2014 Stephanie Fowler & Irving Levin Summer Internship Award Recipients

Zoe Abbott-Boyd

I am a rising senior from New York, majoring in economics and minoring in political science. I am studying economics with a concentration in public policy because I am interested in pursuing a career which will allow me to follow my passion for altering public policies for the better. While studying abroad in Ireland I became very interested in a possible correlation between Ireland’s low corporate tax rate and its amount of foreign investment—particularly of U.S. firms within the country. After I realized that companies use offshore tax havens—such as Ireland—to avoid paying taxes, I was outraged at the resulting social spending cuts, higher consumer taxes, and competitive disadvantages for small businesses. I knew this had to change, and I wanted to be a part of it. This summer I am interning at Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group which is a nonprofit consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threat health, safety, financial security or the right to fully participate in a democratic society. At OSPIRG I will be working on a campaign to end corporate tax loopholes in Oregon. I will primarily focus on effecting public policy through grassroots organizing. As an inten at OSPIRG I will have a variety of tasks which will help me not only solidify my communication, research, writing and networking skills, but also my familiarity of the political process involved in altering public policy. As I am a forward thinker who enjoys translating theories and possibilities into concrete solutions, interning at OSPIRG is an amazing opportunity to combine my love of economics with my desire for progressive policy solutions.

Seraphie Allen

My name is Seraphie Allen and I am a rising senior English Major and Gender Studies Minor from Sonoma County, California! I recently returned from studying abroad in Australia and now I am interning for McSweeney’s Publishing. McSweeney’s Publishing is an American publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers and headquartered in San Francisco. McSweeney’s began in 1998 as a literary journal that published only works rejected by other magazines. That rule was soon abandoned, and since then McSweeney’s has attracted work from some of the finest writers in the country. Some of my duties include reading submissions, finding images, checking facts, and going to the post office! I hope to gain hands on experience in the publishing field and allow my passion for unique literature to matter.

Lincoln Boyd

My name is Lincoln Boyd and I am a rising senior studying political science. I have been given the opportunity to be an Associate for the Washington D.C. Public Schools Urban Education Leaders Internship Program (UELIP). I will have the opportunity to participate in mission-critical projects for DCPS including curriculum design, recruitment, and innovation assignments. Associates also support closing the achievement gap from the front lines of the district central office and work on DCPS committees that contribute toward projects that meet cross-departmental needs. This internship gives me the opportunity to gain first hand experience in education reform and in turning around poorly performing school systems. I grew up in Stockton, CA, a notoriously impoverished and poorly performing school district, and plan on unearthing solutions for cities like Stockton that have been dilapidated by gross educational inequalities and  the lack of opportunity to get ahead, and I strongly believe being a UELIP Associate will be an excellent stepping stone in my endeavor.

Marissa Burke

My name is Marissa Burke and I am a rising senior studying Foreign Languages and English. Last summer I was a volunteer tutor at a grassroots organization called SE Works in the Lents district of Portland. SE Works is a workforce development program that provides employment, education, and supportive services for the southeast Portland community. This summer I will return to SE Works as a teaching intern, and I will have the opportunity to tutor several students one-on-one, lead conversation groups, and help as a classroom assistant. My students will be community members of all ages and backgrounds. Although my main focus will be teaching, I will also help with tutor orientation and training, community outreach, and many administrative tasks. As an intern, my co-workers will be professionals from Mercy Corps and AmeriCorps and other nonprofit organizations. I will also be working alongside sincere Portlanders who are working hard to provide funding and services to a disadvantaged district. This internship is the perfect opportunity to use my Spanish skills and gain experience teaching, but I will also be able to gain greater insight into what it takes to lift up a struggling community.

Lindy Colvin

I am an International Affairs major interested in social and economic development. This summer I have secured a three-month-long internship with HelpArgentina, an innovative and successful nonprofit organization located in Buenos Aires. The program fundraises internationally to support over seventy different Argentine nonprofits with a wide range of developmental initiatives such as the rehabilitation of the homeless, improvement of educational opportunities for at-risk children, advancement of civil rights for minorities, reduction of poverty and malnutrition, and the advancement of affordable healthcare. It also assists these nonprofits with advice on project design, research management, and impact assessment. The organization is especially innovative because it provides a network of organizations that can collaborate on central agendas by pooling resources and contacts.  Because all of the organizations and programs coordinated and overseen by HelpArgentina have been deemed high-impact under evaluation, I will be exposed to a wide range of successful and innovative development strategies and gain an understanding of which type of programs are the most successful, and why. This will help me in my future work in nonprofits and program delivery. Specifically, I will gain valuable experience within the developmental field and nonprofit realm assisting with developmental projects, program evaluation, grant research, and data management.

Yash Desai

Having spent most of my life in India, Portland has been my home for the past three years. I am currently a rising senior at Lewis & Clark majoring in Economics and minoring in Mathematics. This summer I will be interning with Aginsky Consulting Group in Portland. At Aginsky, I will be responsible for researching leading companies, performing due diligence on their business models, understanding their strategy, and proposing a customized solution to help them achieve their goals. The financial leaning of the internship is in conjunction with a career path I aspire to be on. In the future I hope to work with startups in helping them meet their capital requirements. Working with ACG is a great opportunity for me, and I plan to make the most of it.

Caleb Diehl

I am a rising junior studying history and economics. This summer, I will intern at Portland Monthly Magazine, a high-quality publication covering politics, culture, food, recreation and sports in Oregon. My responsibilities will include fact-checking stories, checking emails and writing short news pieces. I will also write portions of larger inserts or special sections. I will get the chance attend editorial meetings and pitch my own stories. I hope to sharpen my writing, reporting and research skills while adding to my knowledge of Portland’s government and culture. When I return in the fall, I will put my skills to good use as editor-and-chief of the Pioneer Log.  

Isabella Fabens

My name is Isabella Fabens and I am a rising senior studying International Affairs with a minor in Economics. This summer I will be interning with Mercy Corps, an international development organization that helps people around the world survive and thrive after conflict, crisis, and natural disaster, based in Portland. As an intern, I will be developing a website for communities of practice on which employees from Mercy Corps offices around the world can share information, especially in light of the Syrian response. In addition, I will contribute to centralizing information and training materials related to negotiation approaches to solving conflict issues. Third, I will research types of youth employability programs that have applied technology in promising ways as part of an ongoing effort to explore different technologies to advance Mercy Corps’ youth programs. I hope to pursue a career in international development and work for an organization like Mercy Corps.

Maia Erickson

My name is Maia and I am a rising senior majoring in Cross-Cultural Conflict Studies. This summer I will be working at the Museum of Moroccan Judaism in Casablanca, Morocco as a research assistant with Prof. Oren Kosansky. This work will contribute to the on-going Rabat-Genizah Project which has been gathering documents, records, and religious texts of the dwindling Jewish population in Rabat, Morocco. My work will be to help compile these documents into a digital archive, adding translations, transcriptions, and annotations for selected documents. I am very excited for this opportunity to learn and work alongside a team of international scholars and the museum’s own staff members, and to work with primary historical documents while learning about museum function and curation. I will also have the chance to improve my French and Moroccan Arabic language skills, and to begin learning Hebrew.  This internship offers an invaluable opportunity to broaden my academic and professional experience and to explore the rich religious, linguistic, and cultural diversity of Morocco.

Stanley Fonseca

I’m a History major and a Computer Science minor at Lewis & Clark. My passion lies in the field of American cultural history, and some day I would love to teach at a college or university. This summer, I will be writing entries for the Oregon Encyclopedia, researching topics from Oregon’s settling through modern times. It’s a perfect opportunity to expand my research and writing skills, and give myself a starting point for my dream of an academic career.

Bjorn Hansen

I am a rising senior Economics major and Music minor. This summer I’ll be interning at PorterHouse Media, a media company founded by DJ Steve Porter that produces unique, engaging, and eye-catching music-video compositions for a variety of media. Clients of PH Media include: ESPN, Disney, NBC, E!, VH1, Machinima, University Of Illinois, G4 TV, CBS, Cisco, Dallas Mavericks, Fedex, Hasbro, Hooters, Hyundai, IBM, Maxim Magazine, New York Knicks, TMZ, TNT, and the US Olympic Committee. As an intern, I’ll be producing audio, composing music, editing video, managing social networks, reaching out to artists, and promoting releases. This opportunity will be a fantastic starting point for a career in the music and media industry.

Miriam Karraker

I am junior French and religious studies double major at Lewis & Clark. I will be a development and outreach intern with Bitch Media here in Portland. I will be assisting in the planning, coordination, publicity, and production of events, as well as fundraising, managing raffles, thanking donors, writing on the blog, and conducting research for the Bitch on Campus program.

Katherine Keller

Katherine Keller is a rising junior at Lewis & Clark College intending to major in both International Affairs and Economics. This summer she will be serving as the Multicultural and Small Business Development Intern at The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Her responsibilities will include: promoting, planning and participating in events for a full range of Puget Sound organizations, maintaining the web-based resource guides and databases, and reaching out to business leaders in the local community to assess the efficacy of current programs that help multicultural and small businesses grow. Ultimately Katherine hopes this experience will open doors for future opportunities, particularly a career in business by refining her management, leadership and analytical skills.

Frances Mahoney-Mosedale

I am a rising Junior majoring in English and minoring in Gender Studies at Lewis & Clark College, and this summer I will be interning at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, MN. I will be working with the administration of the Mentor Series, a program that offers twelve emerging Minnesota writers the opportunity to work intensively with six nationally acclaimed writers of literature and poetry. I will also be assisting with the implementation of their new Book Match program. As an English major, I believe that it is important to support local talent and artists in the community in their continuing effort to create literature and poetry. I believe literary centers like The Loft provide a crucial outlet and resource for emerging talent and the promotion of existing authors, as well as education for writers of all abilities.

Raquel McNeff

I’m Raquel McNeff and I will be working for the nonprofit organization, AC Portland. AC Portland works with children in the classroom and specifically focuses on creative writing which includes some slam poetry events. They also work with this same children on the soccer field. AC Portland provides a fun soccer environment for the kids who take part in AC Portland. I will be helping with events such as the 50/50 Raffle that AC Portland puts on which teams up with the Portland Timbers and raises money for the organization. I will also be involved in soccer camps and learning how the nonprofit organization specifically runs. I will be helping with projects which help with spreading the word about AC Portland through social media as well.

Hunter Meece

I will be exercising my passion for entrepreneurship during an internship in Lobitos, Peru for the nonprofit, WAVES for Development, whose mission is to inspire world travel and cultural exchange through surf experiences, while collaboratively building educational programs that empower travelers, local youth, and communities. I will be also be conducting research in collaboration with the nonprofits, Save the Waves and DG Costera, to understand the economic impact of surf tourism on the area where the pristine waves of Northern Peru bring surfers from around the world. As a Religious Studies major and the co-founder of the Entrepreneurship Club at Lewis & Clark College, I hope to expand my learning curve exponentially.

Lindsay Mulcahy

I am a rising junior majoring in History and minoring in English and Latin American Studies. This summer I am excited to say that I will be interning at the Portland Archives and Records Center. PARC is an incredible resource for primary sources from Portland and all around the Pacific Northwest. My main task at the archive will be processing raw material, including arranging and describing materials and working on preservation issues. As a aspiring historian, knowing how to utilize the resources of an archive is a key skill. I am excited not only to use this resource, but see how employees at the archive have applied their love for history.

Kristina Nelson

Hi my name is Kristina Nelson and I am a rising senior majoring in Studio Art and Psychology. This summer I will be interning at Portland Garment Factory (PGF), an independently owned manufacturing house for high-quality apparel in Southeast Portland. PGF is run in its entirety by two women who engage in sustainable, ethical business practices and traditional manufacturing techniques to serve as a valuable resource for local clothing designers. Their services include pattern drafting and sizing, construction of sample garments and prototypes, size grading, design consultation, and production of actual garments. As an intern I will help with setting up PGF’s exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Craft and other upcoming shows.  In addition to fulfilling regular “intern duties” (shadowing, running errands, and doing office-type duties), I will be in full control of implementing a “zero waste” goal for PGF, ensuring that 100% of fabric scraps generated in house are put to use.

Emma O’Neil

My name is Emma O’Neil and I am a rising senior majoring in History. This summer, I will be interning at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center in Portland where I will help develop a community-based exhibit titled “Before Memories Fade: Uncovering the Story of the Kida Family.” This exhibit focuses on a collection of family photographs, documents, and correspondence written between a Japanese American family and their friends from 1942 to 1945 following their internment at the Portland Assembly Center and their relocation to Eastern Oregon during World War II. My role will be to assist in cataloging and digitizing these historical records, to help conduct archival research online, to lead team research in the archives of local museums in Oregon, to participate in exhibition committee meetings, and to contribute to the exhibit design and development process. I am very excited to help highlight the story of the Kida family and the greater story of Japanese Americans during the tumultuous years of World War II through this exhibit, and I hope to gain valuable real-life experience that will help me in my future career.

Neil Rutherford

My name is Neil Rutherford, and I am a rising junior majoring in International Affairs and minoring in Chinese. This summer, I will be interning at the Institute for the Study of War, which is a think-tank located in Washington DC. They specialize in understanding military affairs through research, and in the past, they have focused on Middle Eastern affairs. However, they have recently decided to start a China program where I will be interning. In particular, I will be analyzing Chinese social media  to see who is rising in the PLA. I am really excited to combine my knowledge of International Affairs and my Chinese language skills, and I feel like this is the perfect internship for me! I also hope that this will give me vital knowledge and work experience that will be essential down the road.

Grace Shaw

My name is Grace and I am a rising sophomore biology major from Seattle, WA. This summer I will be interning with South Sound Critter Care (SSCC), a wildlife rehabilitation center in Kent, WA. As a general intern I will be working with all animals brought in to the center. The internship will require extensive husbandry work such as receiving injured or feral animals, performing exams, maintaining housing, preparing food, and providing medical treatment. SSCC works with many volunteers. This means that interns can focus more on hands on work with the wildlife, while the volunteers take care of most maintenance issues. As an intern, I will have the opportunity to supervise and coordinate volunteers, work with the public, keep records, and maintain other essential online systems. The internship also provides opportunities for research, coordinating fundraising events, and learning about the set up of nonprofit organizations. I am interested in using this experience to further pursue a career in wildlife biology as a field researcher.

Molly Sobel

My name is Molly Sobel and I am a rising Psychology major, Art Minor here at LC. I am from the Bay area and hope to return to California for grad school after graduating next year. My own experience growing up in foster care as well as my experiences working with foster kids in the bay area and Portland have made me want to become a Social Worker with Child Protective Services. This summer I will be spending two months working with City of Refuge ministries in Accra, Ghana. I will be volunteering at their orphanage, where I will be working in the homes with the children who live there as well as in their school as a long-term substitute teacher. I will be working with children who have been rescued from child-slavery on Lake Volta, and will also be helping on rescue-missions at the lake. Last year I had the opportunity to spend a week at CORM, where I fell in love with their work and decided I would need to go back for a whole summer to learn from the amazing staff and children. I am so grateful for the support of this grant so I can spend this summer in my dream internship, getting social work experience with one of the most amazing organizations I have ever encountered.

Megom Wangchuk

My name is Megom Wangchuk and I am currently a sophomore, International Affairs major and Political Economy minor. This summer I will be interning at Jackson Center for Global Affairs in Jackson, Wyoming. My internship at the organization will consist of managerial work such as organizing events and programs promoting a U.S.-China clean energy initiative project. I will also be aiding the process of creating a student exchange program with a high school in the Shanxi province of China and a local school in the Jackson valley. Furthermore, I will have an opportunity to create my own research project where I will be able to apply the skills that I have acquired in the first two phases of the internship.  I intend to use this particular phase of my internship to create a long term project that I can carry through with to create relations between my home country of Bhutan and the U.S.

Lila Woloshin

My name is Lila and I’m a rising senior majoring in History. This summer, I will be interning at the Oregon Jewish Museum. I will primarily be working in the museum’s archives to research and write abstracts for a series of oral histories, which I will then turn into an navigable online portland for museum patrons. I will also spend some time learning about curation and collaborating with my supervisors on exhibit planning. I look forward to learning how to easily navigate an historical archive and to improving my professional research and writing skills.