Restoration Finance and Analysis Intern, Global Restoration Initiative

Restoration Finance and Analysis Intern, Global Restoration Initiative WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative informs, enables, and invests in people that restore degraded land. The team’s flagship investment program for locally led enterprises and community non‑profits, TerraFund, currently finances, trains, and monitors 200+ growing organizations across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. Aligned with this broader vision, the Restore Local initiative supports locally led restoration efforts – with a growing portfolio of 60+ million USD of projects in selected priority landscapes in Africa, Brazil and India. Built through the TerraMatch platform, this includes grant‑funded projects, as well as debt and equity investments in small and enterprises and first‑loss investment tranches in blended investment funds. In the next phase of our strategy, WRI’s Restoration team aims to harness technology innovations built with our partners and the growing network of locally led restoration implementers financed through TerraFund. It is developing replicable finance structures and partnerships that crowd more public and private capital into restoration that delivers proven outcomes for people, nature and climate. This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You can be based in our office in Washington, DC. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position. To be eligible for this position, you must be a resident of DC, Maryland or Virginia at the start of employment. What you will do Learn about the rapidly maturing land restoration sector through research, data analysis, literature reviews, and participation in programmatic activities across the Restoration team. Connect with innovative, localized restoration businesses and nonprofits, gaining familiarity with the financial mechanisms and capacity building that support them. Gather data and conduct research to support the team’s learning agenda regarding our programs’ impacts. Provide programmatic support to diverse funding portfolios by attending team calls, preparing materials for training sessions, drafting communications and articles, and supporting user research, product updates, data entry, and related tasks for the TerraMatch Product Team. Contribute to gathering data from restoration champions, cleaning and organizing it into our unified database, and analyzing results. Support with user research, product updates, data entry, and guidance materials for the Unified Database. Assist with the application cycle for funding and capacity‑building support. You will gain experience in Land Restoration – familiarization with projects and businesses that restore land. Building partnerships – attending calls with programmatic partners and contributing to cross‑team communication. Data analysis – cleaning data for the restoration champions unified database and answering programmatic and research questions. Product support and development – providing direct support to users via our Zendesk Help Center, testing around biweekly feature releases, and participating in user studies. Restoration Finance – contributing to investing directly in restoration projects and businesses and to research building new mechanisms to finance restoration outcomes. What you will need Undergraduate students and recent graduates with a focus and interest in business, economic development, data science, environmental sciences, social sciences, or related fields. Experience with analysis of quantitative and qualitative data and communicating insights derived from that data. Experience with data tools such as Excel, R, or similar (preferred). Ability to work independently and as part of a team, staying organized and prioritizing effectively in a fast‑paced, deadline‑oriented environment. Understanding of ecosystem restoration, land use, forestry, conservation, agriculture, or related topics. Academic background or professional experience in these sectors is a plus. Verbal and written proficiency in English. Working proficiency in French or Portuguese is desired, but not required. Existing work authorization in the United States. Compensation The pay for this internship opportunity is $20/hour for undergrads; $22/hour for graduates and $24/hour for PhD students. Length of Contract This is a full‑time, 3‑month internship with a flexible start and end date. Location This is a hybrid internship based out of our Washington, DC office. You will be required to work in the Washington DC office at least 8 days per month. Equal Opportunity and Diversity Statement WRI is committed to advancing gender, racial, and social equity for human well‑being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices. Our culture: WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well‑being in our mission, including equal opportunities in employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, caste, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status. WRI is an equal‑opportunity employer and is committed to promoting a diverse workplace. If you are an individual with disabilities who needs accommodation or you are having difficulty using our website to apply for employment, please contact WRI’s Human Resources department at View phone number on click.appcast.io or email View email address on click.appcast.io. WRI is committed to pay transparency and equity among all employees and maintains an environment where pay transparency is encouraged. WRI complies with local laws in all employment‑related activities, including compensation, pay transparency, and pay equity. #J-18808-Ljbffr World Resources Institute