Summer

Varsha Srinivasan, Policy & Advocacy Summer Fellow at the DC Charter School Alliance

My name is Varsha, and I am a dual-degree MPA/IR student at the Maxwell School. I received an Experiential Learning Award to work as a Policy & Advocacy Summer Fellow at the DC Charter School Alliance through Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE). I worked directly with the Senior Director of Government Affairs as a liaison for the organization, providing summaries and recaps of key bills and legislative decisions at Committee of the Whole Meetings. Additionally, I conducted research on DC Council members to prepare informational background on members for future stakeholders to review and gain a stronger understanding of the political context surrounding education policy, specifically with respect to charter schools. I also took an active role in helping to develop the National School Choice Week plan and conduct research on relationship mapping tools to find the most effective platform to visualize and understand the impact of different connections on policy decisions.

Through my time as a Summer Fellow, Leadership for Educational Equity made available a series of networking events, supplemental trainings, and professional development opportunities in the area of education policy. I gained a stronger contextual understanding of policy impacts on charter schools, especially during the COVID pandemic, by attending Committee of the Whole meetings and legislative sessions to hear from the key stakeholders and strategic partners from each of the 8 DC Wards. Given the disproportionate charter school presence in Wards 7 and 8, which have been historically marginalized, under-resourced, and misrepresented, I learned the importance of community-specific reforms to create a more equitable policy landscape for the diverse residents of the DC metro area.

As a woman of color, a former teacher of color at a low-income school in North Las Vegas, and a former Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Colombia, I am committed to pursuing roles focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, specifically as they relate to closing the lifestyle gap for historically marginalized communities. Given the challenges of the current pandemic and resulting sociopolitical climate, I sought to use this Award to gain a deeper understanding of how multiculturalism and sociocultural awareness can contribute to implementing more effective and relevant policies by establishing meaningful relationships with residents of each Ward, specifically through the work of each Council member. I was able to cultivate my management and teamwork skills by observing the direct impact of research and legislative processes on constituents, which allowed me to develop more meaningful outreach strategies. This unique opportunity has taught me to continue developing my professional skills and establish meaningful relationships to create more inclusive and equitable policy reform in my current internship with the Partnership for Public Service as a Leadership Development Intern.

MPA/MAIR Program at the Maxwell School

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Maxwell-in-Washington Program

Kyle Downey, District Office of Sean Patrick Maloney, House of Representatives

For my off campus experience, I was working for the District Office of Sean Patrick Maloney in the House of Representatives.  Day-to-day the people were friendly and the work was interesting.  The mission of the district office is twofold.  The first and primary mission is to provide services to local constituents, such as helping them navigate federal bureaucracies or recording their opinions and current bills.  The second mission is to facilitate the Congressman’s interactions with local people and interest groups by setting up town hall meetings and keeping in regular correspondence with members of the community.  I worked for the Director of Grants and Outreach, so our job sometimes involved us meeting with new businesses that might move to our district, which combines elements of both the previous two missions.

Many of the constituents, especially these new businesses we met with, were looking for funding for their projects.  As such they were often interested in learning about federal grants that might apply to their specific businesses and projects.  To make the process easier for them, I spearheaded an ambitious new project.  I collected information on all 2000 federal grants and then compiled that information onto a website page I built from scratch.  The website page provides an interactive dashboard which users can interact with in real time.  All the different grants are on one page with a scroll down bar.  Users can hold their mouse over any one grant to see an expanded format which display detailed paragraphs about eligibility.  Users can also filter which federal agency they are looking through via a dropdown menu.

Kyle Downey

Kyle Downey is an dual MPA/MAIR student at the Maxwell School.

MPA/MAIR Program

Jill Watkins, UNICEF in Geneva

For the past three months, I have been interning with the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) led by UNICEF in Geneva, Switzerland. I began my work remotely while I was in the U.S. finishing up my spring semester at Syracuse and had the opportunity to join the team full-time in Geneva at the start of May.

First day working at the UNICEF Office in Geneva

Although I have only been here a few weeks now, I have been able to meet with my colleagues, spend a few days in working in the office and have been tasked with substantially more responsibility. I am working on two main projects right now beyond my day-today duties.

The first is helping to create a Field Cooperation Framework to increase collaboration between Child Protection field coordinators across different regions of the world. To better understand the work that needs to be done to increase collaboration across regional contexts, I have helped organize and manage online consultations with staff around the word. The Framework is expected to be completed by the end of September.

The second main opportunity I have been able to help with is creating and disseminating a survey to measure youth perceptions of climate-related disasters in South East Asia. This has been my favorite task so far, as it directly relates with my personal interests and passions. The survey was translated into 12 different languages, which I was able to act as the lead organizer for, and just went live last week. I am looking forward to help analyze the results of the survey in June.

Overall, I am elated to be in Geneva working for an organization I am so invested in. I have high hopes that the remainder of the internship will go as well as the first half has, and I am grateful to Syracuse for assisting me in this opportunity. I highly recommend this internship to anyone interested in emergency humanitarian assistance specifically focused on child protection.

Jill Watkins is an MAIR student who will graduate in December. She is currently interning at the Partnership for Public Service in Washington, DC.

MAIR Program at the Maxwell School

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Haley Hardie, SocialCauses in Cape Town, South Africa

Picos de Europa, Spain

I spent the spring semester interning with SocialCauses, a startup nonprofit based in Cape Town, South Africa. SocialCauses believes in leveraging technology for social good; to that end they are developing a vetting and capability assessment system (NPGO) for nonprofits in the region.

My role this semester was to interview a variety of local nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to learn about how they conduct impact reporting and whether that data is used to measure the country’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I found that most NPOs have not engaged with the SDGs and lack the resources to conduct robust monitoring and evaluation.

The data I collected will be used to inform capacity-building efforts in the sector to strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems. Additionally, the data will inform the design of NPGO, including using the platform to help NPOs identify how their work aligns with the SDGs to enhance NPOs’ competitive advantage when applying for funding.


Zoom meeting with one of my supervisors wearing the iKapa Impact sweatshirt they sent me from South Africa.

Although my internship was completed remotely, I feel like I have had a unique experience getting to work closely with dozens of organizations to see how nonprofits do their work. This internship has helped me to develop skills in research design, survey creation, and data collection, synthesis, and analysis. More broadly, I have learned about nonprofit management systems and governance and monitoring and evaluation. As I prepare to enter the development sector, I believe this internship has added significant value to my degree at Maxwell.

Haley Hardie is an MAIR student who will graduate in December. She also interned at the Asian Development Bank and South Dakota Voices for Peace as part of her MAIR degree.

MAIR Program at the Maxwell School

Madeleine Williams, UNCEF’s Public Partnerships Division

For my internship, I was fortunate enough to be offered a six-month fellowship with the UNICEF Public Partnerships Division (PPD) in their Africa, MENA, and South-South triangular Cooperation Team. The PPD works to strengthen UNICEF’s position as a partner of choice among governments and inter-governmental actors for children’s rights around the world.

Madeleine Williams

My work as an intern consisted of assisting in the development and implementation of advocacy engagement plans with African leaders from African Member States on education and nutrition. As well as financial analyses from Power Bi platform, social media strategizing, and supporting in any way that was needed. One project I was especially proud of being a part of was assisting in the Mental Health Webinar with the SSTC team. I was able to communicate professionally and effectively with higher ups and form the external invitation and graphic card that was sent out to all the permanent missions. The range of the work they have given me has been invaluable to learning and understanding diplomacy in an international sphere in the context of Africa.

This is how fund the atmosphere at UNICEF can be even in a remote setting.

Although I have been fully remote for the entire internship, the atmosphere within my all-but-one female work team has been inspiring, fulfilling, challenging, and engaging to work with. I not only would love to one day continue working with UNICEF, but this internship has solidified my interests in working at an NGO and has showed me the importance and impact of humanitarian action.

A zoom meeting with the UNICEF Intern group! This group is a great way to interact and network with other interns and learn from colleagues working in UNICEF.

Madeleine Williams is in her second year of studies in the Atlantis program. This program allows her to complete an MAIR degree from the Maxwell School in Syracuse, New York and an MPP from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.

Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree Program
The Maxwell School
The Hertie School of Governance

Sarah Forland at Hopeprint: Interning from Home During a Global Pandemic

Finding a summer internship is a trying process of searching, applying, and writing cover letter after cover letter until you get an interview that leads to a job. So, when my summer plans to participate in one of Maxwell’s global programs was abruptly cancelled due to COVID-19, I really considered calling the summer a wash. However, after a few more applications and offers, I decided to intern with Hopeprint, a local Syracuse non-profit that works to build community and provide resources for refugees and New Americans to prosper in place. Being able to work within a community in which I also lived, felt valuable and purposeful after feeling disconnected by the shift to working from home and self-isolating.

During my internship, I served as the Fund Development Intern Team Leader working with other interns to research private and government funding opportunities and draft grants for Hopeprint’s planned expansion into new cities across America. I particularly worked on researching government-based grants for each of Hopeprint’s locations, looking at every level from federal to city for grant opportunities and public programs in place to assist with community development needs in line with Hopeprint’s mission. At the end of this internship, one of my main deliverables will be a government funding guide on how to locate, apply for, and use government grants and community development programs, as well as which funding opportunities best align with each location’s projects.

While this was all new territory for me, the most important learning aspect was learning how to intern from home. How do I manage distractions, create work-life balance, and feel motivated to get work done when my cat keeps interrupting my Zoom calls? I’m still working on those answers, but I’m taking my summer internship from home experience as practice for the new learning and working environment that lies ahead. Each week during the all-team meeting, everyone shares their “hopeprint” for the week—what kept you going, what inspired you, and what made you remember why you chose non-profit/public service work—and my “hopeprint” for this pandemic summer is Hopeprint.

Sarah Forland is a recent graduate of the Public Diplomacy and Global Communications program from the Maxwell and Newhouse Schools. She formerly interned at the American Security Project and the Global Engagement Center (GEC) at the U.S. Department of State.

Sarah Forland working from home.
Sarah Forland working from home for Hopeprint

Public Diplomacy and Global Communications Program

Ehsan Ghafourian Finds Innovative Initiatives for Near East Foundation

I found a great chance to work as an Intern for Near East Foundation (NEF) during this summer. This organization is an experienced, operational NGO that is actively looking for sustainable solutions for vulnerable people. For almost a century, NEF has developed close collaborative relationships with local organizations and communities across the Middle East and Africa to achieve sustained results. NEF’s approach is knowledge, voice, and enterprise.

Ehsan Ghafourian
Ehsan Ghafourian

I was part of the stabilization and conflict resolution team with a smart person as my partner. Our focus was on peace building through economic cooperation and development. I measured each project based on ongoing benefits at cross border collaboration beyond the life of the project to evaluate how much NEF was successful at building resilience between vulnerable people. All my activities were completed in a systematic way and according to theory of change.

Vulnerable people need knowledge, opportunities and tools to participate in civic and economic life and I tried to help this mission by increasing NEF’s efficiency. I found innovative initiatives and indicators that can impact communities throughout the Middle East and Africa. These solutions are responses to urgent needs for humanitarian assistance that supports life-saving interventions and reduces risks of morbidity and mortality for affected persons. By focusing on livelihood issues, I framed conflict mitigation and reconciliation into practical and immediate concerns for average citizens.

I appreciated NEF’s president, Dr. Charles Benjamin; and the Director of Program Support, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, Laurent Denis. Both of them and other NEF staff were always nice and cooperative.

Ehsan is currently the Social Sector Intern at Asian Development Bank’s North American Representative Office.

MAIR Program at the Maxwell School
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Laura Turner, Health Needs Assessment for Aythos in Nepal

This summer, I have had the opportunity to intern with Aythos, a small development organization in Nepal. Since 2009, Aythos has worked primarily in rural communities, implementing programs that aim to alleviate poverty by reducing barriers to economic participation and by fostering health and sustainable livelihoods. Aythos’ work is locally-driven and strives to improve gender equality, income-generating opportunities, sustainable agriculture, and women’s and community health.

Laura Turner in the White Mountains of New Hampshire thinking of Nepal
Laura Turner in the White Mountains of New Hampshire thinking of Nepal

As Aythos’ Health and Nutrition Programs Intern, my primary duties involved improving the organization’s health curriculum, advancing its nutrition program, and conducting research on prevalent public health issues among our beneficiaries. To date, my main project has been developing an extensive needs assessment composed of three questionnaires that will be administered to various individuals in the villages we work in. The results from this assessment will help us better understand the current needs of our population, particularly in the context of COVID-19. It will provide us critical information on how the villages have been impacted by the pandemic and Nepal’s lockdown in terms of food security and changes in nutrition, changes in health and access to health services, and other areas. Other tasks I have been working on this summer include sharpening and expanding the organization’s health curriculum, which is currently targeted primary at sexual and reproductive health.

Though I am working remotely from my home in Maine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this internship has still been a valuable and enjoyable experience. Through video calls I have been able to work with the wonderful Nepali staff as well as meet several of the U.S. board members, who are very enthusiastic about and dedicated to Aythos’ work. The experience so far has taught me more about the inner workings of a small development NGO and given me the opportunity to practice skills I have been learning throughout my education at Maxwell.

Laura Turner is currently completing her MAIR degree at the Maxwell School.

Helambu Valley, Nepal
Helambu Valley, Nepal, where Aythos does much of its work

MAIR Program at the Maxwell School
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Lauren Romero Evaluates Inclusive Economic Development

The Near East Foundation (NEF) is the United States’ oldest nonsectarian international development organization, originally founded as the American Committee for Syrian and Armenian Relief in 1915.  Currently, NEF has projects in ten countries: Armenia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Palestine, Senegal, Sudan and Syria. With local partners, they work to directly improve the lives of vulnerable people through sustainable agriculture, microenterprise development, women’s empowerment, civic education and peace building. Over the years, NEF has worked with the United Nations, the European Union, USAID, and a host of other organizations to facilitate their projects.

Lauren Romero on a call with her fellow Maxwell NEF interns.
Lauren Romero (bottom right corner) on a call with her fellow Maxwell NEF interns. Top L to R: Mahin Tariq, Ehsan Ghafourian, Sakshi Thorat. Bottom L to R: Sianeh Dennish, Dr. Laurent Dennis (NEF), Katie Smith

To complement my Maxwell Certificate of Advanced Studies in Post-Conflict Reconstruction, this summer I interned as an analyst for NEF’s Inclusive Economic Development (IED) program. Within IED, I conducted targeted analysis around key issues and questions associated with NEF‘s projects and theories of change to inform future program design. This is to help launch a new evidence lab designed to duplicate NEF’s impact beyond 2020.

After researching recent IED projects, which included Advancing Women’s Business in Palestine and Reducing Vulnerability of Syrian Refugees and Lebanese in Lebanon, I wrote summaries of nine projects, comparatively analyzed projects, and investigated the innovative Siraj Centers to identify project effectiveness and lessons learned. With my fellow program intern, Mahin Tariq, we analyzed the IED program as a whole and drafted a new IED Theory of Change. All program interns are collectively designing a 2020-25 Learning and Research Agenda. The final phase of my internship, which is set to complete in August, is to develop an IED key brief analysis.

While COVID-19 certainly brought about a new sleight of challenges, I was impressed with NEF’s ability to expose its interns to the extent of their global reach via a remote internship. My role as an analyst intern provided insight on how an NGO operates internally, and how to assess a project’s impact from initial proposal to final report.  My work as a remote intern with NEF was incredibly satisfying and gave me a greater appreciation for the imperative economic development work they have successfully conducted over the past one hundred years.

MAIR/MSPR Program at the Maxwell and Newhouse Schools
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Erica Rawlins Learns to be Adaptable in PR

I spent my summer interning with The Brandman Agency. It is a global public relations and digital marketing agency located in the core of the city that never sleeps. I have had the opportunity to work with numerous luxurious travel and lifestyle brands from all over the world.

Erica Rawlins
Erica Rawlins

This internship provided the opportunity to learn behind the scenes of branding for a client from the business and communications perspective. I’ve learned that it is imperative to understand that the world of communications isn’t predictable and as a practitioner one must be adaptable. Furthermore, this was my first time working with an agency. The day to day duties differ and I embrace tackling different problems every day.

The international relations aspect of my degree program provides a different perspective as to why and how global clients interact with their stakeholders. It’s truly fulfilling learning the intricate details of the travel industry because it’s impacted through policy, economics and brand awareness. Many of my family members are direct recipients of the changing tides of the travel industry, I am so fortunate to do work that impacts many families that look just like mine.

One of the highlights of my experience was sitting down and having an intimate conversation with the executive team. The leaders of the agency are all women and it gave the interns (a total of four of us) the opportunity to ask seasoned professionals their advice navigating a career in travel. Working on teams led by successful, humble women is inspiring. I’m grateful for this experience and network of persistent women.

Erica Rawlins continues to intern in New York City at APCO Worldwide, while completing her joint MAIR/MSPR degree at the Maxwell and Newhouse Schools.

MAIR/MSPR Program at the Maxwell and Newhouse Schools