I interned at New Schools for New Orleans this summer, where I managed communications and organizational strategy for a growing non-profit that is launching and supporting public charter schools in New Orleans. My work led to the creation of a brochure and supplementary marketing materials, in addition to the development of brand identity and positioning strategy, such as the definition of core organizational beliefs and operating principles. I was a public school teacher in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, so it was particularly fulfilling to be back in New Orleans working on education reform during a time of intense need and opportunity. I will be returning to New Orleans after graduation this spring and would love to bring more SOM students and alumni with me so if you are interested in internship or job opportunities in New Orleans (both in and beyond the education sector), please don’t hesitate to reach out!

More about New Schools for New Orleans »
More 2007 Summer Internships »

The objective of the Education Pioneers Program is to develop education leaders committed to reducing the achievement gap. Education Pioneers brings together law, business, policy, and education graduate students from across the country to work at organizations reforming education. I worked in San Francisco at GreatSchools, which uses the internet to urge parents to make better choices related to the education of their children. This summer I researched the market for a new product aiming to improve the college-readiness of low-income students by engaging their parents. The highlights of my summer were learning about education reform and the access I had to high level leaders in the field, both within my organization and at other organizations in the area. My research impacted the President’s five year business plan strategy and was included in presentations to major donors. I am one of many Yale SOM students who has benefited from Education Pioneers, an excellent option for any student interested in education.

More about Education Pioneers »
More 2007 Summer Internships »

I analyzed the business practices of 14 University departments. Then, I compiled my findings and recommendations into a report, which was presented to the AVP of Operations and a newly hired Senior Business Director.

I enjoyed both the content and environment of my work. Favorable aspects included: learning about the University; exposure to high-level decision making; the prospect of seeing my recommendations implemented; flexible hours; really nice people; a higher salary than many non-profit jobs.

Overall, it was a fantastic opportunity to apply what I learned in the core curriculum!

More about Yale University Finance and Administration »
More 2007 Summer Internships »

This summer I worked on a non profit consulting engagement with New Sector Alliance in Boston. I was lucky to have one client all through the summer for whom I worked on two interrelated projects developing a communications strategy. My client was a small college that focuses on adult education. Geographically spread out, it’s headquartered in Cambridge with sites all over the US and plans for international expansion (mainly in China). Its fast growth over the last decade has created a strain on internal communication. I had an undergraduate student from Wharton working along with me for the engagement.

The first project was to expand communications capacity using information technology. I designed a staff survey on communication needs and challenges, analyzed quantitative and qualitative data and presented an organizational snapshot to the client. From the findings, we developed a prototype intranet (and internal internet) for the client, built a process to maintain it and worked with the IT department on an implementation plan.

In our second project we framed a process for the client to deliberate upon and build a set of communication guidelines. In addition, I created a communications training program, including a basic toolkit with a training module and templates. Lessons from the Employee perspective from the new core curriculum were immensely helpful in guiding our work.

I enjoyed a wonderful Cambridge summer with a great team both in New Sector as well as on the client site. New Sector, in cooperation with the Boston Consulting Group, provided training and support. Each summer consultant was paired with a mentor from BCG or another consulting firm. As the “summer class of 2007” we shared our insights and learnings with each other in a series of breakfast presentations. And I had the satisfaction of knowing that we provided a valuable service to a non profit in a structured and efficient manner.

Finally, I will draw upon my summer experience while leading SOM’s Outreach Consulting Club, especially in providing a framework for SOM students to effectively provide consulting advice to local non profits.

More about New Sector Alliance »
More 2007 Summer Internships »

I spent the summer in New York at Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. I served as a product development and strategy intern for the Lab for Informal Learning, a research and ideation team that works on technology-focused publishing for out-of-school environments. I found this exciting opportunity thanks to the help of Matt Donahue, SOM ‘07, who worked for the group the prior summer.

My two main projects allowed me to draw on many of the concepts and skills I learned in the core curriculum. I created a proposal to re-purpose a school-based literacy software program to be used in the home over the Internet, and I wrote a report outlining an entry strategy for Scholastic in the after-school learning market. The experience provided a unique window into the education world, and I appreciated the opportunity to advance the company’s mission of helping children around the world to read and learn.

More about Scholastic »
More 2007 Summer Internships »

I found it truly amazing to watch Teach For America operate, as a whole, due to the organization’s extraordinary ability to set goals and put in place clear metrics. In the first-year curriculum, we frequently discussed the inherit difficulties that non-profits face in communicating their achievements (and—as a consequence—the difficulties that arise in obtaining funding), since many non-profit goals are often classified as “qualitative.” Even when these qualitative goals are met, the accomplishment can be difficult to put into measurable-terms (i.e. quantitative, hard-facts and numbers) and this leaves room for subjective interpretation of how well the organization is or is not performing.

Teach For America simply doesn’t have these problems. They have developed a way to track and measure everything the organization aims to achieve. The most valuable skill that I took away from the internship was learning to take goals oriented toward “social-good/social-change” and quantify them through the use of standard measurement tools that you’d see in a private-sector company, as well as through innovative metrics that we had to devise on our own.

More about Teach for America »
More 2007 Summer Internships »

By Fawzia Ahmed, SOM’07

This year, I had the privilege of composing one of the school’s first social enterprise cases, on Achievement First (AF), a New Haven-based charter school management organization with schools in New Haven and New York.

My unexpected foray into case-writing began with an e-mail from Sharon Oster while I was a summer intern at AF, providing support to the organization’s leadership team on budget and strategic issues. In designing the capstone course for the new core curriculum, Integrated Leadership Perspectives, Professor Oster was including a module on nonprofit organizations. She had chosen Achievement First as her case, and wanted me to write it. Writing the case presented a great opportunity for me to probe deeper into a fascinating organization and to crystallize my thoughts on school reform issues, such as replicating high performing schools, political and funding challenges, and expansion that I had been thinking about all summer. My response to Prof. Oster’s e-mail was an enthusiastic yes.

(more…)

Thanks to informal networking and conversations with fellow classmates, I was fortunate enough to find an internship at Teach for America. I’ll be in their NYC headquarters this summer working within their Alumni Affairs division. This is a relatively new operation within TFA (it was created about 10 months ago), so I’m excited about the opportunity because it seems as though there will be a lot of room for innovation and creativity.

There are two individuals with whom I will be working directly. Jen Bluestein, TFA’s Vice President for Political Leadership Initiatives, is going to have me working on researching and proposing a “Local Elected Leaders Fellowship” program. Josh Solomon, TFA’s Managing Director for Alumni Engagement and Infrastructure (he’s also an SOM alum) will have me working on large scale volunteer opportunities throughout the national TFA network.

By Nikki Huvelle, SOM’07

On February 16, 2007, The Yale School of Management Education Club, The Yale Law School Project on Law and Education at Yale, and the Program for Social Enterprise co-sponsored the Yale Education Leadership Conference.

Over 130 participated in discussions of educational inequity and the role of leadership in addressing this problem. The day brought together people from nonprofits, foundations, policy institutes, school districts, charter schools, the private sector, universities, graduate programs, and Yale College to share their thoughts, knowledge and experience in this area. The highlight of the conference was the panel discussions featuring leaders in the field from around the country. Many alums from The Yale School of Management, The Yale Law School and Yale College participated on the panel discussions with other influential members of the education reform movement.

(more…)

This summer, I had the good fortune to intern for African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. My role was to help the founders develop frameworks and strategies, primarily in fundraising, PR, and Board development. It was invigorating to be a part of a young organization’s development and to see how my recommendations would shape the future direction of the Academy. I was incredibly fortunate to work on the ground in South Africa, where I gained a much better understanding of the challenges facing not only educational institutions, but also African students. This internship perfectly combined my interests and experience and reaffirmed my commitment to education and youth issues and passion for the African continent.

More about African Leadership Academy

Internship home | Back | Forward