Start/End Dates: May 26th, 2025 - August 9th, 2025 (11 weeks)
Compensation: $688 per week
Medical Insurance: Not provided
Application Due: February 7th, 2025

The Latino Heritage Internship Program seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers. 

You must meet the following additional requirement:

• You must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• Valid Driver’s License: Required for this position. 

*A personal vehicle is also required for this position.

Position Description: 

At Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, the Latino Heritage Program Intern serves as a community ambassador, fostering connections and communication with local Latino and Hispanic groups. This park has a strong track record of hiring, retaining, and mentoring interns. It is an ideal place for someone new to the National Park Service or new to the workforce to begin their career with a well-defined internship structured around set tasks and deliverables.

The intern in this role will build upon the successes of the Park’s 2024 LHIP intern, who successfully translated park materials, such as the park’s welcome video and site guide, into Spanish. The intern will continue to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with members of the Latino community, building on the work of their predecessor. Overall, the park is seeking a candidate who will foster additional connections with local groups that empower underserved audiences. The intern will also serve as a representative of the park at community partner events, park events, and meetings.

A particular focus of this internship for 2025 is further development with youth groups. Over the past two summers, we have bridged the gap between opportunities and underserved communities. Park programs involving our LHIP intern last summer reached 820 individuals from diverse backgrounds and all age groups. One of the most critical contributions of our LHIP intern was serving as a translator at these events, imparting important knowledge about how to safely recreate in the park.

A secondary task for this individual will be to continue the work of translating our newest educational materials, such as lesson plans and other resources, into Spanish. Additionally, the park is interested in a candidate who wishes to explore a specific topic within the area’s Latino history, with the goal of contributing to a future exhibit at the Visitor Center. Fluency in both Spanish and English is crucial for this position. The facilitation of bilingual, intergenerational programs with Latino families will be a critical part of this intern’s work plan.

In addition to working with the park, the selected intern will participate in several partnership programs offered by the Providence Urban Wildlife Refuge. This partnership between Providence Parks and US Fish and Wildlife facilitates recreational opportunities such as birding and fishing, specifically targeting underserved communities in Providence County. Each summer, these partners organize large fishing events through the Vamos a Pescar program, which creates pathways for Latino children and their families to fish in multiple parts of Rhode Island. The intern will play a vital role in organizing a Vamos a Pescar program and supporting other fishing events in the Valley, as well as statewide. This emphasis on recreation is part of a continued effort to address the lack of safe, free, and fun recreational opportunities for underserved communities.

There are vibrant Latino communities in the greater Pawtucket/Providence/Central Falls area. In Pawtucket, RI, where the main visitor information station is located, 25.2% of the population (around 75,000) identified as Latino or Hispanic in the last U.S. census. In Providence, RI, just south of Pawtucket, 42.9% of a population of 189,000 identified as Latino or Hispanic. These populations are concentrated in census tracts with very high Environmental Justice Index (EJI) numbers. Many people continue to live with the adverse effects of the Industrial Revolution, a story we share and interpret within the park.

At this historical park, creating quality interpretive and recreational programs for people throughout the Blackstone Valley is a priority. The intern will engage in outreach with local youth, families, and visitors from around the world.

Responsibilities:

Fluency in both Spanish and English, along with strong communication skills, will be vital to a successful internship.

Qualifications:

An intern for this position should be bilingual (English/Spanish). Fluency in both English and Spanish, not just proficiency, is required. The intern may be expected to give safety messages, directions, or other information at events, so mastery of both languages is crucial. The intern will also serve as a front-line interpreter at certain events. Therefore, strong interpersonal communication skills are necessary. Applicants should have a background in either history, science, or education. Strong communicators with a willingness to interact with new people and groups will be best suited for this role. They should have the capacity to work independently and as part of a team. Lastly, the intern should have a desire to learn and be part of a workgroup where their personal knowledge and experiences are valued.

Interns in this program will receive 480 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below for more information about PLC.

Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority (PLC)
The Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority is a special hiring authority available to qualifying interns. The intern must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, inclusive, or a veteran up to age 35 and complete 640 hours of work on an appropriate conservation project to be eligible for this hiring authority. Upon successful completion of the PLC project(s), the intern is eligible for two years to be hired non-competitively into a federal seasonal, term, or permanent position. The applicant must apply to a PLC-eligible position advertised on USAJobs.gov and selected off a non-competitive certificate of eligibility. For more information, see DOI Personnel Bulletins 11-02 , 12-13, and 17-03.

EEO Statement

Environment for the Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.