NDN Blog

The NDN Team is pleased to announce that we are currently hiring for the following three full-time positions and six summer internships:

• Editor/Writer
• DC Membership Coordinator
• Events Coordinator
• Membership & Development Intern
• Events Intern
• Globalization Initiative Intern
• Green Project Intern
• Hispanic Programs Intern
• Writing & Research Intern

Details for all positions below. To apply for any of these positions, please send your resume, cover letter, and writing sample (when applicable) to jobs@ndn.org. Indicate the position for which you are applying in the subject line.

Editor/Writer

NDN and the New Policy Institute seek an experienced editor to manage our content, oversee the execution of web communications strategies, and engage with our readers and supporters. Specific responsibilities include: maintaining and managing several websites and ensuring effective placement of content; promoting and distributing major work to the media and other interested parties; managing social media presences (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.); tracking and analyzing traffic trends; and writing for the NDN and New Policy Institute sites and blogs.

Job Requirements:

• 2+ years of previous experience as an editor with significant experience working with web content
• Excellent writing skills and experience writing for web
• Experience using content management systems and familiarity with Drupal and WordPress
• Functional knowledge of HTML/CSS (some PHP experience a plus)
• Organizational, communications, and multitasking skills, and a strong ability to work independently

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience using social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, preferably for specific organizations, causes, or campaigns
• Previous experience in center-left politics 
• Visual/Graphic design experience

Salary commensurate with experience.

Send cover letter, resume, 2 clips or writing samples and references to jobs@ndn.org.
Deadline: Feburary 17

DC Membership Coordinator

NDN and the New Policy Institute seek a DC Membership Coordinator to manage our DC-based member network and work as part of the Membership & Development team in securing the organization’s annual budget. 

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Scheduling and executing member events in Washington, DC
• Maintaining relationships with current members and helping to prospect and solicit new members
• Communicating with current and prospective members to share information about NDN and the New Policy Institute’s activities

Applicants should be outgoing and able to foster and maintain interpersonal rapport; be detail-oriented with strong organizational skills; and be able to work independently on assigned projects.  Relevant development/fundraising experience or experience managing or operating in a member-based program is highly valued. The position reports to the VP of Membership & Development. 

Salary commensurate with experience.

Please send a cover letter, resume and references to jobs@ndn.org. 
Deadline: February 17

Events Coordinator

The Events Coordinator is a mid-level position at NDN which will oversee all aspects of the production and private events. The Events Coordinator will oversee event promotion, production, logistics and catering, and manage the event space and catering facilities at the NDN/NPI HQ.  Substantial event experience required, as is general facility with information technology, particularly digital A/V systems.  Ability to work happily and effectively in a team oriented environment a must.

Salary commensurate with experience.
Please send a cover letter, resume and references to jobs@ndn.org.
Deadline: February 17th

Internships at NDN

NDN internships provide experience at a leading progressive think tank and advocacy group. The work environment is professional, fast-paced, and will give interns the ability to develop their political knowledge and skills. Successful applicants will be motivated, self-starting, and familiar with NDN’s goals, objectives, and history. We offer competitive compensation and a transportation stipend to all of our interns.

Availability: NDN's 10-week internship program will begin on Monday, June 7th and run through Friday, August 13th.

How to Apply: To apply, e-mail your resume, cover letter and a brief writing sample to jobs@ndn.org. Please indicate the internship for which you are applying in the subject line of your e-mail. Applicants may indicate interest in as many departments or programmatic areas as they like.

This summer, NDN is offering the following six internships:

• Membership and Development Department: This internship will provide experience in the area of non-profit fundraising and membership programming/management, as well as exposure to all the issues, projects and events at a leading, center-left think tank and advocacy organization in Washington, DC.  Interns will help plan and execute many of the organizations’ events, will gain experience in identifying and engaging foundations, corporations and individuals to fund and support NDN and The New Policy Institute, and strengthen their research, writing and organizational skills in a professional work environment.  Successful interns will have an interest in and affinity for center-left politics and policy, a desire to learn basic fundraising skills and procedures, and be organized, outgoing and attentive to detail. 
  
  
• Events Department: The Events Department Intern will assist with the planning and production of all NDN events. NDN hosts many types of events, from morning press conferences to evening receptions. The Events Intern will work with the production team for each event to ensure that the pre and post production, as well as the actual execution of the event achieves the organization’s goal for each event. Additional responsibilities include managing invitation lists, running phone banks, drafting invitation and thank you notes, and greeting guests. A successful application will have a demonstrated ability to think creatively, work under pressure, exhibit a strong attention to detail, and work well in a team environment.

• Globalization Project: The Globalization intern will assist with research and writing on domestic and international economic policy. A successful applicant will possess an understanding of politics and economics. An academic background in international relations, political science, economics, or related field is preferred.
  
  
• Green Project: The Green Project intern will assist with research and writing on energy and economic policy. A successful applicant will have an understanding of politics and economics, and have a demonstrated interest in energy or environmental policy. An academic background in political science, economics, or a related field is preferred.
  
  
• Hispanic Programs: The Hispanic Programs Intern will work on a range of issues that affect Hispanics in the United States and throughout the world.  These issues range from Immigration and the US Census to our Latin American Policy Initiative (LAPI).  Specific responsibilities include managing relationships and refining our online presence by blogging and using other social media platforms.  An ideal candidate would be someone who has demonstrated that he or she is a self-starter and an excellent writer.  Strong analytical skills and the ability to adapt to a dynamic environment are also key qualities.
  
  
• Research and Writing: The Research and Writing Intern will assist the Writer/Editor manage NDN's web content, help execute NDN's communications strategies, track and analyze online traffic trends, and produce content for NDN and the New Policy Institute sites and blogs. Successful applicants will have excellent writing skills, a basic knowledge of HTML/CSS, strong attention to detail, and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, balance multiple projects, and work independetly. 

We hope you can join us in person on live online this Friday, February 5th at noon for a special luncheon celebrating the release of Joel Kotkin's newest book, The Next Hundred Million--America in 2050. Just one day after the official release of this important new book, Mr. Kotkin will share his thoughts on the changing face of America--a topic deeply connected to NDN's work on the changing American electorate. Simon will moderate the conversation and, as always, take questions from our in person and online audiences.

Click here to RSVP for this event

Check out what others are saying about The Next Hundred Million:

“Kotkin (The City) offers a well-researched—and very sunny—forecast for the American economy, arguing that despite its daunting current difficulties the U.S. economy ‘will emerge by midcentury as the most affluent, culturally rich, and successful nation in history.’…His confidence is well-supported and a reassuring balm amid the political and economic turmoil of the moment.”—Publishers Weekly

“With his usual insightful and contrarian style, Joel Kotkin paints a surprisingly optimistic portrait of America's future in The Next Hundred Million. Placing his faith in the American people and their families and communities, Kotkin once again demonstrates his preeminent skills in describing where our country is really headed. If pundits and policy-makers were to heed the advice offered in this compelling book, our country’s future would be even brighter for America's youngest generations.”—Morley Winograd, co-author of Millennial Makeover: My Space, You Tube and the Future of American Politics

“A fascinating glimpse into a crystal ball, rich in implications that are alternately disturbing and exhilarating —Kirkus Reviews

“Joel Kotkin, born in an America of 200 million people and writing in a nation of 300 million, gives us a tantalizing picture of what the United States will be like when it has 400 million, at the midpoint of this new century. Kotkin has a gift for spotting trends in columns of statistics and a keen eye for the revealing details of everyday life. The Next Hundred Million is an indispensable guidebook to America's future.”
—Michael Barone, co-author of The Almanac of American Politics

“America in 2050 will resemble neither the conservative dream of homogenous small town life nor the liberal preference for order and security. Joel Kotkin’s fascinating new book explains why.”—Alan Wolfe, author of The Future of Liberalism

For more information about the event, Joel Kotkin or The Next Hundred Million, check out the event page on our website.

NDN is pleased to announce an exciting line up of events over the next two weeks. All events are free, open press, open to the public and, with the exception of the event with Panamanian Ambassador Jaime Aleman, will be held at NDN and broadcast live online. Please follow the links below to RSVP if you plan to join us.

Tuesday, February 2nd: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Chairman Phil Angelides on "Examining Our Financial Past to Secure Our Economic Future"
Please join us this Tuesday for an address from Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, charged by Congress with leading the effort to examine the causes of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. NDN Globalization Initiative Chair Dr. Robert Shapiro will introduce Mr. Angelides and open the event with contextual remarks. This event will be held at NDN. Lunch will be served at noon, followed by remarks from Chairman Angelides at 12:15 pm.

Thursday, February 4th: NDN Green Project Releases Major New Paper on Clean Technology and the Nation's Electricity System
NDN and the New Policy Institute are pleased to announce the release of a major new paper on clean technology and the nation’s electricity system by NDN Green Project Director Michael Moynihan. This event will be held at NDN. Lunch will be served at noon, followed by the release of Mr. Moynihan's paper at 12:15 pm.

Friday, February 5th: Joel Kotkin on The Next Hundred Million--A new book about America in 2050
NDN is pleased to host noted author, economist and demographer Joel Kotkin for a discussion about his forthcoming book The Next Hundred Million--America in 2050. Just a day after the book's official release, Mr. Kotkin will share his insights and thoughts about the future of America and its four hundred million inhabitants. NDN President Simon Rosenberg will moderate the discussion and save time for questions from our in-person and online audiences. This event will be held at NDN. Lunch will be served at noon, followed by the presentation at 12:15 pm.

Thursday, February 11th: A Conversation with Panamanian Ambassador Jamie E. Aleman
NDN is proud to host Panamanian Ambassador, Jaime E. Aleman, Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) for a conversation on the challenges and opportunities in the relationship between the United States and Panama, and a unique perspective on bilateral relations. Lunch will be served at noon, and the event will begin at 12:15 pm. This event will be held in 2200 Rayburn House Office Building.

For more information about any of these events, please feel free to reach me by email (jsingleton@ndn.org). We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these great events!

President Obama made it clear in his response to Citizens United that he thought the High Court had gotten it wrong. But with health care unfinished, joblessness climbing, immigration looming and a few wars ongoing, does he have the space and time to address the decision in tonight's speech? My thought is he has no choice. He has to make the time. To overlook this is to ignore what the Obama Presidency means for the American people.

And here's why:

1. Putting the people before the powerful. As President Obama reminded in his video address on Saturday, his Presidency is the most transparent in the history of the Office. Government should be run by the people, not the monied special interests. The Citizens United decision ignores over a century's worth of judicial precedent and legislation designed to prevent the corporate takeover of Washington. The American people elected Obama not least in part because he promised to keep their voice the loudest. He should use his speech tonight to remind the American people and the Congress that this can still be the case.

2. Keeping the focus on the struggles of everyday people. No matter how quickly the administration and Congress try to work, everyday people are still feeling the ill-effects of eight years of Bush's failed economic policy. As Simon and the NDN team have been arguing, the administration and Congress should make the struggle of everyday people their primary governing and rhetorical concern. The President has a big opportunity tonight to show the American people that the government is responding to their needs and is aware of the impact this decision has on their relationship with government.

3. Standing up to judicial activism at its worst. As a constitutional law scholar, President Obama understands the importance of an independent judiciary. Playing politics with the bench goes against the Founders' design for our three branches of government. President Obama should use tonight to make clear that when over a century of judicial precedent, years of congressional intent, debate and legislation, and public opinion supportive of regulating corporate money in politics all stack up against the decision, one must wonder: if not judicial activism, then what?

Bottom line: this decision represents the antithesis of the Obama philosophy of improvement through empowerment--the idea that government should empower everyday people with the tools to improve their own lives so that everyday people can influence the direction of their country. This was the premise of his campaign and, I believe, remains the rationale for his Presidency. To ignore the ramifications of the Supreme Court's judicial activism is to shy away from the very reason we elected this important and inspirational leader.

We hope you can join us in person on live online next Friday, February 5th at noon for a special luncheon celebrating the release of Joel Kotkin's newest book, The Next Hundred Million--America in 2050. Just one day after the official release of this important new book, Mr. Kotkin will share his thoughts on the changing face of America--a topic deeply connected to NDN's work on the changing American electorate. Simon will moderate the conversation and, as always, take questions from our in person and online audiences.

Click here to RSVP for this event

Check out what others are saying about The Next Hundred Million:

“Kotkin (The City) offers a well-researched—and very sunny—forecast for the American economy, arguing that despite its daunting current difficulties the U.S. economy ‘will emerge by midcentury as the most affluent, culturally rich, and successful nation in history.’…His confidence is well-supported and a reassuring balm amid the political and economic turmoil of the moment.”—Publishers Weekly

“With his usual insightful and contrarian style, Joel Kotkin paints a surprisingly optimistic portrait of America's future in The Next Hundred Million. Placing his faith in the American people and their families and communities, Kotkin once again demonstrates his preeminent skills in describing where our country is really headed. If pundits and policy-makers were to heed the advice offered in this compelling book, our country’s future would be even brighter for America's youngest generations.”—Morley Winograd, co-author of Millennial Makeover: My Space, You Tube and the Future of American Politics

“A fascinating glimpse into a crystal ball, rich in implications that are alternately disturbing and exhilarating —Kirkus Reviews

“Joel Kotkin, born in an America of 200 million people and writing in a nation of 300 million, gives us a tantalizing picture of what the United States will be like when it has 400 million, at the midpoint of this new century. Kotkin has a gift for spotting trends in columns of statistics and a keen eye for the revealing details of everyday life. The Next Hundred Million is an indispensable guidebook to America's future.”
—Michael Barone, co-author of The Almanac of American Politics

“America in 2050 will resemble neither the conservative dream of homogenous small town life nor the liberal preference for order and security. Joel Kotkin’s fascinating new book explains why.”—Alan Wolfe, author of The Future of Liberalism

For more information about the event, Joel Kotkin or The Next Hundred Million, check out the event page on our website.

Following this week's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs FEC, President Obama used his weekly address to reaffirm his commitment to keep the voices of everyday Americans the strongest voices in Washington. President Obama lamented that, despite his administration's historic reforms aimed at improving government transparency, the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday threatens years of bi-partisan cooperation and movement towards openness in government:

We’ve been making steady progress. But this week, the United States Supreme Court handed a huge victory to the special interests and their lobbyists – and a powerful blow to our efforts to rein in corporate influence. This ruling strikes at our democracy itself. By a 5-4 vote, the Court overturned more than a century of law – including a bipartisan campaign finance law written by Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold that had barred corporations from using their financial clout to directly interfere with elections by running advertisements for or against candidates in the crucial closing weeks.

President Obama announced that his staff had already begun working with a bi-partisan coalition on the Hill to craft a legislative response to SCOTUS' narrow decision. You can read the transcript of President Obama's remarks here and watch the YouTube video of the address below.

In the narrowly divided Citizens United v FEC decision announced this morning, the Supreme Court broke with a century of precedent and ruled to lift limits on corporate-funded political communications and electioneering expenditures. Justice Kennedy's opinion on behalf of the narrow 5-person majority ruled that a corporation's general treasury funds may be spent on electioneering communications and independent expenditures--effectively rejecting the historical distinction between the First Amendment's application to corporations and individuals. In short, the Court found that the First Amendment applies equally to corporations and individuals, and thus forbids the government from limiting political speech based on the identity of the speaker (the "speaker" being either an individual or corporation).

But thank goodness for Justice Stevens. At age 90, Stevens authored a 90 page dissent in which he takes issue with the majority's equal treatment of individuals and corporations in the "political sphere," and warns against the potentially harmful effects of corporate spending in local and national races. Stevens argues, and I couldn't agree more, that this decision "threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation."

President Obama issued a thoughtful response to the decision this afternoon, in which he warned against its dangerous practical effects and called upon Congress to prepare an immediate legislative response. President Obama argued that this decision threatens the influence of everyday Americans whose voices will be "drowned out" by "big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington." As Simon said this afternoon on live TV, "this ruling takes the power away from people and gives it to privilege."

Some links worth the read:

Citizens United Round Up on SCOTUS Blog: The ever-reliable and always-insightful aggregation of all things SCOTUS offers suggested readings and a live feed from this morning's announcement.

Corporate takeover: The Supreme Court's reckless conservative activism by EJ Dionne: Short, sweet, and sharp. Well said, EJ. Thanks for this.

The Senator from Exxon-Mobile? by Senator Bob Kerrey on Huffington Post: Former-Senator Kerrey calls on Congress to enact real reform now... or this title line will no longer be in-jest.

Twitter SCOTUS Feed: Check out what the rest of us are saying in 140 characters or less.

Tune into Fox News at 12:40 pm to hear what Simon has to say about this morning's narrowly divded ruling in Citizens United vs FEC. The 5-4 decision upends over a century of precedent limiting the role of corporate money in politics and undermines the integrity of our political process. Tune in to hear more on this from Simon!

The newest member of NDN's Team Alicia Menendez may be new on staff but she is no stranger to NDN. In fact, Alicia joined NDN Fellows and co-authors of Millennial Makeover Morley Winograd and Mike Hais almost two years ago for a NDN event on the rising Millennial Generation.

You can watch a clip from that event below, in which Alicia uses specific polling results and demographic data points to show that Millennials are driving a new kind of politics in America. Sound familiar? Check out the video and see yet another reason why we're so exited to have Alicia on board!

We hope you will join us next Thursday, January 14th at 12:15 pm for Simon's presentation of "The Dawn of a New Politics." We will serve lunch at noon and go live with the presentation in person and on the web at 12:15 pm.

2009 was a big year for our country and our world: we witnessed the first year of an historic presidency, made unprecedented progress on legislation to reform a broken health care system, experienced social media and new technologies that enabled us to communicate and share information with speed and efficiency never before possible, and saw political change around the world--from a growing role for emerging economic powers to cries for freedom and justice from newly empowered people in Iran--that allowed us to envision the potential of the interconnected 21st century.

In the midst of these achievements, 2009 also brought its share of challenges: the struggle of everyday people to get ahead in this age of globalization continued; the diversity of generations and races, each with an equal voice in the conversation about who we are and what we are becoming as a nation, caused tensions to surface within our communities, government, and even political parties; and, as we were reminded on Christmas Day, terrorism and unconventional warfare remain a very real threat.

If the first few days of 2010 are any indication of what lies ahead, this year will be filled with just as many challenges and surprises as the last. Come hear Simon's take on where we've been and where we're going as this new age of Obama continues to unfold.

Click here to RSVP