Fumi Tataki

Country: Rwanda
Organization: African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC)

Fumi: "The purpose of my summer internship is to earn an experience of working in Africa to find approaches to achieve economic development through business. By working as a mentor and consultant for clients of African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC) in Rwanda, I developed strong interest in working in human capital development for small medium enterprises (SMEs) in the future.  

After working with SMEs in Rwanda, I started to develop a career interest in human capital development, particularly skill development and change in awareness toward professional environment. I was intrigued by the need of that human capital development that can tremendously make positive impact to development of the country. Besides my work at AEC, I also had a chance to work with AIP, a program that provides training to students. With another Fletcher student, I presented Business Canvas Model to university students across Rwanda. It was a wonderful experience to interact with students and help them develop their own business ideas. After Fletcher, I would like to
pursue my career in SMEs sector to help their business to make development impact to their lives and country’s well being."

Nathaniel Rosenblum

Country: Rwanda
Organization: African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC), Inkomoko

Nathaniel spent the summer working for Inkomoko, a business acceleratory run by the African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC) based in Kigali, Rwanda. AEC through Inkomoko works with hundreds of entrepreneurs in Rwanda to help them move from start up to fully‐fledged business. They are not specialized in a particular field, and rather reflect the growth spaces of the Rwandan economy

Nathaniel: “the most important accomplishment of my time in Rwanda has to do with refocusing my career interest. I am now much more aware of the challenges of financing development in agriculture through the private sector. These challenges are not insurmountable, rather without a concerted effort to deal with them they will continue to hamper ambitious and deserving entrepreneurs. In whatever my next steps are I plan on addressing those problems thanks to this summer’s glimpse into the Rwandan agribusiness landscape.”

Gaspar Rodriguez

Country: Chile
Organization: Corporación La Esperanza (CLE)

Corporación La Esperanza (CLE) offers free outpatient and residential drug rehabilitation services and prevention programs for youth, men, and women in underserved communities across Chile. Seven clinics provide a much- needed lifeline for over 500 patients every year. The goal of Gaspar's internship was to implement a cloud-based solution that allowed them to register and track the most quantitative and key data about their patients. 

Gaspar: “Overall, the internship was a professionally and personally enriching experience. As a native Chilean, I was very excited about working with a local nonprofit and spending time in my home country. I’m very grateful that I was able to apply my background in business development, data architecture, data analysis, and consulting to benefit CLE. My career goals have been, and continue to be, shaped by technology, data, and international development. I hope to use this experience to drive my career of working in the social impact sector abroad. Prior to this, I had never worked in my home country and it was a massive learning experience to understand how the nonprofit and NGO sector is using technology and managing data in Chile. I was also able to meet with and have informational interviews at various organizations that painted a vibrant and rapidly evolving picture of Chile.”

Alexander Kostura

Country: Peru
Organization: AidData Center for Development Policy

Alexander spent the summer serving as an AidData Summer Fellow with the AidData Center for Development Policy. AidData is a research and innovation lab that aims to make development finance data more accessible and actionable. Specifically, AidData collects and analyzes geospatial (or geographic) data to answer the questions: Who is funding what? Where? And to what effect?

Alexander: “My internship with AidData and USAID was an incredibly rewarding experience, for which I am grateful to the Blakeley Foundation. While I did not expect to work with a US government entity, I am glad it was with a USAID Mission abroad because I had the opportunity to interact with multiple NGOs and Peruvian government agencies. This experience reaffirmed my decision to pursue a career with the US Federal government in humanitarian assistance and international development. Previously, I held some hesitation about the impact of USAID. My experiences have taught otherwise. USAID missions are staffed with wonderful people who want to affect change and improve lives. Furthermore, the US government is collaborating with research labs like AidData and creating their own organizations like the USAID GeoCenter in order to innovate and improve their operations. In my career, I hope to be a part of fostering these kinds of partnerships, supporting applications of new technology, and improving international development outcomes."

Kai‐Moritz Keller

Country: Kenya
Organization: Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)

CHAI was founded in 2002 to help save the lives of millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world by dramatically scaling up antiretroviral treatment (ART). Kai-Moritz Keller worked within CHAI’s New Initiatives (NI) function on the ‘East African Local Manufacturers’ project.

Kai: “I left Kenya with a solid understanding of what working in an international NGO like CHAI entails and now comprehend the opportunities and limitations of working in a not-for-profit environment. I further solidified my understanding of the different career paths into the field of Global Health and have a clearer understanding of what sort of organization would be a good fit for my background and personality. Furthermore, I understand what it means to work in Eastern Africa as well as the benefits and drawbacks of starting out a career in a resource poor and security wise high-risk environment. Most importantly however, my experience in Kenya fueled my interest in and desire for starting my own public health venture. I left Kenya inspired by all the start-up entrepreneurs I encountered and the opportunities they are pursuing. Working with the different LMs reinforced that inspiration and provided a projection of what a venture might eventually turn into and the reward that building and growing one’s own enterprise entails. I am already exploring and researching opportunities for my own social-impact venture focused on providing access to vital medicine in the most impoverished parts of Africa as well as South-East Asia.”

Robert Helbig

Country: Brazil
Organization: Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS)

Robert worked at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in Brazil, a German NGO dedicated to political freedom and economic development. Operating out of Rio de Janeiro and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, KAS has a track record of over four decades of training social entrepreneurs, as well as supporting transparency and socioeconomic development in Brazil. 

Robert: “The time at KAS has been very rewarding for a number of reasons: I learned a lot about project management, stakeholder management and innovation. I was able to improve my Portuguese skills from a basic level to limited working proficiency, so that I can follow my goal to keep focusing on Brazil beyond my time at KAS. Working with my highly experienced colleagues and genuinely kind people, I built a network of professional contacts and strong friendships that will benefit my professional and personal development beyond my time at The Fletcher School.
The time at the Foundation in Rio de Janeiro will have a lasting impact on me, and I also hope that I have become part of the solution to some of Brazil's problems. Of course, a
German NGO can only have a limited impact on the country's development, but I am certain that we are helping to move Brazil into the right direction to become a country of the future. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity that the Blakeley Foundation offered to me - muito obrigado!”

Laura Cuéllar

Country: Colombia & Ecuador
Organization: Ayuda en Acción

Laura worked with Ayuda en Acción (AeA), a Spanish development NGO that has worked for over 30 years in enhancing the welfare of millions of people around the world. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of AeA is its model: rather than deploying its teams on the ground, AeA identifies local NGOs and supports them financially during an average of twelve to eighteen years. Throughout what it defines as “territorial development,” AeA identifies the community’s most urgent needs –from food security to production and/or commercialization barriers, gender issues, education, and social fragmentation– and designs a long-term integral and panoramic agenda to addresses them. 

Laura:  "Every three years, AeA and its local partners outline the overall development goals and lines of action that will be implemented throughout the upcoming three years in what they call the Triennial Intervention Plan (PIT)1. Each PIT is comprised by between eight to twelve micro- projects, which are the specific development initiatives that will be carried out throughout the triennium2.

During my internship at AeA, I was responsible for analyzing the PITs of Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay and systematizing the micro-projects that intended to stimulate the community’s local economy. In order to do this, I came up with a series of categories that provided a comprehensive understanding of each micro-project. These categories were: country, Territorial Development Area (ADT)4, local NGO, local NGO code5, micro-project name, micro-project code, description of the micro-project, development goal, path chosen to stimulate the local economy, and analytics6. More often than not, a single micro-project included several analytics and more than one path chosen to stimulate the local economy.  

This internship was my first real-life exposure to development issues. Visiting these communities, talking to community members, witnessing the work of local NGOs, and tying my background in Latin American history to the issues that people are currently facing not only fulfilled me at a personal level, but also reassured me that I want to keep working in the development field after graduating from Fletcher.

Throughout the internship, however, I noticed something that concerned me: the absolute lack of state presence throughout the communities I visited. From schools, to roads, to wells, to everything the communities counted with, had been provided either by NGOs or by the communities themselves. In a way, NGOs such as AeA and its local partners fill voids that states cannot, or do not want to, fill and, hence, have a fundamental role in the wellbeing of these communities. However, there is a limit to what NGOs can do and, unfortunately, their deeds cannot be extended to all poor areas of the countries where they operate.

The oblivion to which states condemn these secluded and impoverished areas is perhaps the main obstacle to their development. In order for long-term self-sufficient economic development to take place, structural changes through which the public sector integrates impoverished regions to the system –for instance through the provision of public services, security, and access to efficient legal and political institutions– are required. Seeking to generate the greatest possible impact in the wellbeing of these communities, this reasoning has, without a doubt, awakened my interest in joining the public sector once I return to Colombia. "

Ashley Anderson

Country: Philippines
Organization: Millenium Challenge Corporation

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government agency that provides assistance to support economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries demonstrating a commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investments in people. As the very first summer intern for MCC‐Philippines, Ashley Anderson's main deliverable was to create a repository of social impact reports detailing the specific effects of select MCC programs on beneficiaries and their communities. In order to collect insights for the impact stories, she  arranged interviews with key stakeholders all over the Philippines.

Ashley: “My experience with MCC was a truly enlightening experience both for professional and personal reasons. Professionally, I was able to work overseas for the first time and, more importantly, in a developing context. After seeing the poverty and restraints to economic growth in Manila first hand, I am inspired to find inclusive development opportunities for the Philippines and have decided to focus my thesis on potential growth industries for the country. Furthermore, I now want to explore a career in emerging market entry strategy with a focus on Southeast Asia after I graduate. Finally, I want to express my gratitude for Mr. Blakeley and his family – because of his generosity and investment in Fletcher students I’ve been privileged to have this experience and the potential future opportunities it may lead to..”

Braden Weinstock

Country: South Africa
Organization: Endeavor South Africa

Braden Weinstock’s consulting project was with Endeavor South Africa. Endeavor is a leading non-profit accelerator with offices in about 20 emerging markets. He had three objectives for his summer experience – to learn about South Africa, to test his skills at supporting entrepreneurs, and to develop himself as a leader.

Braden: “My experience in South Africa was very enriching on both professional and personal fronts. Professionally, working in a non-profit I got to experience the culture and struggles which are both very different from a Fortune 500 firm. On a personal front, I learned I would love living in South Africa, and am pursuing career opportunities there now.”

Anjali Shrikhande

Country: Uganda
Organization: Yunus Social Business

Anjali Shrikhande worked as a Social Business Consultant for Yunus Social Business in their Kampala, Uganda office. Her main goal for the internship was to gain a better understanding of market-based approaches to development, specifically the social business model, and to investigate how the model works on the ground in a developing country.

Anjali: “I was able to form contacts through YSB and independently that will also be valuable in trying to find jobs in this field. I found the entrepreneurs that I met and worked with to be truly inspiring and passionate about creating change in their own communities.”

Owen M. Sanderson

Country: Kenya

Organization: Ushahidi

Owen M. Sanderson worked in one of the fastest-crowing tech centers in the world: Nairobi, Kenya. He focused his summer on two objectives: supporting Ushahidi’s business development team as they think through their current business model and conducting several in-depth training seminars for a small cohort of young African entrepreneurs at Nairobi’s celebrated iHub.

Owen: “After two months in East Africa, I left feeling every optimistic about its future. I embarked upon my summer with the goal of investigating the unique link between technology and development. My summer in Nairobi underscored the widespread allure of technology and its potential to uplift millions.”

Jessica Meckler

Country: Bangladesh

Organization: Social Innovation Lab

Jessica Meckler interned at BRAC’s Social Innovation Lab, a development organization headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Jessica’s specified role was to assist the Social Innovation Lab, which is nestled in the Microfinance department, with they Innovation fund for Mobile Money.

Jessica: “My internship solidified my interest in M&E, and the lessons that I learned while at BRAC will help determine my courses for my second year at Fletcher. I already rely on my knowledge from BRAC now.”

Heather Lemunyon

Country: Rwanda

Organization: AEC (The African Entrepreneur Collective

Heather Lemunyon’s role at AEC (The African Entrepreneur Collective) was to serve as a Global Business Mentor, or and entrepreneurship consultant who worked one-on 0one with AEC’s clients in business planning financial planning, developing strategies for growth, market and sales analysis, and and strategic vision.

Heather: “In every way possible, my time as a Global Business Mentor with AEC was outstanding. Not only did I fulfill all of my personal goals for my internship experience, I was allowed great opportunities to directly and positively impact the growth of East African companies that I hope will continue to grow, increase employment, and continue to develop this region of the world with such large opportunities and potential.”

Deepti Jayakrishnan

Country: India

Organization: ACCESS Development Services

Deepti Jayakrishnan worked at Educate Lanka Foundation Inc, a 501c3 non-profit organization which creates a unique platform for the global Sri Lankan diaspora to engage with their home country by financially contributing the education of its children and youth. Deepti’s responsibilities included conducting feasibility studies, preparing project reports, identifying and potential corporate partners, reviewing existing legal contracts, and managing an intern.

Deepti : “Besides adapting my legal skills to a new jurisdiction, I had opportunities to refine my grant writing skills and negotiating skills. It also depend my interest in impact investing and social investment businesses. I am highly likely to start my own company or at least heavily invest in a social business in the future.”

Katie Halleran

Country: Cambodia

Organization: Development Innovations

Katie Halleran worked at Development Innovations in Cambodia, and immersed herself int he world of Phnom Penh startups, hub, hackerspaces, design thinking groups, and co-working spaces in order to get to know the landscape. She also took part in providing content and editing for the first and second rounds of an internal DAI competition on innovative projects.

Katie: “I was fortunate to alongside the talented people on the ground at DI; one of my colleagues, a Khmer Rouge survivor who escaped at the Thai border camps at 6 years old, had just finished a documentary on rediscovering the camp where over 20,000 were said to have died, and reconnecting with childhood friends with whom he had fled the camp.”

Rachel Bass

Country: Myanmar

Organization: Golden Rock Capital

Rachel Bass worked as a summer associate for Golden Rock Capital, a newly launched private equity fund focused specifically on Myanmar and generally on the ASEAN region. She hoped to gain insight in the demands and processes of private equity, leveraging her background in Microfinance, further explore finance skills acquired through Fletcher coursework, and contribute to a rapidly growing and evolving Myanmar

Rachel: “I learned more about my own intangible skills while gaining a much greater sense of appreciation for my good fortune. I believe this awareness will help me infinitely during a long career grounded in social service.”

Manisha Basnet

Country: Uganda

Organization: FIT Uganda

Manisha Basnet worked as an Economic Consultant for FIT Uganda. The eight week project involved field research on market information system, cost-benefit analysis and market trend analysis of agricultural commodities.

Manisha: “This internship has helped spur my interest in strategic management consulting. It has also helped reinforce my interest in financial inclusion as a tool for social and economic development.”

Anisha Baghudana

Country: Kenya

Organization: MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth / Institute of Business in the Global Context.

Anisha Baghudana completed a research fellowship with the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth and Institute of Business in the Global Context (IBGC) at the Fletcher School. MasterCard and IBGC piloted a new initiative for Fletcher graduate students this year to support original research touching upon the themes of private sector innovation to promote inclusive development in emerging and frontier markets.

Anisha: “I am indebted to the Blakeley Foundation for providing me the opportunity to pursue my career interests and am hugely thankful to Jerry Blakeley for giving me the flexibility to do a research project instead of a traditional internship”

Anna Valeria

Country: Lima

Organization: Endeavor Brasil / Andean Innovation Red

Anna Valeria joined Andean Innovation Red (AIR) early in the organization’s development. She acted as an advisor, identifying the purpose of every company activity to determine relevance to key objectives. Her main objective was to build a map of the entrepreneurial landscape in Lima. She interviewed entrepreneurs, investors, acelerators and university officials involved in fostering entrepreneurship. As a result AIR attracted for the first time the attention of the community by using a new technological platform (i.e. Google Hangouts) that allowed to reach more audience and to create a virtual platform where entrepreneurs and soon-to-be entrepreneurs can share ideas.

Anna: “Today I feel more prepared and confident that I have been gathering the needed tools, both in terms of the academic work and now during the summer with hands-on experience to start building my own startup with social impact.”

Madeline Thomson

Country: Mexico

Organization: Grupo Compartamos

Madeline Thomson worked as an Accion Ambassador and Strategic Planning Intern to contribute to the launch implementation of the operations of Compartamos Foundation. She performed site visits and interviews with top organizations and foundations in Mexico to compile best practices, and participated in a week long strategic planning session to define organization purpose, beneficiaries, values, and styles. Upon the conclusion of her internship, she presented findings from her independent research projects on social impact evaluation and technological innovation to the foundation’s management.

Maddie: “Overall, my time at Compartamos was a wonderful experience and I learned more than I could have imagined possible from a summer internship. In being part of the Foundation from the ground up, I strengthened my communications and analytical skills. Most importantly, I realized how much I love working in a strategy role. Thank you so much for your generosity. I cannot express enough how grateful I am to have had this opportunity.”