The Student Leaders for Equity Internship (SLEI) is a paid summer internship that gives 8-10 Long Island high school students (depending on availability of student stipend and program funds) an opportunity to contribute to the work of the organization. The central theme has varied with each cohort, from designing curriculum, to conducting research,  to crafting digital advocacy and media strategies.

2026 Digital Activism Summer Internship

This five-week Digital Activism internship explores the creative intersection of advocacy and social media. This program dives in to the foundations of Structural Racism on Long Island. Participants will master digital communication skills, learning to transform these complex concepts into highly effective, inclusive, and engaging social media content.

This internship empowers students to step up as informed, skilled advocates for equity within their own schools and local communities. Through creating powerful social media campaigns, interns will directly amplify our organization's online presence and our overall visibility. Through this crucial work, interns help secure the support needed to sustain our organizational initiatives.

“ERASE Racism is excited to offer this summer internship program for high school students,” said Elaine Gross, President Emerita of ERASE Racism. “Each intern brings a passion for racial justice and a unique experience. It’s inspiring and rewarding to see them embark on defining their own journeys to advance racial understanding and inclusion and appreciate the benefits of racial integration.”

Click here to "meet" the 2026 cohort!

You can directly support the summer internship by donating to our GoFundMe. 

Here is what past interns have to say about their experiences:

“There is one very important aspect of this program that makes it quite unique,” remarked Elaine Gross. “The students have an intensive program with us during the summer that prepares them for work they will do during the school year in their district. This is more than an educational program with students for the summer that then ends.”

The summer internship was launched to help students turn their passion into action. Elaine explained, “We are nurturing student activism. We learned from our Student Task Force that students want to do more than educate themselves, but sometimes they don't know how to do that. Their work this summer will help prepare them to implement the action plans they are working on starting in the fall.”