by Ty Slobe

Last week, LeanIn.Org’s editor Jessica Bennett posted on her Facebook page a message about looking for an unpaid intern to fill a position with the organization. It read as follows:

“Wanted: Lean In editorial intern, to work with our editor (me) in New York. Part-time, unpaid, must be HIGHLY organized with editorial and social chops and able to commit to a regular schedule through end of year. Design and web skills a plus! HIT ME UP. Start date ASAP.”

This post was confusing to a lot of people, like myself, who were wondering why the organization of Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, can’t afford to pay interns–or rather, the reason why they would choose not to.

Sheryl Sandberg is worth around $1 billion. She made another $91 million two weeks ago when she sold a portion of her Facebook stock. I understand when non-profit organizations hire unpaid interns when they are desperate for extra hands and don’t have any funds, but LeanIn.Org is funded by Sandberg and book sales, so they’re not exactly poorly funded.

That’s why I started this Change.Org petition asking Sheryl Sandberg and LeanIn.Org to pay interns. Sandberg is one of the wealthiest women in the world and one of the most successful and powerful businesswomen (who are few and far between). Particularly since the publication of her book Lean In earlier this year, women and girls around the world have adopted Sandberg as a role model, looking to her for cues for navigating the world as an ambitious woman and working toward equal pay and fair treatment in the workplace.

And we won! According to a Facebook post written by Rachel Thomas, president of LeanIn.Org, the organization plans to move forward with paid internships.

This is exciting news, because it opens up new avenues for many women who would be interested in work like LeanIn.Org’s work but can’t afford to do it without pay. Unpaid internships are only accessible to people who have outside support and do not have to depend on very limited resources for survival, therefore barring diverse women from different socioeconomic backgrounds from getting the experience necessary to land even an entry-level job in this economy. As a potential role model and inspiration for girls and young women, Sandberg should have a special interest in offering women who cannot afford to take an unpaid internship a chance to learn and grow in the world of business.

At one point in her book, Sandberg asks the reader, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” I for one would  probably pursue a career working at non-profits like LeanIn.Org that work to inspire and support women and children. I might even go for a career with a Silicon Valley company like Google! Unfortunately, no matter how “not afraid” I am, I still cannot afford to live off of a $0 income a month while working at unpaid internships. It’s not as much a question of what I’d do if I were not afraid as much as what I would do if companies paid me, my peers, and all people fairly for our work. (Google knows this and their internships pay, more than many regular jobs.)

It would be amazing if young women like me could afford to explore the world of unpaid internships at organizations like LeanIn.Org, but many of us simply cannot. We need money. I have to pay rent, eat, buy books,  and take out loans for my University of Colorado graduate school tuition. I can’t even afford an apartment with a kitchen this year; there’s no way I can afford to work a regularly scheduled, high-skilled internship (web design! editing!) that doesn’t pay me. But I am lucky enough that I can afford to spend some of my time in classes and studying and not need to work a full time job to support myself or a family, as many, many women (yes, including young women) do. All of us deserve opportunities to learn and to be paid for our work, even though our parents can’t send us over money in the meantime.