C&SN Job Opening: 2024 Howard S. Brembeck Fellow

The Fourth Freedom Forum* invites interested candidates to apply for the full-time Howard S. Brembeck Fellowship. This one-year long fellowship will run from 2 January 2024 until 29 December 2024 and will be hosted at the Charity & Security Network (C&SN). Recent graduates (within 1 to 2 years of commencement) of Master’s programs or undergraduate degree and at least three years’ relevant work experience from an array of international studies and public policy programs are eligible to apply.

Applications are due by Friday, November 17 2023 at 11:59 PM ET. This is an expedited timeline and we will review applications as we receive them.

Howard S. Brembeck Fellowship

In its second year, the Howard S. Brembeck Fellowship is focused on promoting fair opportunities for aspiring young professionals early in their career to support them in continuing to build practical skills in the field of international peace and security. Our founder Howard S. Brembeck had a vision of multigenerational engagement on international peace and security. This fellowship continues his legacy of promoting and supporting young professionals and future leaders whose work will also help to advance the Fourth Freedom Forum’s mission. Given this focus, the fellowship works to promote equity in the field through supporting young professionals who have historically faced marginalization based on race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Priority will be given to applicants from these backgrounds.

Fellowship Objectives and Duties

As we mark more than two decades since the attacks of 9/11, there is an important opportunity for academics and policymakers to consider the too-often overlooked consequences of a national security paradigm centered on counterterrorism. In particular, the months and years after the 9/11 attacks saw an unprecedented broadening of counterterrorism laws and policies that, while aimed at preventing and minimizing terrorist actions, have had a very substantial and detrimental effect of constraining humanitarian, peacebuilding, and human rights programs that actually inhibit terrorism. To this end, the Brembeck fellow will be hosted at the Charity & Security Network, to support the organization’s goals and programs. The fellow will conduct research, help analyze trends, propose solutions, and work with colleagues in the international civil society sector to advance these activities.

The Brembeck fellow will be an employee of the Charity & Security Network (a fiscally sponsored program of NEO Philanthropy) and will support its work on these issues in cooperation with a range of external partner organizations, universities, and coalitions. The fellow will work directly with Ashleigh Subramanian-Montgomery at the Charity & Security Network. Opportunities for mentorship will also be offered throughout the term of the fellowship. The duties of the Brembeck fellow will include conducting research and analysis; providing administrative and logistical support; supporting policy and advocacy efforts; writing on our key issue areas; and advancing partnerships and relationships with civil society actors and coalitions, U.S. and external government officials, UN counterterrorism entities, Member States, and colleagues from varied country contexts on identified topics, including the following:

• The ongoing access challenges for civil society when seeking to implement financial transactions in conflict regions or where sanctions are in force;
• Analysis of the efficacy and consequences of U.S., UN, and other sanctions on populations and how these impact enabling environments for civil society programming;
• Analysis and advocacy within the UN on issues related to counterterrorism policies and Resolutions and the processes to help mitigate their impact on humanitarian, peacebuilding, and human rights programs; and
• The status and prospects of reforming existing U.S. law and policy, including the material support statute and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), to better protect humanitarian, peacebuilding, and human rights work and the organizations that carry out such programs.

In addition the fellow will be responsible for supporting staff as needed for a variety of tasks. For example:

Roles & Responsibilities

• Fact checking, editing, and drafting research memos, reports, write-ups, issue briefs, submissions/calls for input, and potential publications on these and related topics;
• Participating in meetings and potential convenings related to our core issues, and supporting the Charity & Security Network across various forums;
• Maintaining and regularly updating calendars and schedules for project activities, events, and meetings;
• Developing and reviewing concept notes, invitations, and scheduling around Charity & Security Network-hosted events, webinars, meetings, and convenings;
• Monitoring and tracking relevant legislative, policy, and UN Security Council resolutions and strategies, related to substantive areas of focus;
• Planning, coordinating, and managing public events, teleconferences, and webinars;
• Strategizing around entrenched national security measures and norms that have a deleterious impact on civil society and populations;
• Engaging in Charity & Security Network’s internal working groups and external coalitions and networks, through supporting with logistics, administration, substance, and relationship
• building;
• Preparing talking points for high-level conferences and meetings, and meeting summaries;
• Facilitating outreach and updates for network members; and
• Providing other research and program support as directed.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (within 1 to 2 years of commencement) in international studies, public policy, or peace studies, or undergraduate degree with at least 3 years of experience in the sector.
• Policy analysis, including tracking developments, identifying trends, understanding “policy moments”, and developing actionable recommendations.
• Experience or interest in civil society, international non-governmental organizations, or nonprofits, including lived experience.
• Experience or interest in advocacy to global standard setters, policymakers, UN entities, the U.S. executive branch, and Congress.
• Familiarity with issues affecting humanitarian, peacebuilding, and human rights organizations such as sanctions, counterterrorism measures, material support, financial access issues, and similar legal and policy impediments to civil society programs, including lived experience.
• Willingness to support administrative and operational tasks for the organization.
• Cultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence to engage a wide array of stakeholders.
• Solid writing and communication skills.
• Quick learner and able to remain flexible. Able to work with a small but mighty remote team of colleagues.

Applicants who meet some, but not all, qualifications or have relevant lived experience, are encouraged to apply.

Eligibility

Candidates are required to have completed their Master’s degree by December 2023, or have an undergraduate degree and at least 3 years’ related experience, and will need U.S. work authorization. They must demonstrate knowledge and/or experience in humanitarian issues, peace studies, human rights, or a related discipline and a strong interest in policy analysis and advocacy. Applicants must be familiar with research methods and able to write and edit quickly and effectively.

Benefits

The selected fellow will receive a salary in the range of $50,000 to $55,000 for the Fellowship year commensurate with experience, as well as paid vacation and organizational holidays, and health insurance benefits. There is a preference for candidates based in Washington D.C. that can work within a hybrid model, however, the fellow can work remotely as long as they are able to participate in the necessary staff calls, time zones, and community meetings required to perform the responsibilities listed.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit (1) a cover letter which includes a discussion of the applicant’s qualifications, academic interests, experience, and career goals and how those interests and goals align with the mission and ethos of the Brembeck Fellowship and the Charity & Security Network, and (2) a CV.

Applications should be emailed to: [email protected] Applicants should attach their cover letter and CV to the email with a subject line that includes their full name and the phrase “Brembeck Fellowship Application.”

Applications are due by Friday, November 17 2023 at 11:59 PM ET. This is an expedited timeline and we will review applications as we receive them.

The Fourth Freedom Forum is a nonprofit foundation established by Howard S. Brembeck to produce and support research and policy relevant recommendations for governments, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral institutions on a number of international peace and security issues. For the past 40 years, we have worked on sanctions, incentives, and diplomacy; nuclear nonproliferation; counterterrorism and countering violent extremism; human rights and the rule of law; and international cooperation.

Our definition of security encompasses an integrated cooperative approach. The scope of work for this fellowship is not limited to traditional views of state-centric international security, rather we encourage applicants to embrace the concept of Integrated Cooperative Security. That is: the collective promotion and attainment of sustainable peace, dignity, and well-being for all of humanity including active measures to safeguard the health of the environment. It involves a holistic, inclusive, and multi-stakeholder approach to preventing and addressing threats from intimidation and violence in all forms and from humiliation and human rights violations. It requires providing civilian-led protection from economic, food, health, ecological, personal, community, digital, and political inequities and insecurities, through the use of good governance initiatives, diplomacy, peacebuilding, harm reduction, development, advocacy, technology, and other peaceful means of governmental and non-governmental action without overreliance on the use of military force.

The Fourth Freedom Forum is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all persons to apply for the Brembeck Fellowship. We take measures to prevent discrimination against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

The Charity & Security Network works to promote and protect the ability of nonprofits to carry out effective programs that support peace and human rights, aid civilians in areas of disaster and armed conflict, and build democratic governance. We are a resource center that works at the intersection of nonprofit rights and national security. The Charity & Security Network was created in response to the closing of civil society space and obstacles created by the expansion of counterterrorism laws and policies. Our four issue areas include: Sanctions; Financial Access; Material Support; and Lawfare.