Can an internship during college lead to a future career? Three recent graduates of the Department of Community Development and Economics (CDAE) say yes, it can. In a new CDAE podcast, they share how their internships – and their experiences at the University of Vermont as a whole – led to where they are today.
Learning the Ropes of a Nonprofit
For Gemma Del Rossi ’18, now a fund development and communications assistant at the Vermont Council on Rural Development, the training she received in CDAE was invaluable. “I cannot believe how well CDAE prepares you for work in the nonprofit field,” she says.
As a community and international development and environmental studies major, Del Rossi interned at 1% for the Planet while at UVM, and also canvassed for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG). She says both were very helpful steps on the path to where she is now. Interning at VPIRG helped her understand donor relations and gain first-hand experience in fundraising for community development and environmental causes, skills she uses in her new job today.
“I learned through VPIRG that the worst thing anyone can ever say is no, and it’s not the end of the world; you just move on and know that there are plenty of other people that are willing to support the cause,” says Del Rossi.
Del Rossi’s internship at 1% for the Planet was also instrumental in offering valuable preparation for the professional world.
“Working in nonprofit management was incredibly helpful in giving me the ability to work in the nonprofit realm and communicate openly with individuals I don’t know,” she says.
Her only regret about her path? “I wish I’d found CDAE earlier than I did,” she says.
Public Communication Paves Way to Homeland Security Job
Madi Duffy ’20, who will graduate in May with a B.S. in Public Communication, spent last summer interning at the Department of Homeland Security’s Human Capital and Training Office. Duffy credits her public communication major with preparing her for the position.
“The strategic writing aspects of CDAE and what I learned throughout my career at UVM has been incredibly helpful. Making sure that I’m communicating in an effective way that’s also professional has really set me apart.”
Following her summer internship, she was invited to stay on as a student trainee through the Department of Homeland Security's student pathways training program while finishing her studies at UVM. She is hopeful that the internship may turn into a full-time job once she graduates.
Duffy’s public communication coursework and projects were directly relevant to the skills she uses day to day on the job, she says.
“In the Human Capital and Training Office, we not only take care of the budget, but we also organize the professional development program…there’s a lot of graphics [work]. We put out advertisements for opportunities within USCIS, so that part of my undergraduate major has been really helpful.”
Organizing For a Cause
For Betsy McGavisk, ’19, who graduated with a B.S. in Community and International Development, the CDAE internship experiences led to her current job as a community organizer for Rights & Democracy Vermont.
While at UVM, McGavisk interned first for the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and realized she had a passion for local politics. That passion and the connections she made led to her next internship, as a campaign manager for Jack Hanson, who was running for city council in Burlington. (Happily, he won!)
“The campaign team…and the other people that I was working with to get Jack elected – it was really, really fun. We are clearly all young people doing this and we can have fun and also be feeling like we're doing good work in our communities.”
Now, as a community organizer at Rights & Democracy, McGavisk helps bring people together to discuss pressing issues like minimum wage and paid family medical leave insurance, and plan ways in which they can influence and impact legislation. She recommends that current CDAE students consider community organizing as a career path.
“I think if people are excited about doing this kind of thing – excited about talking to their community and being really rooted in issues of justice and in the political scene, I would totally recommend this,” she says. “It’s energizing because you're working with community members and you're working on issues. It's not just, ‘I want my candidate to win,’ but, ‘how do we solve these issues together?’"
Interested in learning more about CDAE internships? The CDAE Internship Program provides support for students interested in finding career-related internship experiences. Interns are supervised and supported by professionals in the field as well as by our Internship Coordinator. If you're not sure where to start, schedule an appointment to receive one-on-one coaching.