Shaping Future Leaders

Hi! My name is Linnea Morris, and I am a junior pursuing a Politics major and Psychology minor. This semester, I was given the opportunity to do a business and marketing internship with the Global Arena Research Institute (GARI) while studying abroad in Prague in the Czech Republic.

GARI is an NGO that runs big data analysis to make predictions globally about things like supply chains for multiple different organizations and policymakers. They also host an annual symposium for interdisciplinary thinkers and leaders to speak and connect and this is the main project I have been working on. I was appointed as the Project Coordinator for the ReDefine Next100 Program, a young leaders program for anyone 18–35 and passionate about big world problems. Through the program, they attend this symposium and get guidance from leaders in their field of interest. I have found working on this project to be very rewarding as when I first started, we were only beginning to fine-tune exactly what the program would look like and how to get the word out about it. Now the application deadline just passed, and we are reviewing candidates for the program! It has been very exciting to watch things grow and develop and be a part of guiding things each step of the way.

I work almost entirely remotely for this internship, so most of my days are spent doing both ongoing projects and shorter quick deadline tasks. I usually work on drafting emails and social media posts, researching new institutions, and collecting contact information for potential people to help with program promotion. Now that the application deadline has passed, I am assisting with notices of acceptance and rejection as well as organizing transportation to the symposium for program participants. Although I work remotely, I check in with my colleagues and boss regularly over Slack to make sure we are all on the same page about everything and can get each other's feedback when needed.

I wanted to do this internship because I am interested in business and marketing as a way to combine my academic interests with real-world organizations. As an ASWC senator last semester on the communications committee, I got to try out a new way of conveying interests and projects with the student body, and I found it very rewarding. My goal with this internship was to further that initial interest by helping an organization that I think works on very interesting projects for global leaders and governments. I have had the experience I wanted and learned a lot.

Considering this as a possible career to explore, I was also hoping to learn more of the practical skills useful to succeed in this arena. Reflecting I feel I am accomplishing this too. Among other things, this internship has given me the ability and confidence to compose emails for hundreds of people and make social media posts that preserve and promote an organization's identity and values while effectively communicating important information. I will leave feeling more sure about what a career in this area looks like and with skills and knowledge applicable to many more interests and paths.