Internship Location: Remote
Organization Type: Nonprofit
Policy Areas: Economic / Development policy
In my internship with the Rural Local Initiative Support Corporation in the Fall of 2023, I acted as a support to (the) Program Officer in Workforce Development and Economic Prosperity. Rural LISC is a nationwide nonprofit intermediary and CDFI, acting as a go-between with other large national partners and local community institutions working in rural areas everywhere. My project involved conceiving, writing, editing, distributing, and analyzing data from a worker voice survey I called the “Rural Workers: Amplified” survey. I aimed to collect 200 responses by the conclusion of the survey period, and initiated a focus group listening campaign after three months of collecting data. Working with Rural LISC was a valuable experience in so many ways: from the exposure I was able to gain to the nonprofit/CDFI industry at numerous conferences and in multiple career chats with individuals close to Rural LISC, to the work of carrying out a partner-facing project from cradle to grave in a way that I had never been responsible for a project before, I gained access to aspects of a solid education in public affairs that I would never have been able to be a part of outside of La Follette. I am excited to wrap up my work in the next few weeks with final reports on my work and reader-friendly communications copy for the organization to go forward with in the future.