Internships & Volunteering at CALEC

Our Mission

The Center for the Advancement of Languages, Education, and Communities (CALEC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting multilingual literacy, education access, and cultural understanding. We believe language is a critical life skill, and we work to ensure families globally have the resources to build vibrant multilingual communities.

Join our team in New York or Paris and grow with us!

Learning & Growth

Focus: Gaining hands-on experience and acquiring new technical skills.


Who: Current undergraduate students looking for portfolio-building opportunities and academic credit.


Nature: Structured, task-oriented, and mentorship-heavy.

Strategy & Research

Focus: Applying academic theory to organizational strategy and framework design.


Who: Masters or PhD candidates in fields such as Education, Linguistics, MBA, or Digital Humanities.


Nature: Analytical, evaluative, and project-based.

Expertise & Impact

Focus: Donating high-level professional expertise to execute complex organizational goals.


Who: Seasoned professionals with a proven track record in their respective fields.


Nature: High-autonomy, leadership-oriented, and execution-focused.

Our office is located in New York (on 59th street and Lexington Avenue) and Paris (198 Avenue de France). Remote internships are also welcome with regular Zoom meetings and tasks to accomplish on your own schedule.

Team Opportunities

The Content Team

The Content Team creates and curates multilingual educational materials, ensuring they are pedagogically sound and digitally engaging.

What You Will Do:
* Assist in auditing the CALEC website to ensure multilingual resources and links are accurate.
* Learn to use platforms like Genially and Padlet to help adapt book pages into basic interactive games (e.g., word searches, reading quizzes).
* Support the migration of book files from third-party sites to internal systems by organizing and formatting PDFs and audio files.

Skills Needed: Eagerness to learn CMS tools; intermediate knowledge of French, Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese.

What You Will Do:
* Pedagogical Evaluation: Apply learning science frameworks (e.g., Universal Design for Learning) to evaluate the efficacy of current interactive games on ri2l.org.
* Taxonomy Design: Conduct an audit of CALEC’s multilingual assets to implement a standardized metadata schema, improving cross-platform discoverability.
* OER Framework: Analyze global Open Educational Resource (OER) standards to design a licensing framework for school district reuse.

Skills Needed: Enrollment in a Masters/PhD program; advanced research and analytical skills.

What You Will Do:
* Lead the conversion of static publications into advanced, level-based interactive learning modules.
* Manage quality control and versioning of all digital assets during migration from SimpleBooklet to internal hosting.
* Oversee the pedagogical accuracy of web content and manage international copyright compliance for digital assets.

Skills Needed: Proven professional experience in Instructional Design or Content Management.


The Development Team

The strategic engine of CALEC, focused on financial sustainability, global distribution, and institutional partnerships.

What You Will Do:
* Conduct market research to identify potential grant opportunities and foundation prospects.
* Build databases of potential institutional partners (private schools, universities) for the Ri2L platform.
* Assist in compiling data on international eBook platforms and Print-on-Demand (POD) partners.

Skills Needed: Strong organizational and research skills; excellent written communication.

What You Will Do:
* Theory of Change: Synthesize impact data into a formal “Theory of Change” narrative for high-stakes grant applications to global agencies like UNESCO.
* Market Feasibility: Conduct a PESTEL analysis for CALEC’s potential entry into emerging markets (e.g., Middle East or East Asia).
* B2B Strategy: Design a data-driven lead-nurturing sequence for private school partnerships and refine the “Freemium” value proposition.

Skills Needed: Masters-level study in Business, Public Policy, or Nonprofit Management.

What You Will Do:
* Draft, manage, and submit complex grant proposals to foundations and government agencies.
* Independently negotiate and structure B2B subscription partnerships with private schools.
* Define and execute CALEC’s global digital distribution strategy, optimizing royalty structures and vetting international platform terms.

Skills Needed: Track record of securing nonprofit funding; experience in B2B sales or strategic partnerships.


Distribution & Outreach Team

The voice of CALEC, managing digital storefronts, social media storytelling, and institutional sales.

What You Will Do:
* Build and maintain contact lists of librarians, bilingual schools, and independent bookstores.
* Draft engaging social media copy and use Canva to create graphics for the “Meet the Author” series.
* Assist in updating the E-commerce storefront by uploading book covers, descriptions, and metadata.

Skills Needed: Enthusiasm for social media (LinkedIn/Instagram); meticulous attention to detail.

What You Will Do:
* Conversion Optimization: Implement A/B testing protocols for digital book listings and analyze Google Analytics to identify bottlenecks in the user journey.
* Integrated Marketing: Evaluate brand sentiment across platforms and formulate an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plan that aligns social impact with publishing goals.
* CRM Governance: Design a CRM framework to track the lifecycle of institutional leads from initial contact to library acquisition.

Skills Needed: Masters-level study in Marketing, Communications, or Data Science.

What You Will Do:
* Optimize the digital storefront, managing complex SEO strategies and metadata standards across 5 languages.
* Architect CALEC’s multi-channel social media calendar and storyteller campaigns.
* Lead high-level institutional outreach campaigns targeting major library consortia and regional educational networks.

Skills Needed: Professional experience in E-commerce (Shopify/WooCommerce) and institutional sales.


The Tech Team

The builders of CALEC’s infrastructure, ensuring secure, fast, and scalable digital platforms.

What You Will Do:
* Assist with routine WordPress maintenance and testing plugin updates on staging environments.
* Perform Quality Assurance (QA) testing for new interactive features on ri2l.org.
* Help format and standardize internal technical documentation.

Skills Needed: Basic understanding of HTML/CSS; problem-solving mindset.

What You Will Do:
* Infrastructure Audit: Perform a comprehensive performance and security audit of the WordPress multi-site environment, proposing a migration plan for scalability.
* Backend Logic: Architect the relational database schema required to transition PDF/Audio hosting to a proprietary internal server.
* Systems Governance: Design Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for emergency recovery and maintenance protocols.

Skills Needed: Graduate-level study in Computer Science or Information Systems.

What You Will Do:
* Code and deploy custom backend features for ri2l.org, including progress-tracking databases.
* Independently manage the security, API integrations, and payment gateways for our WordPress multi-site network.
* Utilize MobaXTerm for advanced server administration and performance optimization.

Skills Needed: Professional experience as a Full Stack Developer (PHP, Python, or MERN); advanced WordPress architecture knowledge.


The Publishing Team

The guardians of quality, ensuring every book and essay is polished, scholarly, and publication-ready.

What You Will Do:
* Assist in proofreading upcoming collective works and essays to ensure consistency in style.
* Learn to format individual manuscript chapters into high-quality PDFs for the bookstore.
* Assist with functional testing of final digital proofs (checking pagination and links).

Skills Needed: Strong writing and proofreading skills; interest in academic publishing.

What You Will Do:
* Production Planning: Act as the primary editorial liaison for a 10+ contributor collective work, managing the peer-review timeline.
* Compliance Framework: Design an accessibility audit framework to ensure all digital publications comply with WCAG2.2 standards (Screen-reader compatibility).
* Visual Identity: Develop a “Visual Brand Guide” for CALEC’s cultural history book series to streamline the typesetting pipeline.

Skills Needed: Masters/PhD candidate in English, Linguistics, or Media Management.

What You Will Do:
* Lead editorial oversight for complex manuscripts, ensuring multilingual consistency and academic integrity.
* Lead the professional layout and typesetting of collective works using InDesign or Canva.
* Design and maintain the visual identity system across all series. Perform the final quality control “last look” before bookstore upload.

Skills Needed: Professional experience in academic editing or book design/typesetting.

How to Apply

Ready to join us? Please follow these steps:

  • Select Your Role: Choose the Team and Level (Undergrad, Grad, or Volunteer) that matches your profile.
  • Prepare Your Materials: Have your Resume/CV and a brief (1-paragraph) statement of interest ready. Graduate and Undergraduate interns should specify their learning goals.
  • Submit: Send your application to contact@calec.org with the subject line: [Level] Application – [Team Name] – [Your Name].