Month: October 2017

Honors Summer Internship Fellows: Rosalyn

**This is the third in a series of four posts written by the summer 2017 Honors internship fellows. The students received a stipend that enabled them to work at non-profit organizations for the common good.**

Rosalyn and a cooperative that works with Mercado Global

I am honored and extremely grateful to be an inaugural recipient of the Honors Fellowship. This new program is another indication of the commitment of Fordham and the honors program to supporting the intellectual and professional endeavors of their students. The fellowship enabled me to live and work abroad in Panajachel, Guatemala as the Community Outreach Intern at Mercado Global. Mercado Global is a non-profit that is dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty for indigenous artisans in rural Guatemala.

Lake Atitlan, where Rosalyn was based

My work entailed keeping track of the donations and fundraising efforts of our network and facilitating donor visits to our office in Guatemala. The most interesting aspect was being a part of the company’s biannual Social Impact Assessment. With the help of local interviewers, the company gathered data on their 200 artisan partners. I learned the demographics of their artisans and witnessed a process that enabled the company to better support the women in the future. I then was able to use this information and other interviews I collected to create a research project about the effectiveness of social enterprises in the lives of indigenous artisans. As a result of this fellowship I was able to live abroad, develop my foreign language skills and learn a significant amount about nonprofit management and the value of research.

Honors Summer Internship Fellows: Lily


**This is the second in a series of four posts written by the summer 2017 Honors internship fellows. The students received a stipend that enabled them to work at non-profit organizations for the common good.**

Author: Lily Patterson

This summer I had the joy and privilege of working at a non profit organization called charity: water as a Water Programs Intern.  charity: water works, through fundraising and implementation of those funds, to bring clean water to people in rural areas all over the world.

The Water Programs team is responsible for working with local partners in the field and ensuring that each donor dollar is used to promote the mission of the organization.  I was given incredible opportunities to sit in on phone calls with potential new partners and complete many other tasks that normally would not be given to interns.

I had worked at charity: water during my junior year in a different capacity than this summer, and while I grew to love c:w I had not been as passionate about my previous work.  I had been looking for a way to come back to c:w in a more exciting role, but it did not make sense for me to work as an unemployed intern in New York during the summer, so I had ruled that out.  For me, the Honors Summer Internship Fellowship came at the perfect time. When I saw the email from Dr. Keller in my inbox I jumped at the opportunity.  I would not have been able to have the experience this summer that I did and be so confident in my desire to work in the nonprofit sector if not for the Honors Fellowship, and I am so so grateful.

Honors Summer Internship Fellows: Olivia

**This is the first in a series of four posts written by the summer 2017 Honors internship fellows. The students received a stipend that enabled them to work at non-profit organizations for the common good.**

Author: Olivia Jones, junior

This summer, I was proud to receive the Honors Summer Internship Fellowship. The fellowship was an incredible opportunity for me, since it allowed me to pursue my dream of working at a nonprofit organization. Many nonprofits only offer unpaid internships, so the fellowship was crucial to my being able to accept the position.

“Pulse of Morning” sculpture outside my office building

I interned with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), an international association of reproductive health care professionals, including researchers, practitioners, and clinic administrators.  During my internship, I worked with the Education and Training Department to prepare educational materials for dissemination and prepare for their annual conference. I spent much of my summer reviewing presentations that doctors has submitted to present at the conference, so I learned a lot about medical writing and terminology.

As an EMT with Fordham University Emergency Medical Services, I’m familiar with patient care, but less familiar with all the work that goes on behind the scenes in the medical field. This internship allowed me to explore possible careers in medicine that wouldn’t necessarily be hands-on. I’m excited to continue exploring new career fields as I continue my time at Fordham, and none of this would have been possible without the support of the Honors Program.