2012 Stephanie Fowler & Irving Levin Summer Internship Award Recipients

Seile Alemayhu: Seile Alemayehu is a Junior Economics major. She is interning at Precise Consult International (PCI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she will be working on poverty reduction projects such as providing business, investment, and project management consultancy services in the field of Private Sector Development (PSD). She will organize the “Multi Disciplinary Research and Development” projects which are aimed at providing community based innovative solutions through business disciplines. In addition, alongside with students from Addis Ababa University, she will design a leadership program for high school students in Addis. Since Seile is interested in development economics, this internship will supplement her classroom knowledge through experiencing firsthand a community based initiatives to eradicate poverty in developing countries such as Ethiopia. 

Kelsey Aulakh: Kelsey is a rising Senior at Lewis & Clark College. She is an International Affairs major, and a Theater/Dance minor. This summer, Kelsey will be interning at a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called the, “Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme,” (FIDH), or translated, the International Federation for Human Rights. The office Kelsey will be interning at is the FIDH delegation to the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland. FIDH is a federalist movement with the aim of upholding the various rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By collaborating closely with local civil societies, FIDH aims to achieve effective improvements in the prevention of human rights violations, the protection of victims and the sanctioning of perpetrators.  At FIDH, one of Kelsey’s tasks will consist of monitoring and drafting reports on meetings of the various UN human rights mechanisms (Human Rights Council, treaty body sessions, etc.) She is glad she will be given a chance to practice her French language skills in the translation of FIDH documents. Kelsey is excited to learn about how progressive change can be made in the field of Human Rights. She hopes to find a career in the Human Rights field later in life. 

Inri Cosntancio: Inri is a rising sophomore at Lewis and Clark. Currently undecided but has a great interest in teaching. This summer Inri will be interning at Bright Prospect. Bright Prospect is an independent nonprofit organization in Pomona, California with the mission to increase the number of low-income students who enter and graduate from four year university. During the summer of 2012, Inri will be interning in the Summer Academy of Bright Prospect. The Summer Academy provides low-income students knowledge they need to feel empowered to go to and graduate a university. Inri will assist staff with planning logistics, workshops, and teambuilding activities. She will also be a mentor for rising seniors and help with their personal statements and college lists. This internship allows Inri to explore education with Bright Prospect. 

Anna Daggett: My name is Anna Daggett, and I am a junior History major and Environmental Studies minor. This summer, I will be interning as the Program Assistant at Food Works, which is a youth employment and empowerment program that engages 14-21 year old young people in all aspects of planning, growing, selling and donating over 4,000 pounds of organic produce each year from their 1-acre organic farm on Sauvie Island. I will be assisting in coordinating weekly team lunches in partnership with youth crew members and FW Program Coordinator, providing support for youth participants and helping them to meet the standards and expectations of the program at the Saturday Farmer’s Market each week, assisting in coordinating weekly CSA produce drop site by providing transportation, providing harvest support on Friday harvest days, providing support for youth participants during free vegetable pass out and cooking demonstrations in the public housing communities where Village Gardens is based. I am thrilled to be contributing to the Food Works program, as it will aid my studies of food history and I will gain experience in working with youth and working at farmer’s markets! 

Sita Fidler: Sita Fidler is an upcoming junior International Affairs and Theatre major. She will spend her summer at the renowned Seattle Shakespeare Company, one of the largest Shakespeare groups in the Northwest. During this internship she will take classes to learn the fundamentals of marketing, draft press releases, organize volunteers, and travel with the professional acting company around the greater Seattle area. Serving as the communications and marketing intern, she will work on individual projects to raise awareness about the free outdoor performances under the guidance of the director. Sita hopes this internship will build a bridge between her academic studies and the professional world of theatre. 

Brynn House: Brynn House is a rising junior, double majoring in Rhetoric and Media Studies and German Studies. This summer, she will intern with Kontera Technologies. Kontera is the leading in-text advertising company, and it connects internet users with information and ads relevant to their interests. As the Media Analysis Intern, Brynn will track web trends, research current news topics, and update the current topic listings. She is interested in a career in advertising, and this internship will give her an opportunity to learn about the online advertising industry and determine how her interests can translate into a career. 

Ahmad Jan Ali: My name is Ahmad Jan Ali.  I am a graduating senior majoring in international affairs.  This upcoming summer, I will be interning with the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in the U.S. Congress.  My primary tasks will be doing research for Subcommittee and Full Committee hearings, helping proof read hearing transcripts, assisting with subcommittee hearing setup, assisting with research for drafting legislation.  Those are some of the basic duties, but undoubtedly there will be other tasks that I help out with as they arise.  This internship will be instrumental for setting up future networks and find a future job in the field of international relations.

Fiona Murray: Fiona Murray is an upcoming senior history major with a gender studies minor. Fiona will be interning with the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center this summer in collections and archives. The Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center is a Japanese American history museum located in downtown Portland. It has a large exhibit site that highlights Issei immigration and early life in Oregon. It also contains artifacts concerning life after Executive Order 9066 which placed all Japanese Americans in internment camps during WWII. As an intern I will be carefully going through the un-archived collections at the museum and examining the objects and preparing them for proper storage. I believe that this will be a very interesting internship and will help me figure out if museum work is the right career path for me. :) 

Kayla Nachtshein: Kayla Nachtsheim is a rising sophomore interested in pursuing International Affairs and Environmental Studies. This summer she is interning with the Earth Island Institute, a nonprofit organization that serves as a hub for grassroots environmental campaigns and has supported over 100 projects around the world. Since its 1982 founding in Berkeley, California, by legendary environmentalist David Brower, the organization has acted as an incubator for start-up environmental projects, giving crucial assistance to groups and individuals with new ideas for promoting ecological sustainability. Kayla will work specifically with the New Leaders Initiative in elevating bold, emerging, young environmental leaders through the Brower Youth Award and through various year-round programs. Kayla hopes this experience will introduce her to emerging environmental activist movements and will provide her with the opportunity to learn the ins-and-outs of working in an environmental nonprofit. She is also very excited to work with youth who are as passionate about environmental activism as she was in high school.

Sarah Plat: Sarah will be starting her senior year as a Psychology Major and minoring in Latin American Studies. She will be interning at the Parole and Probation Office of Multnomah County, a division of the Department of Community Justice, this summer. At this internship, she will be shadowing a Parole Officer and getting to know the field of Criminal Justice. Sarah will continue to intern at the Parole and Probation Office during the fall semester and use her newfound knowledge of criminal psychology as her capstone project. She plans to continue this work at graduate school in Criminal Psychology. 

Goldann Salazar: I am currently a senior majoring Sociology and Anthropology and from Portland, Oregon. This summer, I will be interning as an Assistant to the Public Policy Director at the Center for Intercultural Organizing. Primarily, I will be working at a grassroots level with immigrant and refugee communities to build support around advocacy around key issues affecting our communities. Additionally, I will be working with elected officials and government workers in order to further policy that benefits immigrants and refugees throughout Oregon. Lastly, I will help facilitate local high school volunteers in policy research, analysis and development supporting CIO´s mission ¨as a diverse, grassroots organization working to build a multi-racial, multicultural movement for immigrant and refugee rights.¨

Gretchen Vietmeier: Gretchen is a rising senior studying Psychology at Lewis and Clark. Over the summer of 2012, Gretchen will be interning at Portland Mindfulness Therapy, a private practice that strives to provide the highest possible quality of psychotherapy and mindfulness/meditation-based education in the Portland metro area. In addition to individual and couples therapy, PMT offers community workshops on topics relating to mindfulness. Gretchen will be assisting in the leadership of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction workshops, working with members of the Portland community over two, 8-week long sessions, each concluded with a full-day meditation retreat. Gretchen will also be working with her supervisor to conduct research on the use of mindfulness techniques in other psychotheraputical methodologies, with the intention of writing a comprehensive literature review to be printed in a Portland publication.