Global Programs Support Internship

CNFA, Inc. is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering farmers and entrepreneurs and increasing and sustaining rural incomes in less developed parts of the world. This is accomplished through developing value-adding agricultural enterprises and strengthening farmer-market linkages. CNFA focuses on commercial activity, locally defined needs, and leveraged investment in order to foster the economic empowerment of rural residents and enterprises all along the food value chain-from farmers to local suppliers and processors, to larger companies, financial institutions, and distributors and exporters.

 Summary:

 Under the supervision of the Senior Vice President for Programs and several Program Officers, the GPS Intern assists in backstopping CNFA’s economic and enterprise development projects in Central & Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

 Fall term: August 30th, 2010 - December 30th, 2010

Principal Responsibilities:

Specific responsibilities include:

• Backstop all aspects of USAID and AGRA agricultural programs throughout Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe
• Facilitate communications between Regional field offices and the CNFA-DC headquarters through conference calls, correspondence, and contact lists
• Review, edit and translate (given the necessary skill set) program documents, including all types of reports submitted to home office from the field
• Research various features of existing programs and new business; participate in discussions of program strategy and the field of international development
• Arrange international travel logistics for program officers and consultants with regard to plane, hotel and embassy visits to obtain visas 
• Assist in the implementation of internal and donor Monitoring & Evaluation to track key program indicators

Shared internship responsibilities:

• Contribute to research, writing, editing, creation of graphic elements and recruiting efforts for proposal development
• Rotate receptionist duty and provide administrative support to staff as needed
• Support the Executive Projects Officer in keeping the office running smoothly with a variety of office management responsibilities and event planning for CNFA headquarters

Additional qualifications for this position:

• Strong organizational skills, ability to multitask
• Admin background and interest in program management
• Strong research skills, experience with both qualitative and quantitative analysis
• Advanced language skills may also be beneficial

Ideal Candidate:

The candidate should be a college junior, senior, recent graduate or graduate student; have a minimum GPA of 3.0; and demonstrate an interest in international issues. Prior office experience is required, travel experience and knowledge of another language is preferred. International applicants are eligible only under a proper visa entitling them to receive pay for their work in the US (typically a J-1 or F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT). CNFA does not sponsor work visas and a tourist visa will not suffice.

International applicants attending a US university should ascertain their eligibility through their dean, academic advisor, or registrar’s office. International applicants not attending a US university are strongly encouraged to speak with the US Consulate in their country to ascertain their eligibility before going through the trouble of applying. In their cover letter they should also mention any visa arrangements they have made or plan to make.

All internship applicants should submit an online candidate profile and upload a cover letter, resume and brief writing sample (no more than three pages) through the electronic application form on CNFA’s website. An ability to start earlier than the indicated start date could be looked upon favorably and should be indicated in the cover letter. Please list your name, the type of internship, and internship term (spring, summer, or fall) on the footer of each page submitted. Note that the filenames of your documents for upload must contain no spaces in order for our system to accept them. 

A (only one is necessary) letter of recommendation should be submitted directly from your reference to CNFA by email (preferred method) with the letter attached in Word or PDF format), mail, or fax to the contact below. Send to: Executive Projects Officer; CNFA, Inc.; 1828 L St NW Ste 710; Washington, DC 20036. Tel. +; Fax. +; Email: .

Your application will be considered incomplete and will not be considered without the submission of all four documents: cover letter, resume, writing sample and letter of recommendation.

If you experience technical difficulties uploading your documents, you may alternately email them to , citing in the body of the email the specific technical difficulty you encountered and any corresponding error messages.