The Pauli Murray Fellowship, Communications Team

About the Role

The ACLU seeks a Pauli Murray Fellow in the Communications Department. This is an eighteen-month, term-limited, hybrid position requiring two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month in the National office in New York. The fellowship invests in and cultivates leadership pathways for individuals who have overcome systemic barriers to achievement. Target participants aspire to make full-time entry into nonprofit organizations with a passion to advance civil rights and civil liberties. Fellows will be embedded within an ACLU cross-functional department and charged with overseeing critical internal initiatives, projects, and priorities, receiving meaningful exposure, access, and training to enhance professional skills. The fellowship begins mid-January 2027.

The Team

The ACLU Communications & Marketing department creates, maintains, and expands message narratives to engage supporters and target audiences, to help protect and expand civil liberties and civil rights, and illustrate the value and impact of the ACLU’s work.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute communications strategies that advance the ACLU’s work on civil liberties and civil rights across all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
• Work towards a cohesive audience experience across national and affiliate channels on priority issues and major moments.
• Strengthen the ability for nearly 200 communications, marketing, and digital staff nationwide to work together.
• Create resources for affiliate staff and enhance the nationwide communications staff community through:
• Development and distribution of weekly rapid response communications resource digests and occasional ad hoc digests around critical moments (e.g., Supreme Court decisions, elections).
• Partner with other nationwide comms staff and affiliate advisors to facilitate and set agendas for monthly nationwide communications staff calls.
• Maintain resources related to the ACLU’s issue areas and functional resources to support excellence on a range of communications channels, including earned media, social media, graphic design and multimedia, and websites.
• Support community building across the ACLU communications network through virtual meetings, staff introductions via email and intranet tools, and other forums.

Capstone Project

Complete a capstone project that explores how to best leverage the national scale and affiliate infrastructure to grow the ACLU’s list of supporters, deepen relationships with existing supporters, and increase the ACLU’s capacity for influencing laws and policy. This project will involve:

• Discussing and defining needs with national and affiliate teams.
• Defining roles between national and affiliate teams to maximize impact.
• Mapping ACLU communications tools and tactics to support goals.
• Adapting general documentation and resources to create campaign-specific guides.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Proactive and self-reliant with proven experience successfully managing multiple and competing priorities.
• Familiarity with communications tactics, such as working with press and media outlets, social media, or creative campaigns that use graphics and videos, in the context of advocacy and educational campaigns.
• Ability to take complex instructions or information and make it easy for people to use in their everyday work.
• Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Office (specifically Word, Excel, and Outlook).
• Familiarity with a WYSIWYG web publishing platform is a plus.

Qualifications

• College graduate by September 2026 seeking an entry-level role.
• Demonstrated commitment or interest in leadership, service, civil rights, and civil liberties.
• Eligibility to work in the United States for the duration of the program (January 2027 - July 2028).
• An 18-month, Monday-Friday, full-time commitment to working at the ACLU from January 2027 - July 2028.
• Commitment to advancing the mission of the ACLU.
• Commitment to centering and embedding the principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives.
• Commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflict.
• Demonstrated commitment to sustained leadership and service.
• Demonstrated resilience in the face of systemic barriers or adversity.
• Commitment to civil liberties, civil rights, and social justice.
• Commitment to the mission of the ACLU.
• No prior connection to the ACLU (via past internships, fellowships, other connections) is a plus.

Key Components of the Fellowship

• Full-time employment, $78,000 annual salary, and benefits for 18 months at the ACLU National Headquarters in New York.
• Skill development in key functions such as professional communications, organizational strategy, project management, and more.
• Stipends to expand career and professional development through conferences, coursework, graduate school coaching, etc.
• Access to leaders and mentors at the ACLU, including career networking opportunities.
• A trip to a historical site to deepen understanding of ongoing challenges related to systemic barriers.
• A capstone project developed with mentor support.
• Community with fellows and colleagues.

Acquired Skills Include

• Developing strategic communications campaigns to further advocacy goals.
• Understanding communications channels and tactics and connecting them with common advocacy audiences and goals.
• Developing internal communications campaigns, as well as resource and training development.
• Project management with a wide range of stakeholders and information management across several projects simultaneously.
• Facilitating both large-group information sharing meetings and small-group project-specific meetings.

How to Apply

Submit the following no later than Monday, November 9th, 2026, by 11:59 pm EST:

• A resume (no longer than two pages).
• Two Essays:
• Essay 1: Consider a significant life experience or perspective that has influenced your future goals. How does it connect with your commitment to civil rights and liberties, and how do you foresee using the Pauli Murray Fellowship to help you achieve your aspirations? (400 words, Microsoft Document or PDF).
• Essay 2: Personal Statement or Video Essay (written essays no longer than 600 words in a Microsoft Document or PDF, or video essay no longer than 5 minutes). Respond to the following quote: "And since, as a human being, I cannot allow myself to be fragmented into Negro at one time, woman at another, or worker at another. I must find a unifying principle in all these movements to which I can adhere . . . This, it seems to me, is not only good politics but also may be the price of survival.” — Pauli Murray. Explain how this quote resonates with you and how an aspect of your identity or life experience has shaped you.
• Two letters of recommendation:
• One academic recommendation (from a professor or teacher).
• One character/personal recommendation (from a co-worker, mentor, or peer; not family members).
• Letters should be signed and include specific examples of progress toward goals. The academic recommendation must have an official academia letterhead.

Selection Timeline

• Applications Due: Monday, November 9th, 2026, by 11:59 pm EST.
• Interviews: First week of December 2026.
• Final Selection: End of December 2026.