This summer, I’m interning with United for a Fair Economy (UFE). My discovery of UFE was pretty serendipitous; I was browsing the list of WOW Social Justice internships and came across the posting for this internship. Even though I have relatively little prior experience working for economic justice, as a student from a working-class background, UFE’s mission is incredibly important to me. My grandparents worked on dairy farms, in paper mills, and in shoe factories. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any organizations like UFE aiding them in the fight for fair pay, progressive taxation, and a more equitable economy. I hope that by interning at UFE I’m able to advance the cause of economic justice and help workers like my parents and grandparents.
According to their website, UFE “challenges the concentration of wealth and power that corrupts democracy, deepens the racial divide and tears communities apart.” UFE takes a multi-pronged approach to the fight for economic justice; their three main programs are Economics for Everyone, the Responsible Wealth Project (RWP), and the Inclusive Economies Network. Economics for Everyone uses popular education to equip people with tools they can use to identify and fight economic injustices. One of UFE’s most important popular education initiatives is the Training of Trainers Institute, which is held biannually and is targeted at organizers working against economic injustices. I haven’t yet gone to a Training of Trainers, but I hope to attend one at the Highlander Center in Tennessee this fall.
In addition to holding trainings, UFE also publishes infographics, reports, and books. One of their most important reports is the State of the Dream Report, an annual report that deals with a topical issue and its relationship to economic justice. The 2019 State of the Dream Report details how the US disaster response system fails economically disadvantaged people and worsens economic inequality.
The Responsible Wealth Project connects high-income earners to fight for economic justice. In the past, members of the Responsible Wealth Project have lobbied for more progressive individual income tax rates, fought for the preservation of the federal estate tax, and filed more than 100 shareholder resolutions to hold corporations accountable.
Unlike Economics for Everyone and the RWP–both of which are based in Boston–the Inclusive Economies Network is based in Durham, North Carolina, and is fighting to increase the state minimum wage to $15/hour.
As a development intern at UFE, a large part of my job so far has been processing donations, entering donor information into the UFE database, and brainstorming ideas for UFE’s 25th anniversary celebration (on Friday, September 13th from 6-9 pm at Old South Church in Boston!). I’m especially grateful for the opportunities to learn more about nonprofit finances, as I’m interested in working at a nonprofit in the future. UFE is unique among nonprofits in that it receives a very large share of its money from individual donors, and not from grants.
Learning more about UFE’s finances has really underscored the importance of cultivating and maintaining donor relationships, especially for an organization that relies mainly on individual donations. My role in cultivating and maintaining donor relationships is the primary way in which I have furthered UFE’s mission so far. A donor who feels valued is far more likely to contribute to again, and a healthy, growing donor base is needed to run a successful nonprofit.
Overall, my first week at UFE was pretty great. I’ve been really impressed with how accessible and thoughtful the UFE staff have been. Madeline (the other UFE WOW intern) and I had meetings with most of the team members during the first week, and they were all incredibly welcoming and willing to answer any questions we had about their work. They take their mission to fight economic injustice incredibly seriously, but they’re also able to have fun and not overwork themselves. If my future workplace looks like UFE, I’ll be more than satisfied.