OAEC residential internships are 10 months long, beginning in late January and ending in late November. Interns work 25 hours per week in one department – Administration, Facilities or Garden. In return, the interns are given a private, cozy place to live, community meals and kitchen and pantry use, use of all the facilities on-site, and participation in some OAEC courses. The interns take part in the community cooking and chore rotations.

The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC) is a research, demonstration, education, advocacy and community-organizing center that develops strategies for regional-scale community resilience and the restoration of biological and cultural diversity. OAEC is located in western Sonoma County on 80 acres of organic gardens, meadows and oak, fir and redwood forest, and shares the land with the Sowing Circle intentional community.

Internship Details by Department

Facilities

OAEC offers two 10-month-long Facilities Internships that begin in early January and end in late November. The facilities interns work in areas such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical, woodworking and forest management. The position focuses on maintaining and improving the infrastructure at OAEC. Tasks vary from the simple and quick to multi-week construction projects. The interns work closely with the Facilities Manager and other facilities staff.

Program Administration

OAEC offers two 10-month-long Program Administration Internships that begin in mid-January and end in mid-November.  Administrative interns support a wide range of OAEC programs and departments including courses/events, fundraising and communications. A typical work day may include tasks such as being the “face” of OAEC (frontline communications via phone, email, in person greeting of visitors.); managing our constituent database, calendar, and course registrations; coordinating our multifaceted donation process; designing/updating on-line and print promotional materials; conducting course/event/program outreach; and working on special projects for core programs.  Over the course of the 10 months, interns gain experience in the overall management and day-to-day running of a thriving nonprofit organization.

Garden

OAEC offers two 10-month garden internship positions in our 42-year-old organic “Mother Garden” beginning in late January and ending in late November.

We are looking for applicants excited about learning all aspects of gardening, including propagation and greenhouse work, watering, bed preparation, composting, transplanting, sowing, weeding, harvesting, seed saving and processing, and plant sale preparations. Prior gardening experience is helpful but not necessary. We are looking for motivated self-starters ready for hands-on learning. Physical stamina is a must. We work rain or shine!