In Novasutras, we reawaken our deepest connection with our living world to reclaim our joy, honor our pain, grow trusted relationships, and take meaningful action in service to all life. We are passionate about helping student interns build the skills and practices that will help them transform the world.
As part of our team, interns get free access to all Novasutras events. We are eager to work with interns to grow their social network and nourish their intentions for personal development in ways that are mutually beneficial.
The Novasutras community has a culture of inclusion and respect for all. This means that our interns’ ideas and opinions are invited, valued, and validated — we hope to learn from our interns while they learn from us.
Join Our Team
Our preference is to have two or more interns working together at any one time. Melissa, Willow, Alexandra and Cayden worked with us most recently. Lidia worked with us from May to July 2022, and returned to work a little more in December 2022 and January 2023. Athena joined us in February 2022 and stayed with us through June. Kate worked with us in the fall of 2021 and early 2022. We also worked with Arly in November and December 2021. Mina and Charlene worked with us over the summer of 2021.
Melissa Shum
Go Getter – Intern: February 2023 – March 2023
Melissa is a student at University of California, Santa Cruz, majoring in Business Management Economics. She is passionate about meeting people from all walks of life and hearing new perspectives. In her free time, she likes to take walks outside while playing Pokemon Go.
Willow Jones
Eco Enthusiast – Intern: January 2023 – March 2023
Willow is a Outdoor Educator, Nature Guide, and Permaculture Design specialist. They majored in Environmental science at MCTC, Minneapolis. They are passionate about exploring the link of direct action protests and community care, to discover how the two can complement each other, to create a more robust and inclusive environmental movement. Pronouns: he/they
Cayden Campbell
Buzz Builder – Intern: November 2022 – March 2023
Cayden is a business management economics major at University of California, Santa Cruz and is highly passionate about marketing. He has experience working as a brand ambassador and coordinating events (FaZe Clan). Novasutras has given him a platform to grow his unique skill set while being able to contribute to a just cause. As an Uplifter, Cayden enjoys being able to be connected to the world and people around him.
Pronouns: he/him/his
Alexandra Anest
Politically Passionate – Intern: October 2022 – February 2023
Alexandra is a student at University of California, Santa Cruz, double majoring in Feminist Studies and Politics. She is incredibly passionate in her activism for sustainability and humanitarian work. She participates in several organizations at UCSC to ensure the university fulfills and expands its promises regarding environmental justice.
Athena Ereño
All-Around Activist – Intern: February 2022 – June 2022
When she’s not studying for SJSU, Athena chooses to express her love, curiosity, and hope for the world by dedicating her time towards organizations centered around mental health (Crisis Text Line), youth (Ciclovía Salinas), the arts (Artists Ink), ecoactivism (Novasutras), and efforts against mass incarceration. Pronouns: she/they/siya
Kate Sawtell
Creative Changemaker – Intern: October 2021 – February 2022
Kate is a student at CSUMB in the Environmental Studies program, with a minor in Environmental Policy. She likes to express her passion for sustainability in creative ways like reimagining and repurposing old items to be functional again. She is motivated by the possibility of creating positive change in the world, whether big or small.
Mina Boozarpour
Intrepid Intern – summer 2021
Mina explores the overlap of environmental and global experiences that we share with each other and with nature, which is also the focus of her studies at UCSB. She enjoys collaborating with other Uplifters and celebrating the diverse perspectives that Novasutras is built on.
Outreach and Event Internships
Working closely with us, interns will learn to use tools to schedule, promote and host online and in-person gatherings.
Internship tasks will likely include:
- Communication and correspondence with allied organizations and potential guest presenters
- Creating compelling event descriptions, images and other promotional materials
- Listing events on online calendars, webpages, and email announcements
- Promoting events on social media and other channels
- Coordinating schedules
- Assisting with online and outdoor event hosting
Audio / Video / Media Internships
We are still considering how best to describe and promote these internship opportunities. Meanwhile, feel free to use the above application – just let us know you are more interested in A/V and/or social media development. We can negotiate and shape the internship plan together!
Some of the things we might work on:
- making more audio and video recordings
- editing audio of meditation recordings
- developing podcasts
- editing “highlight reels” and better introductory videos from our existing videos
- editing field videos of orangutans
- developing and expanding social media strategies for Instagram and TikTok