Ever wondered how activists stay motivated? In her role as an activist engagement intern at Greenpeace, Creative Access intern Salomé Revault d’Allonnes empowers and brings activists together in their fight against the climate crisis…
What does your role entail?
I work at the intersection of activist engagement and collective care training.
A lot of my work revolves around designing and facilitating workshops with different groups of activists. I’m also supporting the Activist Development team in coordinating logistical and welfare support for activists before, during and after an action.
In terms of digital communications and storytelling, I also co-edit the quarterly activist newsletter, regular email updates, website copy and I presented a social media video for our recruitment campaign.
Collective care: programmes and practices which support the mental wellbeing of people who are part of causes and movements.
“No week looks the same and that’s something I really value.”
What’s your favourite part of the job?
I really enjoy how varied my role is. It combines many of my interests from my research and tutoring background to my more creative and storytelling side and, last but not least, my passion for social and climate justice and transformative organising.
No week looks the same and that’s something I really value.
“I knew I wanted to tell stories that matter, speak truth to power and contribute to transformative change.”
How did you get into this role?
I graduated from university in September 2021. I was initially looking to work in the documentary film sector, which I did for a bit, but the lack of security required me to work part-time in jobs outside the industry which didn’t work for me. I knew I wanted to tell stories that matter, speak truth to power and contribute to transformative change.
I am grateful to Creative Access for allowing me to even consider such a well-known organisation in the environmental and NGO sector. I remember seeing the vacancy in a newsletter and thinking why not give it a try without realising that I could potentially be successful. It felt too big and unattainable.
Creative Access were really helpful during the application process by giving feedback on a first application draft and organising a call with shortlisted applicants. That feedback really helped me refine my application and make it to the interview stage. I couldn’t quite believe it when I was offered the job!
What’s been one of your favourite projects that you’ve worked on?
There were other internships being advertised at Greenpeace at the time I applied, but the reason I applied for this role in particular was its focus around building a culture of collective care in the activist network.
With previous experiences around migrant justice and feminist organising, the concept of collective care really resonated with me, and I’ve been given quite a lot of freedom in designing that programme.
I’ve been designing and delivering workshops to develop a culture of collective care with an anti-oppression lens with different groups of activists, volunteers and artists.
My proudest achievement was when someone who applied to our new activist training programme mentioned a collective care session I had run in a previous volunteer gathering as one of the reasons why they were motivated to take action with Greenpeace!
“Your opinion and experience matter and have value. You have a unique perspective and even if you feel like you don’t have enough relevant experience, you have many transferable skills and there’s no way you’ll know everything about a job before you do it.”
What would your advice be for anyone looking to break into the sector you work in?
My advice would be what I keep trying to tell myself every day: your opinion and experience matter and have value. You have a unique perspective and even if you feel like you don’t have enough relevant experience, you have many transferable skills and there’s no way you’ll know everything about a job before you do it.
Stay true to yourself and put forward all the things you’ve done and created, including in unpaid contexts. If you want to break into this sector, it means you are creative and passionate, and these are very powerful tools.
Want to learn more about how you can pair a passion for sustainability with a career in the creative industries like Salomé? Sign up here for our upcoming masterclass on Thursday 30th March.