ORGANIZATION

Ceres is a sustainability nonprofit organization working with the most influential investors and companies to build leadership and drive solutions throughout the economy. Through our powerful networks and advocacy, we tackle the world's biggest sustainability challenges, including climate change, water scarcity and pollution, and human rights abuses.

For more information about Ceres, please visit our web site (www.ceres.org).

We are seeking dynamic, committed interns who would find it exciting to join the Ceres team!

INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION

Ceres' interns support Program, Communications, and Development staff working with a wide variety of constituents within the Ceres network: environmental activists, investors, funders, and corporations. While providing some administrative support, interns will primarily work in one of the following areas using skills in research, project coordination, IT and communications. Detailed descriptions of each available position can be found below.

Each fall internship position requires 10 to 15 hours of work per week. Schedules can be flexible to fit with class and/or work schedules. Ceres compensates interns at a rate of $13.00 hour. Our Fall Internship Program runs from September 2017 through mid-December 2017.

Please read details of each position on our website and apply for the specific internship you are interested in. We typically hire 8-10 interns, who are a mix of undergraduate and graduate students. Please note: Only the Program Teams listed on the website are seeking an intern for Fall 2017. If any of these internships listed below are not currently on our website, we are no longer accepting applications for that position.

INSURANCE INTERN

Insurers are in the business of helping society to understand and reduce risk.  Today, the world faces a formidable threat-climate change. Ceres Insurance Initiative, part of our Climate and Energy Program, seeks to mobilize insurance companies and industry regulators around proactive steps the industry can take to reduce the risks and increase society's resiliency.  For the fall of 2017, Ceres' Insurance Program is looking for an intern to provide support in the following areas:          Contribute to leading-edge research and engagement with the insurance industry on a project to identify barriers to scaling up insurers' investments in clean energy and other sustainable infrastructure        Contribute to various projects to drive uptake of the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) Recommendations within the insurance sector, through both thought leadership as well as stakeholder engagement strategies        Support production of materials for high-level meetings and workshops, e.g. proof reading, mocking up graphics, and drafting text        Assist in organizing internal/external meetings and workshops        Provide research support and data analysis for ad hoc projects on key topics   Applicants should be comfortable with qualitative and quantitative research, have a general understanding of the financial sector, and be very familiar with Microsoft Office Suite. Skills in financial analysis tools and techniques will be highly beneficial.  Graduate students and undergraduates who have completed their junior year are preferred. 

COMPANY NETWORK INTERN- Corporate Sustainability Research and Analysis

The Company Network team engages with the 50+ members of the Ceres Company Network to help them develop sustainable business strategies that address key challenges like climate change. Ceres' advocacy is rooted in the expectations for corporate sustainability that are described in The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability. These expectations address four important dimensions of a company's approach to sustainability: governance, stakeholder engagement, disclosure, and performance as it relates to company operations, supply chains and products.

The Company Network seeks an intern who will support our corporate engagement work by:

• Using publicly available information to research and analyze the sustainability performance of individual companies and sectors through the lens of the Ceres Roadmap expectations.
• Providing deeper research support for ad hoc projects on key topics such as the link between sustainability performance and executive compensation, sustainable supply chains, or modes of stakeholder engagement.
• Researching, compiling and presenting industry trends and leading practices.

We are looking for candidates with solid research skills (preferably with experience reviewing corporate sustainability reports), an ability to work independently, excellent verbal and written communication skills and familiarity with key environmental and social sustainability issues that influence, and are influenced by, the private sector. Graduate students preferred, but all will be considered.

COMPANY NETWORK INTERN - CERES ROADMAP AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The Company Network Team engages with 50+ members of the Ceres Company Network to help them develop sustainable business strategies that address key challenges like climate change, sustainable natural resources management, and equitable workplaces throughout the value chain. To support this work, the Company Network is seeking a dynamic, detail-oriented, and committed intern with strong research, writing, and critical-thinking skills, and an intern with a demonstrated knowledge of sustainability and human rights. The intern will support the upcoming release of the a third assessment report looking at companies' performance against these expectations and company engagements related to businesses' responsibility in protecting and respecting human rights. In this role, the intern will split time between two specific work-streams:

Human Rights and Equitable Workplaces.  The intern will support Ceres' work on the advancement of corporate human rights disclosure as a driver of improved performance. This work focuses on engaging companies on the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP) on Human Rights and scaling implementation of the UNGP Reporting Framework. The intern will support this work-stream through the following tasks and responsibilities:  

• Researching and analyzing current corporate reporting on human rights, including investor expectations on human rights disclosure;
• Researching and analyzing specific issues within the realm of corporate human rights management such as forced labor, supplier engagement, and remediation systems; and 
• Preparing summary briefing documents and presentations for key project milestones. The preferred candidate will possess a familiarity with the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability and UN Guiding Principles. Familiarity with corporate disclosure frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, a plus. Demonstrated ability to take initiative, prioritize responsibilities, and work independently while being part of a team is also important.

Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability.  The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability presents 20 expectations in the areas of governance, stakeholder engagement, disclosure, and performance that companies should seek to meet by 2020 in order to transform into truly sustainable enterprises. Ceres is working with key partners to launch its third assessment report looking at companies' performance against these expectations. The intern will support the project through the following tasks and responsibilities: 

• Conducting research on corporate sustainability leading practices and trends.
• Compiling research and citations of leading practices that align with the Ceres Roadmap expectations, including sector-specific examples and innovative solutions. 
• Updating a list of notable trends on topics such as socially responsible impact investing, human rights, and water management. 

DEVELOPMENT INTERN

The Development Intern will work closely with many members of Ceres' small and active development team. This is an excellent opportunity for a highly organized and motivated individual to gain hands-on experience and specific training in many aspects of nonprofit development, including foundations, major gifts, annual fundraising programs and special events. Projects will include researching foundation and individual supporters, assisting with management of the organization's donor databases, and tracking and evaluating fundraising efforts. Skills should include strong research and spreadsheet experience.  The ideal candidate will be a recent graduate or current student with strong interest in pursuing a career in the nonprofit development field. CAPITAL MARKET SYSTEMS INTERN

Ceres' Capital Markets Systems program works with companies, investors, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders on levers that will facilitate improved integration of material sustainability factors into decision-making. This includes Ceres' work on enhancing sustainability disclosures (covering our engagements in this regard with stock exchanges, financial regulators, standard setters and others) and integrating sustainability into corporate governance systems (covering our work with corporate boards).

The Capital Market Systems program is seeking a graduate student researcher to help support key projects on how companies and investors are integrating sustainability into their governance and disclosure practices.

While providing some administrative support, this research intern will primarily work in the following areas using skills ranging from research, quantitative analysis and writing (short memos, case studies, etc.) on:

• Literature review of research on how corporate boards are integrating sustainability into risk evaluation,
• Background analysis on corporate practice in linking executive compensation to ESG factors, including baseline of best practices and literature review
• Baseline research on stock exchange and financial regulators in key markets
• Tracking investor engagement/ focus on corporate boards
• Other projects on disclosure and governance as needed for the Capital Market Systems team.

FOOD AND CAPITAL MARKETS INTERN - DEFORESTATION AND SEAFOOD ISSUES

Ceres' mission is transforming the economy to build a sustainable future for business and planet. Our Food and Capital Markets Team seeks an intern interested in working on deforestation and seafood issues. Your work will entail researching and writing about commodities that are key drivers of deforestation including beef, soy and palm oil, as well as research and writing about issues related to environmental and social risks in the seafood supply chain. An interest in and/or experience in global business practices, sustainable sourcing, South America or Indonesia, and a sense of humor are desirable.

FOOD AND CAPITAL MARKETS INTERN - ENGAGE THE CHAIN

Ceres' Food and Capital Markets Program is looking for a sustainability-focused intern to work with our team on the Engage the Chain website. Ceres created Engage the Chain, with investor input, to clarify the actions that investors and global food companies should take to reduce their exposure to supply chain risks arising from climate change, forced labor and other challenges. The intern will research emerging environmental issues, draft new website content, update the "news" section, and write draft blogs on related topics to the sustainable supply chains. Experience in communications, writing, research, or environmental subjects would be most useful for this position.

WATER PROGRAM INTERN

Ceres is working with companies, investors, water providers, policymakers, environmental organizations and other stakeholders to improve water management and increase reporting on water issues that pose risks to businesses, communities and the environment.

The Water Program is seeking an undergraduate or graduate student this fall to help us advance our work on analyzing and addressing water risks related to three pillars: the food and beverage sector, water utility sector and the investment community. While providing some administrative support, this research assistant will primarily work across various topic areas using skills ranging from research, quantitative analysis and writing (short memos, case studies, etc.).

They include:

• Assisting in the rollout of a water-risk integration tool for the mainstream global investment community - building off the research of Ceres' Investor Water Handbook -  by researching water materiality news, pulling corporate and investor data from the Bloomberg Terminal, and gathering information from recently-launched reports on investor work in ESG, among other tasks. 
• Conduct research on water utility decision-making frameworks across various regions in the U.S. Key topics include: o Making the business case for utilities to adopt sustainable projects in water conservation and reuse, implementation of distributed infrastructure, and long-term planning efforts for supply resiliency and capital investments.  o Performance indicators, measurement and reporting of sustainability practices adopted by water utilities. o Trends in innovative financing instruments for sustainable water systems. o Resiliency and affordability of rate structures with a focus on how to address social equity issues at the local level.
• Assisting in the rollout of Feeding Ourselves Thirsty 2, a benchmarking report of corporate water risk management in the Food and Beverage sector.
• Other general water-related research to support the Program. For more information, see Ceres' Water Program: https://www.ceres.org/issues/water

POLICY PROGRAM INTERN

The Policy Program at Ceres works with companies through Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) and investors in our Investor Network on Climate Risk to advance climate and clean energy policies on the state and federal levels.  The Policy Program is looking for an intern to assist in its work with companies and investors on energy and climate policies - focused on federal work. This position will support the Policy Team primarily through research and writing projects focused on key federal policies, participation and note-taking in strategy meetings, legislative analysis, and other tasks, possibly including data collection and organization.  We are looking for candidates with strong organizational, research, and writing skills, an ability to work independently, and some familiarity with environmental and sustainability policies.  

HOW TO APPLY FOR AN INTERNSHIP

• Review each program internship opportunity carefully and apply for the one you feel best fit.
• Submit an online application with a resume, cover letter, and two (2) brief writing samples on our website: https://www.ceres.org/about-us/career-opportunities/
• Ceres is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate against any individual based on race, color, sex, national origin, age, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, disability, or any factors prohibited by applicable law.

Address all correspondence to: Christine Mandell