Internship Location: Madison WI
Organization Type: Local Government
Policy Areas: Consulting/Economic and Community Development/Urban Policy
This summer, I participated in a project internship through UW-Madison’s UniverCity Alliance. UniverCity Alliance matches cities and communities around the state of Wisconsin with faculty members, students, and resources at UW-Madison with the goal of increasing the bandwidth of cities to be as successful as they possibly can be. Throughout the year, UniverCity Alliance often gives projects to courses to work on throughout the semester in groups. This was the first time they offered projects to individual students in an internship experience. As a project intern, I worked with the Village of Waunakee. There, I was tasked with helping them to increase their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, particularly with regards to policing. I conducted research relating to progressive policing and best practices in order to make recommendations to their Village Clerk to be shared with the Police Department, Village Board, and constituents. This project was done in conjunction with another project also related to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The internship was remote and completely self-paced. This allowed me to set my own deadlines and work through my research and recommendations throughout the entire summer. I was able to practice skills such as stakeholder analysis, policy/solution analysis, auditing, and memo writing that I was exposed to in my La Follette coursework. The internship also included a presentation that allowed me to present my work to an audience in less technical terms. Overall, this internship is a great opportunity to bring coursework into the workforce.