Interns Blog About Summer Experiences
Friday, May 22, 2009
This summer, 27 UM students have traveled around the world for WDI-sponsored internships in a number of fields. Last year, 21 students participated in WDI internships.
The students’ work assignments vary from Asia and Africa, Central and South America, and the United States. The interns’ responsibilities range from writing business plans to gathering data to assessing the impact of various projects.
Some of the organizations the students are working for include Acumen Fund, Pfizer, GE Healthcare, CARE, Grassroots Business Fund, Inter-American Development Bank, VisionSpring, The Water Initiative, Grameen Bank, The Quito Project, and TechnoServe.
The summer internships are broken up into two categories – self generated and initiative driven.
The 19 students who chose a WDI initiative-driven internship partnered with an organization identified by the Institute that is doing work related to one of its five research initiatives: social enterprise, base of the pyramid, globalization of services, sustainable development, and healthcare.
The 8 students who chose to do a self-generated internship identified and contacted an organization in an emerging market that is doing innovative work. The student, along with the organization, co-defined an opportunity, received a commitment from the organization, and submitted a proposal to WDI.
The students are blogging while away on their assignments. To keep up with their activities, click
here.
