leaders in the arts, sciences, and humanities via the Smithsonian Institution and its resources. YAP is a college preparatory and leadership program that encourages participants to explore various academic and career opportunities through the lens of the Latino experience.

Up to 24 graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated interest and commitment to the arts, sciences, or humanities as it pertains to Latino communities will be selected to participate in a weeklong all-expenses paid interdisciplinary training seminar in Washington D.C. This will be followed by a four-week internship in a preselected museum or cultural center in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Smithsonian Latino Center

Opportunity Type: Internship
Description: This is an unpaid internship opportunity wherein the intern will support the Smithsonian Latino Center’s advancement activities, gain valuable fundraising research skills and exposure to an arts non-profit organization. The intern’s primary duties include conducting research on existing and prospective individual, foundation, and corporate donors. Furthermore, the intern attends bi-weekly SLC staff meetings, weekly SLC advancement meetings, and project-related advancement meetings as appropriate.

SLC Mission Statement: The Smithsonian Latino Center is the division of the Smithsonian Institution that ensures that Latino contributions to art, science and the humanities are highlighted, understood and advanced through the development and support of public programs, scholarly research, museum collections and educational opportunities at the Smithsonian Institution and its affiliated organizations across the United States and internationally.

Through this internship, interns will develop critical skills associated with nonprofit administration and fundraising. Specifically, they will:

• Learn how to conduct prospect research as they generate lists of potential donors and match them with SLC funding needs 
• Develop their understanding of philanthropy as they review and evaluate funding opportunities
• Understand the role of fundraising at a non-profit through participation in regular fundraising team meetings, meetings with SLC and Smithsonian colleagues, and staff meetings 
• Gain insight into the intersection of fundraising, marketing, and outreach as they update the SLC contact list and database of potential funders 
• Refine their written, oral, and presentation skills as they assist in the drafting of correspondence, proposals, pitch materials, and presentations 
• Gain exposure to nonprofit board management as they assist with board meeting preparation 
• Improve their project management skills as they coordinate in-house mailings to prospective and existing corporate, foundation, and/or individual donors 
• Gain an understanding of non-profit operations through special projects and administrative duties as assigned 

 

Contact Information

Smithsonian Latino Center
Capital Gallery, 600 Maryland Ave. SW, Suite 7042 MRC 512
Washington, DC 20024
www.latino.si.edu/index.htm