By Payton Cleven, LWV of Seattle King County

The timing was just right at summer’s start when University of Arizona incoming senior Emma Chapman sought out a volunteer internship doing social media for the League of Women Voters of Washington.  

Emma Chapman, a senior at the University of Arizona, completed a summer internship for the League and created a collection of social media tutorials for local Leagues.

Chapman, a Communications major who is from Sammamish, not surprisingly reached out on the social media platform Instagram to connect with Carolyn Stewart who, not surprisingly, manages the LWVWA’s social media effort. 

Chapman’s timing was just right, too, because state leadership had just announced its plan to provide members in all 20 local Leagues with more training and guidance, including how to improve communication with members and the public. 

Then, thanks to a timely national reorganization that has funneled more funding to the state League, Chapman’s volunteer gig turned into a paid part-time summer position. 

Voilà! Chapman had her first college-level internship, and the League had its first paid intern doing social media work. 

In early spring, after surveying local League leaders about what training would be most helpful, Stewart adapted the internship to a T. 

She assigned Chapman to strengthen members’ confidence with Canva, a graphic-design platform that can be used to make presentations, posters, flyers, and other outreach materials.  

During the 10-week internship, Chapman created seven step-by-step video tutorials — now available on YouTube↗️ — on how to navigate the Canva platform, design flyers, edit premade templates, and create QR codes.  

Chapman also prepared a quick-reference guide in another format for practitioners seeking another route to learn Canva. 

Also using Canva, Chapman created templates for local Leagues to use to inform the public about primary elections and candidate forums and to provide post-election updates. 

Another project she completed offers guidance on creating engaging and informational social media content that retains the League’s brand standards and voice.  

Chapman said she drew inspiration from a toolkit an intern with the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts made, adding insight Stewart shared that she has picked up over the years. 

Stewart said that toolkit will provide local Leagues valuable resources for managing their own social media presence and creating cohesive content.   

“Talking to her throughout, it was clear that Emma really cared about these projects,” said Stewart, who is putting finishing touches on Chapman’s work and will upload the tutorials and resources to the state League website in the coming weeks.  

Editor’s note: Payton Cleven joined the League in Seattle King in January 2026 and works at Fred Hutch Cancer Center as a research technician.