Since 2005, Food & Water Watch has given its all to protect our food, water, and climate. We mobilize people and build political power to move bold, uncompromised solutions for protecting our shared resources. In doing so, we work toward a future where everyone has food they can trust, clean drinking water, and a livable climate. 

As we see daily, young activists and organizers play an important role in creating change. At Food & Water Watch, we are proud to offer meaningful opportunities for young people to gain some of their first leadership experiences as activists, providing them with stepping stones toward being engaged citizens and powerful organizers. 

Thanks to generous donors, we were able to bring back our summer internship program this year. We were thrilled to support six interns in five states who joined our campaigns fighting for a livable future.

This internship invites young organizers to learn skills and leadership from Food & Water Watch organizers working on the ground. They gain firsthand experience in how we use strategic organizing in our campaigns. They also join our base-building efforts, including petition gathering, phone banking, event coordination, lobbying, media and communications, and volunteer recruitment. 

Food & Water Watch interns directly engage with impacted communities and fight for real improvements in the lives of their neighbors. They also foster the passion and skills for a lifetime of progressive activism and advocacy for our food, water, and climate.

Protecting California’s Water from Big Ag and Big Oil

Big Ag and Big Oil are driving a dangerous water crisis in the Western United States, including in California. The industries guzzle vast amounts of water despite a devastating, climate change-driven drought. Without common-sense policy, families’ water access will suffer while industry profits soar. In San Francisco and the Bay Area, Francesca Rossi built support for our Protect California Water campaign to rein in corporate water abuses. 

“For me, the most enjoyable part of the FWW internship experience was engaging directly with people at farmers’ markets, marches, and volunteer Zoom calls. I loved learning more about people’s stories and values and talking to them about environmental issues and social inequities in our state. And in attending national, state, and coalition meetings, I got to really understand the work that goes on behind the scenes and figure out how I could support other organizers. At the same time, I got to weave my creativity, talents, and personal experience into my work to accomplish a variety of projects.”

— Francesca Rossi, Food & Water Watch California intern

Tackling Factory Farms in New Mexico

New Mexico is also facing unprecedented drought driven by climate change, putting people’s access to water at risk. At the same time, factory farms in the state are consuming egregious amounts of water and contaminating precious groundwater. This summer, Feleecia Guillen worked on building grassroots support for a statewide moratorium on factory farms, which would stop the construction of new harmful factory farms. 

“I am most proud of the skills I gained from phone banking and petitioning this summer, which really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I learned to better communicate with different types of people, listen actively, and build rapport quickly. These skills are essential for effective organizing and advocacy work. Also, events like tabling at Santa Fe Pride and the Downtown Growers’ Market allowed me to interact directly with the community, which was extremely rewarding. I loved seeing people’s enthusiasm and interest in our cause, and it was fulfilling to know that I was making a tangible impact.” 

— Feleecia Guillen, Food & Water Watch New Mexico intern

Winning Affordable, Clean Energy for Floridians

Residents of Hillsborough County, Florida have seen some of the highest electricity bills in the country. The local utility has fought to raise rates further and build even more expensive, climate-wrecking, fossil-fueled electricity. In Tampa, Isabella Moeller has worked with the Florida team to build support for a local measure on climate and utility affordability. 

“Through this internship with Food & Water Watch, I improved my public speaking and communication skills, as I had numerous opportunities to speak in meetings, with community members, and at public hearings. I’m most proud of my work drafting a business sign-on letter to my county commissioners, and my work business canvassing for the past month in my county. I plan to present these letters at a press conference at the end of August. Most importantly, I enjoyed doing meaningful work that benefits local communities and the environment and that inspires others to advocate for themselves and their community.”

— Isabella Moeller, Food & Water Watch Florida intern

Getting New Jersey to 100% Clean Energy

Tasfia Ahmad worked tirelessly with the New Jersey team to engage volunteers and supporters on a variety of projects and campaigns, from preventing water privatization in Gloucester Township to building support for 100% clean energy in New Jersey to stopping the dirty and expensive expansion of the NJ Turnpike. 

“I really enjoyed the petitioning, the phone banking, the statewide and regional meetings, and any event that got me engaged with the community members and hands-on. It helped build perspective on what the community is looking for, and it just put my skills into use and had me meeting new people and ideas. The trainings and meetings with organizers was a great way to learn how to be a better organizer and hear from other organizers on their successes, failures, and plans.”

— Tasfia Ahmad, Food & Water Watch New Jersey intern

Fighting for Climate Action in New York

This summer, Juliana Toloza Serna and Raajasvi Thakker joined Food & Water Watch in New York to push Governor Hochul to stop the Iroquois pipeline expansion and sign the Climate Change Superfund Act into law, which would force oil and gas giants to pay up for their role in the climate crisis.

“My experience with Food & Water Watch taught me how to research my representatives and hold them accountable, and I got better at creating goal-based strategies that had different tactics and a comprehensive timeline. I loved connecting with new people while petitioning and rallying, and it was great seeing them at other events and knowing I helped mobilize them. Over the course of the internship, I became much better at pitching issues and convincing people to give us their time. I also really enjoyed rallies upstate, which gave the opportunity to be in a different scenery and connect with new advocacy groups.”

— Juliana Toloza Serna, Food & Water Watch New York intern

“This summer, I learned how to collect signatures, phone bank, and make flyers for events, and improved my skills around outreach and communication. I enjoyed the community of activists you encounter in this work, and the culture of social change that you have to engage in to accomplish things. I was most proud of the amount of signatures I collected, specifically at Athens Street Fair, and my recruitment work for a Climate Accountability Town Hall, which had more than 500 attendees.”

— Raajasvi Thakker, Food & Water Watch New York intern

The New York intern program is supported by the generosity of Janet Shapiro in memory of her husband, Alan Messer. Alan was part of the Food & Water New York team for over a decade. He was a fierce and committed activist in many successful fights against fossil fuels in the state. His smile and sense of humor are deeply missed and warmly remembered by the New York team and the state’s broader climate movement. 

“Funding this summer internship at the extraordinary organization Food & Water Watch is my way to honor Alan’s life and core values, by engaging young people in the activism necessary to protect our environment.”

— Janet Shapiro, sponsor of the Food & Water Watch New York internship program

Young Organizers Are Essential to Building a Livable Future

Organizing is a skill best learned through action, and this summer, Food & Water Watch interns were in the thick of it. From formulating strategy to building grassroots support to advocating to their legislators, they made fantastic contributions to our campaigns and learned skills they will carry into a future of activism. Food & Water Watch is proud of all of this year’s interns and excited for the bright futures ahead of them.

Thank you to all of our generous donors who invested in this program and in Food & Water Watch interns this year, and thank you to Francesca, Feleecia, Isabella, Tasfia, Juliana, and Raajasvi for their dedication and work this summer!