Media Strategy & Engagement Intern

Who we are:

The Ad Council convenes creative storytellers to educate, unite and uplift audiences by opening hearts, inspiring action and accelerating change. For more than 80 years, the nonprofit organization and its partners in advertising, media, marketing and tech have been behind some of the country's most iconic social impact campaigns - Smokey Bear, Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk, Tear the Paper Ceiling and many more.

The Raquel Zarin Internship Program:

Our internship program honors Raquel Zarin, a beloved employee, mentor, and friend at the Ad Council. Raquel passed away in 2021, leaving behind a legacy of dedication, integrity, and excellence that continues to inspire us. She believed in nurturing young talent, fostering welcoming environments, and championing access to lifesaving resources. At the Ad Council, these are principles and values we hold and hope that our interns will embrace and carry forward throughout their careers.

The Raquel Zarin Internship Program is a remote-first engagement and will run from June 1, 2026 - August 14, 2026. All interns will be paid $19/hour and are eligible to earn overtime. Ability to work East Coast hours is required.

Job Summary:

The Media Team is responsible for all campaign media strategy, planning and activation, promoting our 30+ national public service campaigns. To best serve our campaigns and our media partners, it is important for Team Media interns to have a deep interest in understanding all media platforms (digital, streaming TV and audio, video, radio, out-of-home, magazines, newspapers, mobile and more) as well as in emerging media.

In addition to securing over $1B annually in donated media inventory on behalf of our public service ad (PSA) campaigns, the Mead Team works to develop strategic and custom partnerships with media companies that align with their Corporate Social Responsibility objectives. As an intern, you will work cross functionally to understand the critical role media plays in reaching our campaign target audiences and how we go about activating a campaign.

This intern will split their time between the Media Strategy & Engagement and Digital Marketing Center of Excellences reporting into one of our Media Engagement managers. You will learn about the core principles of media planning and activation, assisting with building and optimizing media briefs and plans, conducting media outreach and executing custom media partnership. You will also have access to media technology and tools to assist in your media research.

What you'll do:

• Assist the media strategy team in all aspects of upfront campaign media planning, including the development of media plans/flowcharts as well as media briefs.
• Work cross-departmentally to provide media strategy updates to campaign teams as needed.
• Assist in prepping for and participating in quarterly media planning, utilizing and learning about media planning tools such as GWI, Smartsheet, Salesforce.
• Assist with media plan updates on a regular basis.
• Participate in partnership kick-off calls, related meetings and help project manage as needed.
• Take notes during media partner calls, recap meetings, help with follow-up, routing partnership materials, etc.
• Assist engagement team in execution of media outreach plans, including submitting tag and resize requests. Distribute campaign assets to media partners as needed.
• Assist in developing our local media strategy by performing market research and reaching out to stations and partners to help grow and update our local media databases.
• The intern will assist with media outreach helping to research, craft pitch emails, call stations directly for information and develop presentation materials etc.
• They will learn to utilize top Media and Marketing tools such as Salesforce and CRM Analytics and AI agents to support the build-out of our media station profile database through research, outreach, and marketing technology.
• Collaborate with Ad Council interns to identify the next pressing social issue to become an Ad Council campaign. The intern team will work through the end of the summer program to research, develop and present a campaign proposal to the Ad Council staff.

What you bring:

• Curious learner with a passion for social good and understanding of the media landscape.
• Strong interest in social causes, volunteer work, and a passion for creating positive change
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
• Strong organizational and analytical skills.
• Excellent Microsoft Office 365 skills (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel) and comfortable learning the basics of new software platforms including Salesforce and Tableau.
• Team player and independent worker.

What we're committed to:

At the Ad Council, we value and celebrate the unique characteristics and perspectives that make each person who they are. Fostering a welcoming environment allows us to enhance and reimagine how we reach our audiences. It is not simply our belief, but our duty, to cultivate a team that is representative of the American people. Only then can we drive true, measurable, and life-changing impact on the most important issues facing our country today.

The Ad Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to any legally protected status.

The Ad Council invites all qualified interested applicants to apply for career opportunities. In accordance with the EEOC, if you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please submit your request through one of the following methods listed below.

How to reach us:

To apply online: https://www.adcouncil.org/join-our-team

Email: (careers@adcouncil.org)

Fax (212) 922-1676

or

Ad Council

Attn: People Operations Team

815 2nd Avenue, 9th Floor

New York, NY 10017

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