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2024 Summer Fellowship

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  • Location: Remote (United States)
  • Term: 10 to 12 weeks in the summer of 2024
  • Timing: Applications are due by 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, February 4, 2024

About Upturn

Upturn advances equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.

We believe technology should advance justice, not amplify racial, economic, and social inequities. Without focused attention, technology can reinforce systemic injustices found everywhere in our society.

We drive policy change by combining rigorous research with deliberate advocacy. Our approach to technology and justice is informed by a broad range of perspectives and experiences, including computer science, social science, law, and policy. We strive to ground our work in community and lived experiences.

We partner with a strong and growing network of local and national advocates, litigators, organizers, academics, and policymakers to ensure that our work is grounded, collaborative, and actionable.

Some of our recent work includes:

  • Advocating with local partners to seal eviction records at the point of filing to prevent their use by tenant screening software;
  • Investigating how large hourly employers use technology to screen online job candidates;
  • Documenting the dangerous expansion of U.S. law enforcement’s use of forensic tools to search people’s mobile phones;
  • Partnering with legal services attorneys to fight systems that cut people’s government benefits;
  • Pressuring Facebook to address discrimination in online ads for housing, credit, and employment; and
  • Urging the Biden-Harris administration to address technology’s role in discrimination.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC. Learn more about Upturn at https://www.upturn.org/about.

About the Position

This position is ideal for someone who is excited about sharp, interdisciplinary research on a range of topics related to technology, policy, and justice.

You will:

  • Research and write policy memos, in collaboration with other members of the team;
  • Help prepare public reports, testimony, amicus briefs, and our weekly newsletter;
  • Track and analyze current policy developments across all of our priority issues; and
  • Attend internal and external meetings, workshops, and other events.

In this role, you will join an organization that is collaborative, energetic, and fun. We will actively invest in your professional growth through training, feedback, and support. We are committed to building an inclusive, flexible, and welcoming workplace. We have a transparent culture and strive to include our entire staff when making strategic decisions.

Work Location

Upturn is based in Washington, DC, but is now a remote organization. We will hire a qualified candidate who is work-authorized and can work remotely from anywhere in the United States, with possible travel to DC. We are committed to working collaboratively to create an equitable workplace, no matter your location.

Compensation

We provide Summer Fellows without external funding (e.g., through an academic program) with a taxable stipend of $1,250 per week ($12,500 for a 10-week fellowship). External funding is not a factor in our selection process, and individuals without such funding are strongly encouraged to apply. We work with our fellows to ensure they have everything they need to work remotely, including workplace technologies and other supplies. See our compensation policy for a description of all roles and responsibilities at Upturn.

About You

We welcome applicants from a broad range of backgrounds, especially those with lived experience with our areas of work. We’re looking for someone who is:

  • An organized, detail-oriented, and instinctively curious researcher;
  • A clear writer;
  • Committed to advancing racial and economic justice;
  • Eager to research and explain the nuts and bolts of technology, law, and policy; and
  • Passionate about understanding material impacts of technology on people’s lives.

We strongly encourage applications from people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, and others impacted by systemic injustice.

The Application and Interview Process

Applications are due by February 4, 2024.

We want our application and interview process to be transparent for applicants. Not every candidate will move on to each stage of this process; we will update candidates about their status in the application process as quickly as is reasonably possible. At a minimum, the hiring process for this position consists of the following stages:

  1. Application, including a resume and writing sample
  2. 30-minute video interview (round 1)
  3. 30-minute video interview (round 2)
  4. Reference checks

We will work with applicants to provide reasonable accommodations during each stage of this process.

If you have any questions, please email join@upturn.org.

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