Harvard students from Collier reflect on their internships
Emily Caputo
Reflection Paper – Community Foundation Internship
As an intern at the Community Foundation of Collier County, my primary objective was to update the Resource Guide to Collier Nonprofits. This entailed sending emails, making phone calls, and mailing letters to the heads of almost two hundred organizations. Over the course of my four weeks, I also organized the Community Foundation’s library, sat in on a marketing conference, and compiled a list of financial planners for their business database.
This internship gave me hands-on experience in the professional world, which will be an invaluable asset in all my future endeavors. The biggest challenge, and yet most rewarding aspect, of my job was the task of calling those who did not respond to my emails. At first I was timid, and unsure of myself. How could a recent high school graduate talk accomplished men and women into filling out extra paperwork? I soon learned that being apprehensive wouldn’t get me anywhere – secretaries would send me straight to voicemail. As I picked up on the phrases I heard around the office, I became more confident that I, too, could sound like a professional. Soon I was able to converse directly with chief executives, and get all but thirty-five organizations to update their profiles. The overarching lesson that I learned during my internship was how to communicate and present myself in a professional manner. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to learn such a vital lesson at so young an age.
Mastering the use of the Community Foundation’s internal database was crucial to determining which organizations needed to update, retrieving passwords for those who had forgotten them, and otherwise troubleshooting any problems that were encountered by clients. Though I had taken an introductory Computer Science course, I had never before gotten the chance to use such a complex program. At the time of my internship, the Community Foundation was also working on a complete overhaul of their website and system. When I expressed interest in the computer department, they let me sit in on conference calls with their web development team. I was even able to design a few things myself! Prior to my internship, I had been considering studying Computer Programming at Harvard. My experience with the Community Foundation’s database only solidified my interest in the subject.
Due to the nature of my project, I also became familiar with the majority of the active nonprofits in Collier County. From the Naples Zoo to Grace Place, I read mission statements, spoke with representatives, and even reviewed 990-tax form information. This exposed me to different styles of governance, the way funds are allocated, and even occasionally to the fundraising methods used. Many of the organizations I collaborated with were struggling, or facing downturns in donations and volunteers. At the same time, they had more and more people coming to them for help. Hearing from the chief executives and understanding their plight has reinforced my desire to be a lifelong volunteer. Not only did I have the opportunity to see the inner workings of the Community Foundation, but I also got a glimpse into the heart of almost two hundred other nonprofit organizations.
In closing, my internship at the Community Foundation was a unique opportunity that allowed me to develop professional skills and to assist many of Collier County’s nonprofit service organizations simultaneously. I greatly appreciate the Harvard Club of Naples for their help in organizing this experience and for their generous financial support.
Gabriella Paisan
Reflection Paper
This summer I worked with the Naples Women’s Philanthropic Network. The WPN is a philanthropic group within an umbrella organization, the Community Foundation of Collier County, that works to provide underserved cohorts of women in Collier County (mainly underprivileged teens, mothers and caretakers in poverty, and the elderly and infirm) with access to life-improving opportunities such as educational scholarships and grants that cover basic living expenses. The WPN also hopes that, through giving to others, a sense of women’s empowerment will grow amongst the group’s members. The Network’s rationale for focusing on women’s philanthropy is that many of society’s most dire problems such as poverty and violence often fall hardest on women; yet only 7% of philanthropies nationally focus on the needs of underserved women. The WPN hopes to correct this imbalance to the best of their ability.
Currently the WPN is in a rebuilding phase. During this five year time period, the WPN has set out to accomplish several goals: raising the endowment to one million dollars, sustaining the ability to give out a minimum of $50,000 in grants annually, and establishing specialized “Field of Interest” fund-holders who would be able to the unmet needs of the women and girls of Collier County, Florida. During my internship, I was responsible for overseeing and completing two major projects: streamlining their communications methods and cutting out unnecessary communication programs and creating several presentations that would later be used to educate potential donors, the Community Foundation’s board members, and the community at large about the work of the WPN. In particular, I worked to develop a type of secure online social network, complete with an administration, community rules, and confidentiality agreement. This network, we hope, will ultimately be central to the WPN’s goal of raising its endowment. We hope the members of the Network will be excited to be part of the social group and much more proactive in recruiting new members and more generous with their donations after it is employed. The presentations that I worked on will be used in the future to discuss why women’s philanthropy is important to the community, the rising trend in the transfer of the nation’s wealth to a higher proportion of women, and the benefits and drawbacks to being a stand-alone versus community foundation-based philanthropic network.
My internship with the WPN not only met but also exceeded my expectations. I was given an ample amount of independence and responsibility showing the trust that my supervisors had in me, but I also never felt lost or without guidance. My coworkers were supportive and friendly and more than happy to help with any parts of my project that I felt unsure about. They also were very accessible to answer any of my questions or concerns while I was doing work out of office.
During my time with the WPN, I learned a lot about the workings of the public interest sector. In particular, I was struck by the amount of obstacles inherent in the system of collecting funds for charity. It was often unclear how much power our umbrella organization had over the direction of the WPN and its use of funds. I often felt that the overseeing organization saw the WPN more as a social club for wealthy women of Naples than a philanthropic organization, which is a sadly skewed and inaccurate view of what the WPN does and what they set out to accomplish. I learned through my work with the WPN that what goes on behind the scenes of a philanthropic organization is much hard work and long hours, all while maintaining a calm, collected, and friendly public persona. I have grown to truly respect the amount of time and effort that those in the public sector put into their work, and often for little pay and a lot of frustration. The women at the WPN work there not because of a paycheck but because they truly believe in the mission of the Women’s Philanthropic Network, and they have inspired me to throw myself into my schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and eventual career with that same amount of passion.
Christine Mansour
Summer Internship Reflection Paper
This summer I worked for the Community Foundation of Collier County. I worked for the Collier 211 awareness campaign. Collier 211 is a free 24 hour, seven days a week hotline service citizens of Collier County can call if they need help regarding health care, child care, food, financial aid, job opportunities, or basically anything the county can offer. While on the awareness campaign, I travelled around my county distributing materials, such as flyers, business cards, posters, and card racks. I visited 65 churches, 5 grocery stores, 12 thrift stores, and sent out materials to every school, K-12, in my county in order for them to distribute the materials in envelopes to be sent to the students’ home. Additionally, I went to meetings with Mary George, acting CEO of the Community Foundation, in order to promote and explain Collier 211 to leaders in my county. I also assisted with a database entry system called ClientTrack. I entered elder patients’ information regarding their health and living arrangements so that every medical system in the county can use ClientTrack as a resource, in order for them to know exactly what the patient needs.
I faced numerous challenges during my internship. For example, when I first started working on promoting Collier 211, I thought every business would embrace it with wide, open arms. The churches, for the most part, definitely did, because they have people coming from all over asking them for help in multiple aspects of their lives. Corporate companies, however, were not as accepting. I thought for sure, since Collier 211 is such a beneficial addition to our community, all the stores I went to would want to promote and help advertise our hotline. I found out that I had to go through regional offices to get permission to put up a poster in a Salvation Army, or a Wal-Mart. Getting ahold of a regional manager, I found out, is nearly impossible. It took multiple calls to even reach their voicemail.
Another challenge I faced, which can double as a success in a profound way, is that I was able to explore parts of my community I have never seen before. Naples, Florida is a very, very diversified community, both ethnically and financially. I live on the west side of Naples, which is where my high school is, my friends live, and where I go shopping. During my internship, I was able to delve deep into east Naples, which is a completely different community; one would question whether east Naples was even part of Naples. It is very rural, with a mass amount of poverty and crime. It made me wonder about my lifestyle, and the things I take for granted, like running water. It made me realize that my side of Naples hides the “ugly” side of Naples. It was challenging for me to see how comfortably I am able to live compared to the people I was trying to help.
This internship definitely met my expectations. I knew I was going to be able to help out in my community, and reach out to people in need. It exceeded my expectations, because I never thought I would feel a sense of accomplishment every day. I didn’t expect to feel like I made a profound difference in my community. I feel as though this internship will affect subsequent jobs I will choose from in the future, because it really made me realize that helping others makes life worth living. If I do not have a job that I am able to help out others who are not as well off as I am, I will not have that sense of accomplishment I felt during my internship.
One moment that really was the epitome of my internship occurred on my last day of work this summer. I was driving out of a Wal-Mart, (after meeting, explaining, and discussing, Collier 211 with the store manager) when I saw a young married couple on the side of the road. They held up a tiny sign that read, “Necesito ayuda, necesito dinero”, which, translated into English, read “I need help, I need money”. The wife was pregnant, with her husband by her side. I passed them on the way into the Wal-Mart, without stopping. I thought about them during the entire meeting with the store manager. When I drove out, I pulled over, right to where they were standing, and rolled down my window. Practicing my Spanish, I handed them a Collier 211 flyer and said, “Llama esto numéro, puede ayudarte mucho”, which translates to, “Call this number, it can help you a lot”. Their expressions lit up, and the man shook my hand and repeated, “Gracias, muchos gracias”, which translates to “Thank you, thank you so much”. I have never witnessed two individuals with such appreciative expressions on their faces. It was so nice to end my internship in this manner. I really felt like I was directly helping my community, and I have never experienced that before.I would define public interest work as work that is influencing the way a community operates. Obviously it is in a positive manner, and aims to help and increase the well being of a community’s citizens. I believe that the public interest sector is doing very well with the resources it has at the moment. In the future, however, I believe that it can do a greater job in facilitating the communication of a community, which will, in turn, positively affect the relations between individuals, and also between companies.
Haris H. Domond, Jr.
Reflection Paper
My name is Haris Domond, and I am a rising sophomore at Harvard College. I had an amazing experience this summer while interning at Naples Community Hospital/NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Florida. During my internship, I shadowed twenty-four physicians and surgeons in nineteen specialties including: Pediatrics, Critical Care, Medical Oncology, Interventional Cardiology, Cardiovascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, Nephrology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pathology, Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine, Hospitalist, General Surgery, Gynecology, Vascular Surgery, Interventional Radiology, Critical Care, Neonatology, Radiation Oncology. While shadowing, I had the opportunity to interact with patients and provide assistance to the doctors whenever asked.
Shadowing the physicians allowed me to experience the medical field in ways in which I had never expected. Throughout the internship, physicians demonstrated their roles in the treatment of their patients, and explained how their specialties focused on different diseases and anatomical structures. As I looked upon the sterile surgical field, surgeons took the time to walk me through the steps of different surgeries, and sometimes even allowed me to hold the tissues removed from the patients. I held parts of a lung, a gallbladder, gallstones, and knee ligaments while in the operating room. One of the highlights of the internship happened in an operating room, when a doctor post-operatively taught me how to use a robotic surgeon. After learning how to maneuver its “fingers,” I was then asked to unwrap a sealed object—which I did successfully! The moment was memorable for me because it allowed me to envision myself in the future doing something I enjoyed while working with people who cared for each other and their patients.
This internship overwhelmingly exceeded my expectations because of the quality of the people with whom I worked. The Chief Medical Officer was always willing to tailor my planned experiences to match my interests, and grew to understand my personality and aspirations. We established a great rapport, and I hope to stay in contact for years to come. The nurses in the hospitals and offices definitely had a positive influence on the internship. They were very thoughtful, made sure that I was in the right place at the right time, and took the time to get to know me and make me feel comfortable. I really appreciated how knowledgeable and understanding the nurses were during the internship. All of the doctors I had the opportunity to shadow were also extremely kind and were generous to take time out of their schedule for this internship. I was really grateful that they made it a point to teach me about their careers and about the advantages and disadvantages of going into the medical field. Having been in my position—as a premedical student—in the past, they knew what I needed to hear, and did not sugarcoat the details. This was an invaluable aspect of the internship, and I really learned a great deal from the physicians.
Like many people, I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. However, it has been a seemingly constant desire of mine to make sure the medical field is where I am supposed to be. This is one of the reasons that I decided to intern with the Naples Community Hospital/NCH Healthcare System; I wanted to make sure that I really wanted to be doctor, especially before taking organic chemistry! I can certainly say that I am much more confident in my desire to be a physician in the future. All of my experiences this summer have solidified what I thought was true about myself, and helped turn dreams into less-distant goals. I am so thankful for the help of CPIC in making this a possibility.
The opportunities made possible by CPIC have helped me understand that the public interest sector is more than just policymakers and government employees. In my eyes, the public interest sector is where people and businesses interact to help others in society. Public interest work is helping others, fortunate and less fortunate, with the skills and talents that God has given each of us.