The Accessibility program at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, DC seeks an intern with a demonstrated interest in accessibility, inclusive design, or related areas of museum and cultural institution practice. This hands-on, project-oriented role offers practical experience in accessibility data collection, research, planning, and implementation across the full estate — including gardens and grounds, museum galleries, and public programs. Hillwood internships are project-oriented and a specific project will be mutually agreed upon before the start of the internship.
This internship is on-site at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

Projects include:

• Compile and organize existing accessibility data, feedback, and observations from across the estate — including gardens and grounds, museum galleries, and public programs — into a centralized, usable format.
• Review and analyze compiled data to identify, prioritize, and rank accessibility improvement ideas and suggestions for piloting.
• Research external resources, organizations, agencies, and best practices that could support Hillwood’s accessibility improvement efforts, and summarize findings with recommendations.
• Develop a plan for piloting a select number of accessibility improvements, including defining goals, identifying needed resources, and outlining evaluation criteria.
• Collaborate with staff across relevant departments — including Visitor Services, Facilities, Horticulture, and Collections — to gather input and build cross-departmental awareness of accessibility priorities.
• Additionally, interns will experience the day-to-day work of accessibility planning in a museum and estate environment.

Learning Opportunities:

• Participate in weekly check-in meetings with the intern supervisor to review progress and set weekly goals.
• Join, as available, meetings related to accessibility planning, visitor experience, facilities, and estate operations.
• Attend and/or assist with public programs occurring during the intern’s tenure.
• Conduct informational interviews with Hillwood staff across departments — including Curatorial, Visitor Services, Facilities, Horticulture, Human Resources, Archives, Collections, and the Museum Shop — to learn about a range of career pathways in the museum and nonprofit field.

Minimum Qualifications:
This internship is appropriate for undergraduate, post-graduate, and graduate students in museum studies, public history, or other related fields; we welcome applicants from a wide range of disciplines including disability studies, accessibility, architecture, urban planning, public policy, communications, and beyond. We seek motivated, self-starting students with availability between 10–16 hours per week. Strong research, organizational, and communication skills are a plus. The intern, as part of their duties, may at times be required to move throughout the estate grounds and lift objects of up to 15 lbs. unassisted.

Interns may be eligible to receive course credit in coordination with their university and are eligible for compensation; however, neither is guaranteed nor a criterion for participation in a Hillwood internship.

Work Environment and Physical Conditions:

The physical requirements and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job or may be encountered while performing the essential functions of this job.

The employee is regularly required to communicate professionally in person, over the telephone, through email and other electronic means, move about their work area, between buildings and the campus grounds, handle various types of media and equipment, and visually or otherwise identify, observe and assess. The employee is occasionally required to lift up to 15 pounds.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with a disability to perform the essential functions to the extent Hillwood may do so without undue hardship. The term “qualified individual with a disability” means an individual who with or without reasonable accommodation can perform the essential functions of the position.

Notice:

The preceding job description indicates the general nature and essential duties and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this classification. It may not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees to do this job. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time nor does it proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned. This job description is subject to change at any time.