Hey! My name is Amna and I am the 2018 Summer Intern for the Global Co Lab Network. I’ve currently been on the team for just over one month and I can honestly say that this has been the most enriching summer experience of my life. Coming into the organization, I immediately felt that it was directly aligned with my personal and academic interests. I have a strong passion for youth empowerment to create action-oriented efforts and I highly value the breadth of opportunities the Global Co Lab Network provides for millennials to work towards transforming their ideas into programs and partnerships. As a millennial myself with a growing academic background in the field of public health, this internship position has not only catered to my current passions, but has also helped me explore new areas of interest through the various opportunities it has provided me.

One of the greatest aspects of this internship is that it addresses a wide variety of interests. As a
rising Junior studying Public Health at the College of William and Mary, I am interested in the intersectionality across many subject areas, from the social and natural sciences to the political science and beyond. Thus, with the wonderful guidance of the organization’s Founding Director, Linda Staheli, I have been able to explore those academic passions in professional settings and network with a wide variety of specialists. For example, I was invited to attend a global health conference on PEPFAR’s DREAMS program, an initiative which partners with several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to mitigate and prevent HIV through socio-cultural methods and a systems-based approach. I’ve also had the opportunity of attending conferences and events in subject areas that I was previously unfamiliar with or had limited knowledge on, such as the Leaders in Energy Green Leaders Retreat as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Citizen Science Symposium which also centered around the environmental sciences.

On a more personal level, interning for the Global Co Lab Network has provided me with a platform to explore, advocate for, and act on two areas that I feel deeply passionate about: female empowerment and mental health. It’s been an empowering experience contributing to the Co Lab’s work with Brie Mathers and her “Love the Skin You’re In” campaign designed to empower self-acceptance and confidence among the youth population. I’ve also loved planning to build the Good Health and Well-being Dream Hub which will primarily focus on mental health, a highly pertinent and universal issue of our present world.

The internship responsibilities and work-environment also vary and thus, I always feel engaged with the work that I am producing. Since a majority of the tasks take place digitally, I have the flexibility of working in many different environments. Linda and I typically work together at a Co-Work space in Clarendon which has the perfect aesthetic and comfort for productive yet relaxing work sessions. Some of the work can also be done at the comfort of my own home or community office facility, which provides me with a great change of scenery every once in a while.

The Global Co Lab Network has granted me the opportunity to develop personal and academic skills as well as network with experts from powerful non-profit organizations around the D.C. area.
I strongly recommend applying to become a Summer Intern for the Co Lab if the multi-faceted, empowering work of the organization is of interest to you, especially if you are experienced in teamwork, time-management in fast-paced environments, writing, research, and organization, which I believe are beneficial facets to the responsibilities of this internship position.

Apply for the position today!