Xin Yang, MPIA ‘13Project Concern International “As a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) intern, I work directly with the Women Empowered (WE) program under the Program Operations and Development (PODD), which is dedicated to promoting the economic and social empowerment of women through the formation of self-managed and self-sustaining savings groups in developing world. Currently, I am assisting with the project design, data analysis, progress monitoring, and objective evaluation process. Working with PCI has been a unique opportunity for me to develop deeper understanding of non-profit organizations and development study.” |
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Joseph Miller, MPIA ‘13U.S. Pacific Command “As an intern for the Strategic Focus Group of PACOM, I research PRC government language and write informational papers on the evolution of their security concepts. The work can get a little complicated, but is very interesting and well in line with my career goals. Living in Hawaii is part of why this internship has been so rewarding. The opportunities I have had to try new things and go new places have made my PACOM experience that much better. As time goes on, I hope to put together a longer research paper for the China Strategic Focus Group that will tie in with my earlier work for them.” |
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Maura Deignan, MPIA ‘13U.S. Pacific Command “Working in the Office of the Public Diplomacy Advisor at PACOM gives me the unique dual experience of doing State Department work while gaining insight into U.S government inter-agency operations. At security related meetings I’m able to see how skills I’ve learned at IR/PS are used in real world situations, and helping to plan an international conference, the Symposium on East Asia Security, is giving me valuable project management experience. PACOM has also shown me the importance of a “whole of government” approach, which stresses the importance of different government organizations working together for the same goal. Outside of work, I enjoy exploring beautiful Hawaii!” |
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Schuyler Blasy, MPIA ‘13International Rescue Committee (IRC) “As an intern for the International Rescue Committee’s Career Development Department, I assist refugees who have been living in the US for the period of 6 months to a year. So far, I have been assigned to various research projects and career development advising. I feel a great honor and responsibility with my internship. Many of our clients have endured and persevered through extremely difficult circumstances and are looking to get a fresh start here in the US. I want to do my best to help give them the greatest start possible.” |
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Zaida Riquelme, MPIA ‘13World Trade Center Tacoma “The World Trade Center is a trade association for exporters, importers and service providers that helps local businesses succeed in the global market through trade research, targeted counseling and networking with local and global trading partners, and organizing international trade missions. As the Trade Research Intern, I work on projects like consulting on sugar imports for the makers of Almond Roca, consulting on shrimp and tilapia imports for the Danzhou Zhulian Food Company, developing talking points on the Harbor Maintenance Tax for the Port of Tacoma, expanding Services Trade services for local members, assisting with the Tacoma-Fuzhou Trade Project, and researching trade relationships between Washington State and India. I have also had the opportunity to tour the Port of Tacoma with a delegation of Chinese students.” |
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Kelley Fry, MPIA ‘13International Rescue Committee (IRC) “As an employment intern at the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City, I work with refugees to help them prepare and apply for jobs so that they can become self-sufficient. This also includes building relationships with employers to meet their staffing needs with hard-working refugees. Through this internship, I am learning about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into resettling refugees, from the moment that they are assigned a destination city through 2 years after their arrival.” |
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Whitney Caruso, MPIA ‘13The Foundation for Sustainable Development “I began my internship in Tola, Nicaragua, leading a global service trip with students from JUMA Ventures, which assists 'at-risk' youth in their application to universities and career preparation. We worked with a local high school on an environmentally-focused project that consisted of planting 3,000 trees to combat deforestation in the area. In addition to this, we built 4 Wormaculture boxes for small businesses selling fertilizer, and created a tree nursery with over 200 seedlings to promote reforestation in the community. I am now working at the San Francisco office, focusing on monitoring and evaluation tools within the organization and the efficient analysis of field data." |
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Jessica Jinn, MPIA ‘13US Department of Commerce and World Trade Center San Diego “I am juggling two internships this summer: one with Marketing and Programs at the World Trade Center San Diego, and another with the US Department of Commerce. Here, at the Commerce Department, I have been researching international markets in the Marine Technology and Clean Technology sectors. On a weekly basis, I meet with San Diego businesses expressing the desire to export their goods abroad and present them with market research data and examples of projects they can create within their companies. As for the World Trade Center, I have been given creative inspiration through my work design projects for promotional materials.” |
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Xi Li, MPIA ‘13U.S. Pacific Command “I am glad to be working in the Combined Interoperability division for US Pacific Command. I am currently assisting regional desk officers in several conferences, where the US, our closest allies, and potential partners discuss communication and assistance issues in regards to the Asian- Pacific crisis. I get to participate in the planning and arrangements of these meetings and social events. Aside from all the excitement from work, I am also learning so much about US foreign policies toward other Asian-Pacific countries in terms of how are they established and executed.” |
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Narciss Spaulding, MPIA ‘13Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command “At SSC Pacific, I work in the Strategic and Business Planning department. My team is specifically called the Corporate Strategy Group, and we provide situational awareness to senior leadership at the Center. I have worked on a variety of projects this summer ranging from writing daily blogs and processing White Papers to preparing briefs for the Portfolio Council. The briefs were in regard to regional issues in South East Asia and how these problems, especially those in the South China Sea and North Korea, affect the US Navy and SPAWAR. I have also been involved in various topics such as sequestration, green energy initiatives, and future development strategies for the center. So far, the work has been extremely rewarding as I am constantly learning new skills while applying those that I already have." |
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Xinrong "Rhonda" Hu, MPIA ‘13Instream Partners “Instream Partners is an investment bank focusing on private and public growth technology companies. The bank is dedicated to providing corporate finance mergers and acquisitions services. I’m working as an M&A business analyst and quantitative researcher at Instream this summer. I have contributed to multiple tasks including modeling, DCF valuation, comparable company analysis and industry research, using IR/PS knowledge (QM, Finance, Globalization, Marketing, Managerial Economics). So far, I have helped four companies - a middleware company, a semiconductor company, a wifi-product company and an EDA company – with M&A and funding services. In addition, I often negotiate and present at the meeting with clients. From this awesome experience, I have gained a better understanding of today’s market environment and business strategy.” |
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