Internship Location: Madison WI
Organization Type: Nonprofit
Policy Areas: Economic/Education/Health/Human Rights/Social Welfare
This summer I served as a Public Policy intern for Nehemiah: Center for Urban Leadership Development. This Black-led nonprofit supports the minority populations in the greater Madison area with the 5 strategic priorities of education, incarceration reform/re-entry services, economic development, family and community wellness, and leadership development. As a student, I am currently majoring in Biology and pursuing Public Policy and Global Health certificates. Through this internship, I was able to able to work at the intersection of health and policy at the Allied Wellness center, a Nehemiah community partner. My responsibilities included creating a foundational organization system to track incoming donations and outgoing supplies. This system will allow for more efficient data collection as well as the ability to present yearly reports for potential grants, donors or corporate partners. I also collaborated with Nehemiah’s Justified Anger initiative by creating an Alumni Map for the Black History for a New Day course- visualizing the growth and increasing impact that this lecture series has had, first regionally and now nationally. Additionally, my intern cohort presented a Voting Rights research project detailing how enfranchisement for the current and formerly incarcerated populations vary by state. Overall, this internship allowed me to engage in discussions about policy across sectors, further my education about Black history and its continued impact on policy and social justice, and develop skills that will benefit my future career as a health professional.