Indian service program recruits people of Indian family background, from all around the world, to commit to service in India. Indicorps is now recruiting interns to start January 2009.

Indicorps encourages aspiring young leaders of the Indian Diaspora to engage in intense grassroots development opportunities that explore the promise of leadership and help leverage their skills and talents to address India’s pressing needs.

The organization encompasses several programs, including Volunteer Ahmedabad (VA!), capitalizing on the spirit of volunteerism of Ahmedabad citizens; Ahmedabad Ultimate, promoting the spirit of fair play and competition through Frisbee; and the flagship Indicorps Fellowship Program. The Fellowship emphasizes public service and personal growth, seeking to nurture and inspire a new brand of socially conscious leaders through structured one – and two-year grassroots service opportunities in India.

Interns — who do not have to be of Indian origin — support the “backbone” of the U.S. and Ahmedabad-based Indicorps, strengthening organizational capacity and growing initiatives, and interacting with many people in the NGO sector in India. While not a field-based internship, interns serve a critical role in supporting fellows, encouraging others to serve, and effecting change. The internship offers weekly, structured learning opportunities, an off-site service requirement in a rural community,  and a chance to work across programs.

Interns receive a one-week group orientation (including housing) and assistance in finding housing for the duration of the internship if necessary. The orientation includes an introduction to the city of Ahmedabad and to the NGO sector.

Internship openings right now include:

• Marketing and brand management: Indicorps seeks a marketing/brand management professional to assist Indicorps strengthen its inspirational messaging in India through Indicorps and related programs.
• Alumni outreach: Indicorps seeks an individual to help structure an Alumni Association that functions independently, but is closely linked to Indicorps as a host organization.
• Technology: Indicorps seeks a self-proclaimed technology wizared to help stay on the cutting edge of operating and outreach technology, using its current resources efficiently.
• Ultimate Frisbee: Ahmedabad Ultimate seeks four coaches to coordinate, publicize, and host month-long summer camps during school summer vacation from April-May 2009. (Internship lasts 5-6 months, through May.)
• Publications: Indicorps seeks a publications intern interested in helping the organization self-publish an anthology that inspires people through stories of Fellows’s experiences in the field.

Most internships are flexible, unpaid, last 4-6 months, and do not require special visas. (You may still need a visa to enter India.) Read more Frequently Asked Questions. Look for news about 2009 Fellowship applications, coming soon.

Indicorps founder Sonal Shah co-chairs the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform working group for President-Elect Obama’s transition team. She’s an economist and heads Google.org’s global development efforts. Also serving on that working group are Paul Schmitz, Public Allies C.E.O., and Cheryl Dorsey, Echoing Green executive director.

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