Tag Archives: 2028

Campus Architecture and Planning at the University of California by Laurel Davies ‘28

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Name: Laurel Davies
Class Year: 2028
Major: Growth and Structure of Cities

Internship Organization: UC Berkeley Capital Strategies
Internship Title: Physical and Environmental Planning Intern
Location: Berkeley, California

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

As a planning intern at UCB Capital Strategies, I’m involved in several projects that reflect the varied responsibilities of the university’s architecture office. I work directly with Wendy Hillis, UCB’s Campus Architect, to research the history of planning at the ten UC campuses and investigate how early UC architecture and planning decisions reflected the broader cultural, political, and economic climate of the state.

Visiting the roof of a campus building that is scheduled for renovation in 2027

As a part of this project, I get to explore the University’s special collections archive, reviewing paper documents and correspondence sometimes dating to before 1900. It has been equally exciting to read first-hand accounts of the University’s earliest architectural decisions as it has been to discover silly personal references in memos that pre-date the invention of email.

In addition, I draw on my own design skills in this role to create signage templates for the University’s standardized interior signage guidelines. This task is especially meaningful because it allows me to personally contribute to the improvement of accessibility and wayfinding at UCB: improvement that benefits the physical experience of the campus for all visitors. I’m also responsible for several inventorying initiatives intended to improve the maintenance of campus signage, garbage disposal, and public art installations.

Finally, I accompany members of Capital Strategies Physical Environmental Planning office to their design review meetings and site visits to take notes and experience the day-to-day of architectural project management. Construction sites are much faster-paced than office design work and require different skills – focus, adaptability, organization – and reveal another important side of the industry.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship to gain firsthand exposure to California’s architecture and design industry from the perspective of a practicing professional, complementing the academic foundation I developed through Bryn Mawr’s studio design courses.

The view from the top of the Gateway Building, a new contemporary academic building on campus that will be open for classes this fall

Before beginning my internship search, I conducted several informational interviews with California-based institutional architects and spoke with my studio professors, who also practice architecture in the Philadelphia area. These conversations made it clear that the day-to-day realities of architectural practice differ substantially from the academic studio environment. Wanting to better understand my own career goals while expanding my technical and professional skills, I sought an internship in an architecture firm that would provide opportunities for shadowing, design work, and research.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

Securing this internship became a testament to the strength of Bryn Mawr’s coast-to-coast network and the generosity of its faculty. When I first began searching for summer architecture internships, I reached out to my Cities professors for advice on the skills and experiences that would make me a stronger candidate. I expected a few words of guidance, but instead I found mentors who invested personally in my success. Every professor I contacted responded with thoughtful suggestions and encouragement, offering support well beyond what I had anticipated.

A few weeks later, one of my studio professors emailed to tell me that he had spoken on my behalf with an old graduate school friend who was now the Vice Chancellor at UC Berkeley. His recommendation came as a complete surprise. I had asked only for advice, not introductions, so I was both honored and deeply grateful that he was willing to advocate for me in such a meaningful way. Building on that connection, I shared my portfolio with the Vice Chancellor and UC Berkeley’s Campus Architect. About a month later, I was offered my current internship, a position the Campus Architect developed specifically for me after learning about my interests and the goals I hoped to achieve over the summer. 

Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience?

Adjectives: Independent, Investigative, Informative

Nouns: Design, Development, Project-Management

Racial Justice in Children and Family Law by Carina Roberts ‘28

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Name: Carina Roberts
Class Year: 2028
Major: Political Science

Internship Organization: Committee for Public Counsel Services
Internship Title: Racial Justice Intern
Location: Springfield, MA

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing! 

At my internship my main role is to conduct a research project on how to improve Bias Training in the Children and Family Law Division of the Public Defender’s Office. For that project, I examined the training that is currently used by the division, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the training components. I then researched best practices for Bias trainings and suggested additions and modifications to the trainings. I also did research to support a project on judicial bias in Massachusetts. I specifically researched best practices for encouraging attorneys to report judicial bias and how other groups document judicial bias reports. I am also participating in a mock Temporary Custody Hearing along with my fellow interns. I will be acting as the attorney for one of the children in the mock case conducting direct and cross examination. I have also been shadowing attorneys in court as well.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied to this internship because I have a passion for social justice and am pursuing a career in law. I have a strong interest in family that I found out through my externship in Family Court in Brooklyn, NY. I have always been passionate about racial justice as well. This internship seemed like the best opportunity for me to continue learning about family law and how a career in racial justice fits into that profession. I had been looking for an internship in a public defenders office as I am leaning towards a future career in public defense.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

I am gaining skills in how to advocate for myself and others when there is injustice in the workplace. While it is important to report things to HR it is also good to have a support system who can rationally discuss with you the next steps to take. I am also gaining skills in communication and how to communicate disagreement with a superior without risking being called rude or unwilling to learn. I am learning about this fine line of self-advocacy. I am also enhancing my legal research skills by finding different resources for my research and not taking everything that the authors say as point blank.

Was this internship what you expected it to be? 

This internship was way more than what I expected it to be, mainly because of the kindness and support from my supervisor and the other attorneys in the office. They have all been truly welcoming and offer any opportunity for me to learn something. My supervisor has been especially helpful as we have many discussions about legal concepts, bias in public defense, and law school in general. I also did not expect to learn so much about different aspects of public defense. I am doing a research project specific to CAFL about how to enhance bias training. I am also doing a research project on how to encourage attorneys in Massachusetts to report judicial bias. On the other hand, I participated in a mock temporary custody hearing where I was a child’s attorney. I have also taken opportunities to observe CAFL defense attorneys in action in court, talking with clients, and in conference with one another. I am engaging in multiple different types of learning which has created a holistic internship experience.

Interning at Timeout Foundation by Isabel Gerlach ’28

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Name: Isabel Gerlach
Class Year: 2028
Major: German Studies
Minor: Education Studies

Internship Organization:  Timeout Foundation
Internship Title: Student Intern
Location: Breitnau, Germany

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

Our newest calf, Freya, and her mama, Frederike, the morning after she was born

This summer I am interning with Timeout Foundation, a youth welfare service, where I am building relationships with and help care for our kids who live with us. We also have animals (cows, goats, sheep, pigs, and alpacas), our barn, pastures, and land that we take care of each day. Much of my time at Timeout is spent working together with the kids on tasks around the farm, from their morning and evening stall tasks for the animals to building fences and cutting grass. I also drop our kids off at and pick them up from classes and sports, accompany them to doctor appointments, and pick up medications, clean laundry, and prepare meals. In our office room I am learning to concisely document each kid’s day and about techniques to navigate emotions and deescalate conflict. My work at Timeout Foundation this summer is completely in German, which has been an amazing opportunity to gain more vocabulary and fluency in my German language skills, while also learning about the culture here in southwest Germany

Why did you apply for this internship?

Lovely view of mountains from the house

I applied for this internship because it felt like the perfect intersection of German and Education studies. I would be able to work with kids ages 10 to 17 and explore the pedagogic systems of Timeout Foundation, while putting my German knowledge to use and challenging myself to further grow my language skills and cultural understandings of Germany. My internship with Timeout Foundation is also hosted by Innovation Academy in Freiburg, which is the organization that hosted students from the Climate Change 360 and that I grew familiar with throughout this past fall semester.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

I have found the farm aspect of my internship quite meaningful. Building strong, trusting relationships with kids is quite difficult in a short amount of time, however working on the farm and accomplishing tasks together has helped our relationships grow stronger. It has also been amazing to see how independent the kids are around the farm and how much knowledge they have about animals, for building items, using tools and machinery and their love and care for animals. I have found the farm tasks most difficult throughout my internship due to all the new vocabulary, but it feels satisfying to accomplish tasks and I learn new vocab each day on the farm. The calves are also so adorable!

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

This summer is Innovation Academy and Timeout Foundation’s first time collaborating to offer an internship opportunity, so I had no clear image of what the internship entailed or how it might go. I think the outcome has been even better than I could have hoped for. The team I work with is absolutely amazing and I am gaining valuable knowledge and ideas from them. I have been learning much about culture, social relationships, and emotional regulation through working with our awesome kids. I also would not have otherwise had the opportunity to hang out with our kids and sweet animals each day with such a beautiful view of the Black forest in the background!

Kashf Ali ’28: From Algorithms to Headlines: My Summer in Freiburg

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Name: Kashf Ali
Class Year: 2028
Majors: Computer Science & Mathematics

Internship Organization:  University of Freiburg
Internship Title: Research Assistant — NLP & Media Analysis
Location: Freiburg, Germany

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

This summer I’m working as a research assistant at a psychology lab in Freiburg, Germany, on a project that sits right at the crossroads of computer science and psychology. The goal is to understand how German-language news media covers the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, things like gender equality, clean water, climate action, and poverty reduction, and whether there are goals that barely get covered at all.

My job is to build the data pipeline that answers that question. I’m working with a dataset of millions of German news sentences since 1995, running each one through a multilingual AI model that reads the sentence and assigns it to whichever UN goal it’s most about. I then analyze the results to find patterns; which goals dominate the headlines, which ones are essentially invisible, and whether different outlets cover different goals. So far, gender equality is the most covered goal while no poverty and decent work barely register. Those gaps are exactly what the research is trying to explain.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I’ve always wanted to find a version of computer science that felt connected to something bigger than just the code itself. I’m drawn to questions about people; how they think, what they pay attention to, what shapes their understanding of the world. When I came across this opportunity to combine NLP with psychology research on something as meaningful as global sustainability goals, it felt like exactly the kind of interdisciplinary work I’d been hoping to find. I also wanted real research experience like something where the decisions I made actually affected the findings. This internship gave me both.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

The moment when things finally clicked.

I spent a few days early on trying to find an AI model that could actually read German text well enough to be useful for the project. First one gave completely wrong results. Second one crashed on loading. By the third attempt I was pretty much just hoping for the best and then it actually worked. A sentence about climate change and oceans came back labeled correctly. A sentence about a gender equality law hit 96% confidence. It was one of those quiet moments where you just sit back and think, okay, we’re doing this.

What I didn’t expect was how interesting the results themselves would turn out to be. After running the pipeline on thousands of German news sentences, patterns started emerging: “Gender Equality” was everywhere, showing up in nearly 17% of matched sentences. “No Poverty” barely registered at 0.1%. That’s not just a fun data point, it’s actually saying something real about which global issues German media thinks are worth covering and which ones it essentially ignores. The research question suddenly felt very alive in a way it hadn’t when I was just building the pipeline.

But honestly, it’s not just the work. Freiburg itself has been a huge part of what makes this summer special. It’s a small city in the southwest corner of Germany, right at the edge of the Black Forest, and it has this energy that’s hard to describe — sunny, relaxed, full of students, with little streams called Bächle running along the streets that you will absolutely step in at least once. My colleagues have made it even better. Lunch breaks turn into long conversations, someone always knows a good spot to grab food, and the whole environment just makes you want to show up every day.

That combination — work that actually means something, in a place this good, with people this easy to be around — has made this a summer I’ll genuinely remember.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

Honestly, not at all — but in the best way.

I expected something more straightforward. Build a pipeline, process some data, hand it off. What I didn’t expect was how many judgment calls were actually mine to make. Which model to use. How confident the AI needs to be before we trust its answer. How to handle sentences that are technically ambiguous. None of that has a right answer you can just look up; you think it through, discuss it with your supervisor, and make a call. That felt new and a little uncomfortable at first, and then really exciting.

I also didn’t expect how much the environment itself would matter. The colleagues who pull you into lunch conversations, the supervisor who asks what you think instead of just telling you what to do and it all adds up. I came here to learn how research works. I didn’t realize I’d also get to feel like an actual part of it.

Esma Bilgi ’28: A Summer Printing the Future

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Name: Esma Yagmur Bilgi
Class Year: 2028
Majors: Computer Science & Neuroscience
Minor: Data Science

Internship Organization:  University of Freiburg
Internship Title: livMatS Research Intern
Location: Freiburg, Germany

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

Me and my friend Aila (Columbia’28) enjoying Freiburger Bächlepicknick, while listening to a jazz concert in the city center

This summer I am interning at livMatS, a cluster of the University of Freiburg, focusing on developing autonomous life-like material systems. I work closely with my PhD student supervisor, Yizheng Liu, from the CPI group, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rühe. As a research intern, I spend my days preparing substrates and glass slides, observing polymer synthesis, brainstorming on problems we encounter, and most excitingly, using a two-photon printer to develop micro actuators which will eventually be used to hold and stretch a single, living cell.

Most of my days are spent working in the lab and doing literature review, and attending weekly group meetings, which have been the greatest opportunities to get to know other PhD students’ ongoing research projects! Other than being fully immersed in a highly scientific, research-oriented environment, I have also become a part of a very international workplace, learning about other cultures and drinking various types of tea, even cold brewed for the hottest days of the year!

Why did you apply for this internship?

First hike in France! Picture showing me on top of Château de Saint-Ulrich after a 90-minute-long hike

After doing my summer internship remotely at a data science company last year, I wanted to apply for this internship to learn more about research in international universities and the European culture. As someone considering pursuing a Master’s degree in Europe, this opportunity was very appealing for me because I got to meet many Master’s students and learn more about what pursuing a PhD would be like. Moreover, I was interested in getting exposed to biocompatible, autonomous technologies that are being developed at the University of Freiburg, an institution that is older than the foundation of the United States!

Thus, when I was looking at opportunities Bryn Mawr College offered for the summer, I got intrigued by this specific position as it promised a work experience abroad and glimpse into a different field than mine. Searching more about the area and the university, I fell in love with Freiburg’s sustainable and extremely green environment, including the Black Forest, and the university’s previous projects, such as its snakeskin-inspired molting materials that can shed damaged layers in water to self-repair, and the Biomimetic Shell, an innovative research pavilion modeled after the structural biology of sea urchins and pine cones. And after all the searching, I am here now, contributing to sustainable research thanks to BMC!

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

Me having bubble tea (yum!!) in front of Limmat River and the Fraumünster Curch clock tower in Zürich, Switzerland

I have to admit that the best part of my internship is the endless possibilities to explore neighboring European countries and cities. As an international student already studying in the United States, this experience has felt like a second study abroad opportunity. I am deeply grateful to Bryn Mawr College for providing this amazing internship opportunity that helps me grow as a scientist as well as a multi-cultural person. Other than its cultural exchange perspective, I have enjoyed learning material sciences from different aspects, especially with hands-on research. Even though it was a fully new topic to me, I have been very enthusiastic about learning about polymers, micro actuators, and their applications in various fields, especially biomedical research and environmental studies.

The city I do my research in, Freiburg, and the actual work I do in the lab helped me better grasp material sciences’ real-life applications and importance for our future. This experience has given me a new perspective as a future scientist and inspired me to think about how polymers could be applied in neuroscience. For example, I have already started brainstorming ideas such as using two-photon printing to fabricate an actuatable micro-platform for a single fly brain using biocompatible hybrid material systems that combine rigid structural polymers with smart hydrogels.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

I am learning how to handle temperature and light-sensitive materials while improving my microscopy skills by observing microstructures approximately 10–60 µm in size. In addition, I have gained experience with laboratory techniques that were new to me, including doctor blading, spin coating, and two-photon printing. Developing these practical laboratory skills is important to me because I want to become a scientist with hands-on experience across different disciplines and familiarity with equipment based on a variety of scientific principles. These experiences contribute to my growth as a future scientist and broaden my perspective on what is possible today – and what is not, at least not yet.

Beyond the technical aspects of my internship, I have also been developing my interpersonal communication skills while working in a new country with colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds. This has been one of the most valuable aspects of my experience, as effective communication is essential for successful collaboration and professional growth.

Strengthening my ability to communicate in an international environment will benefit me throughout my career as both a scientist and a professional! 

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?

Research is full of barriers to overcome, problems to solve, and dead ends to navigate. I have faced some challenges doing experiments at BMC Shoenhard Lab, but always found a way to navigate them. At livMatS, the biggest challenge I have faced is again related to our project. In theory, everything was supposed to work fine until we put different polymers together on a glass slide. After several attempts, we figured out that solvent used for the middle polymer layer penetrates through the polymer beneath, causing it to become uneven and distorted. My supervisor and I have been trying to solve this issue by using different solvents and coating extra protection layers between the two polymers.

Even though we changed the solvent many times, we have not been able to solve this problem; thus, we resynthesized our bottom layer polymer and will try it once again using it. Because of this issue, we have not been able to fabricate a uniform batch of micro structures. However, I am optimistic that the newly synthesized polymer, together with a mixed-solvent approach that I suggested, will help us overcome this issue. At the end, it is a challenge I love to overcome, and this is how research works.

Audrey Pfister ’28 Reflects on Summer in the Engert Lab

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Name: Audrey Pfister
Class Year: 2028
Majors: Neuroscience, German Studies
 
Internship Organization: Engert Lab, Harvard University
Internship Title: Research Assistant
Location: Cambridge, MA
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

This summer, I am working in the laboratory of Professor Florian Engert at Harvard University, under the supervision of Research Fellow Dr. Christophe Dupré, to map the neural circuitry underlying somersaulting behavior in the freshwater polyp Hydra vulgaris. My work builds on the electron microscopy (EM) tracing I completed last summer, in which I mapped synaptic connections between sensory neurons, interneurons, and glue nematocytes involved in tentacle attachment during summersaulting.

My primary tasks include tracing individual cells in electron microscopy (EM) data using the VAST software platform, slice by slice, to identify synaptic connections; producing 3D reconstructions of traced cells using MATLAB and 3ds Max; and augmenting an existing connectivity matrix. I am particularly focused on two sensory neurons, SN5 and SN6, which converge onto many of the same downstream glue nematocytes, and whose coordinated role in tentacle attachment during somersaulting is a central question of this project.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I first applied for this internship in the spring of 2025 because I knew I wanted to work in a biology lab, as I was interested in STEM. I chose the Engert lab specifically because I am interested in their research on brain circuits, as they allow me to better understand complex behaviors. Dr. Christophe Dupré’s research on the Hydra vulgaris stood out to me because it was a model organism I had not heard of before, and there was not as much research on its neural circuit as other model organisms like C.Elegans and zebrafish.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

I am learning both my technical skills and my conceptual understanding of neuroscience research. On the technical side, I will continue to develop proficiency in electron microscopy data analysis and in VAST, a specialized software platform for tracing and reconstructing neural structures. I will also gain experience with MATLAB and 3ds Max to produce 3D reconstructions of traced cells, building skills in scientific visualization that are broadly applicable in biological research. Additionally, I will gain experience constructing and interpreting connectivity matrices, which is a vital tool in connectomics for representing synaptic relationships across a neural circuit.

More broadly, I expect to develop a stronger understanding of how individual synaptic connections scale into circuit-level function, and how a simple organism like Hyrda can serve as a powerful model for studying fundamental questions in neuroscience. Working with Dr. Dupré in an active research environment will also give me insight into the day-to-day practice of scientific inquiry, from forming hypotheses about circuit organization to working through data in EM slices.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding part of my internship is knowing that by studying simple organisms like the Hydra vulgaris, I am working to further the field of Neuroscience. As I am interested in working in the research field post-grad, I know how important it is to get hands-on experience, and I am grateful for this opportunity. Being my second summer working under Dr, Dupré, it is especially exciting to be continuing the same research and building my experience and interest in the field. The tools I am using are ones that will be useful in future research, and to those I would like to conduct on my own. 

Chloe Buka ’28 Works with the Petey Greene Program to Help Educate Justice-Impacted Individuals 

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Name: Chloe Buka
Class Year: 2028
Major: Sociology, Minor: Psychology
 
Internship Organization: The Petey Greene Program
Internship Title: Summer Intern
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

The main part of my internship is going in person to a local correctional institute twice a week to provide individualized tutoring to men currently located there who are studying for their GED. In addition, I help to virtually coordinate a series of STEM demonstrations in youth facilities in DC, as well as help to provide backup for Eastern University’s higher education program, also located in the aforementioned local institution.

Why did you apply for this internship?

As a sociology major who recently took Punishment and Social Order, a course focusing on the United States’ carceral system, I have had the chance to learn all about the flaws of our current “justice” system, and I realize that this is an area that I want to focus on. The PGP came up in one of my discussions with my mentor after I had mentioned this interest, and I was instantly drawn to the hands-on aspect, specifically that I would be able to go in person and have face-to-face interactions with the people I am trying to help.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has definitely been the amazing people that I’ve had the chance to meet, not just my coworkers, but also the incarcerated individuals that I have had the opportunity to work with so far. It’s amazing being around people who so genuinely want to learn and put such an effort in, and also to just experience people that I would have never had the chance to interact with if not for PGP.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding part has definitely been connecting with the students. As important as education is, the times when I have been able to sit down with someone and just learn their favorite music, the books that they like, their motivations to study, etc., have been the best moments for sure. Seeing how hard people have worked to be where they are has encouraged me to look further at my own motivations and push myself to do better. 

Summer at the Everywhere Project with Michelle DeMilia ’28

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Name: Michelle DeMilia
Class Year: 2028
Major: Growth and Structure of Cities       
 
Internship Organization: The Everywhere Project
Internship Title: The Everywhere Project Student Intern
Location: Philadelphia, PA

CBS News Report of Everywhere Project FIFA food recovery donation pickup

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

The Everywhere Project is a Harm Reduction organization helping communities all around the Philadelphia area. A major aspect of this work which I have been particularly involved with is food recovery, recovering food items which otherwise would be thrown away and distributing them out to folks in need. This work has certainly been physically demanding, including having to load and unload mass quantities of food and other items, but has also been extremely rewarding and has allowed me to engage with all sorts of people I wouldn’t have otherwise. During an average workweek, I’ve also helped with acquiring food and clothes, making harm reduction kits and more to prepare for our biweekly outreach sites in Love Park and Kensington.

Everywhere Project distribution site giving out fresh fruit in Kensington

Why did you apply for this internship?

A friend of mine volunteers at for Everywhere Project’s Saturday outreach sites in Kensington and, already familiar with some of the team, put me in contact with them. I really wanted to spend my summer working directly with the community, rather than in an office, and the Everywhere Project provided a really great opportunity for that.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of working with the Everywhere Project has been the people. Everyone I’ve met has been so kind and generous, and it has been such a privilege getting to know my fellow colleagues and volunteers and community members that we serve. I’ve met some of the best people in the world doing this work, heard some of the funniest and wildest stories about their lives and experiences and gained a few of my own in turn. The people and community of it all really just makes every task I’m given, big or small, feel rewarding and enjoyable. I’ve found this internship to be so meaningful and eye-opening and fun. There’s a lot of love all around and that’s really special.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

For me, some of the most rewarding moments of this internship has been seeing the sheer output of our big food recovery pickups. One of these moments I’d like to highlight is when we picked up over 500 full cases of fruit from a food processing plant out in Hatfield. Me and my supervisor had to drop all our prior plans to go out to the plant and pick up the fruit, and had to distribute all of it by the end of the day due to a lack of refrigeration storage space. It was a long day, and took a lot of coordination other organizations, distribution sites and volunteers, but we managed to get all of the fruit distributed by the end of the day. It was so rewarding seeing our truck, stuffed to the brim when we started the day, emptied out by the time I went home. It was also lovely to take some of that fruit back home with me and share it with friends after a hot day.

Researching to Prevent Gentrification in South Everett by Margeaux Thompson ‘28 

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Name: Margeaux Thompson
Class Year: 2028
Major: Sociology, Minor: Growth and Structure of Cities
 
Internship Organization: Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County
Internship Title: Casino Road Anti-Displacement Housing Research
Location: Everett, WA
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

The conference we hosted and two images from property walks our board members conducted after I found the properties and set up the tours!

This summer, I am utilizing research tools and conducting community engagement to identify potential affordable housing development opportunities around the Casino Road neighborhood of Everett, Washington. This neighborhood has around 13,000 residents, about ¼ of who are immigrants, mostly from Mexico. This area has a strong community, thriving small businesses, and a unique cultural heritage. It is at high risk for gentrification and displacement, as our regional transit system, Link light rail, is set to expand to Casino Road in the next 10-15 years.

Residents here are particularly vulnerable, as it’s largely low-income, with many families living doubled up or couch surfing, over half of all households are families with (often young) children, and right now, there are no Section 8 rental subsidies, lowered rent, or affordable homeownership loans serving this area. As more people want to move here to access the train, rents will go up, and people may be forced out of their incredible community.

I am using tools like title insurance searches, assessor’s maps, interviews with residents and service providers, and more to identify potential properties that members of the Housing Consortium could acquire and secure as affordable housing options, both rentals and home ownership opportunities. I meet with real estate agents, make offers to property owners, and more, all helping me to build a GIS map that can advise affordable housers on which properties they may want to pursue, even after I leave!

The interior image is from a property that will be purchased this month and stabilized for families making 50% of the area’s median income (AMI).

Why did you apply for this internship?

I am extremely passionate about affordable housing. I see it as an intersection of my majors and minors (Sociology, Growth and Structure of Cities, and Africana Studies). Understanding the history of housing helps explain many of the racialized gaps in privilege in this country, and addressing housing inequity is a crucial step in remedying racial marginalization. I also think of how class and racial oppression culminate in worse economic opportunities and outcomes for many Americans, and the ultimate fear of those under financial stress is losing their housing and food stability.

By helping to alleviate that pressure and actually build wealth through homeownership, that stress, and thus the impact of systemic racial oppression, is lessened. Everyone deserves to feel stable, safe, and happy in a home with adequate space, amenities, and green communal areas, within a safe, walkable neighborhood that provides community support, access to jobs, healthy food, and public services like transit.

I want the residents of Casino Road to actually benefit from the improvements and expanded services coming to their neighborhood. Gentrification is such a widespread issue that I see happening constantly around me, especially in Philadelphia, that having the chance to proactively fight to prevent it is rare, valuable, and felt important to me to pursue!

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

This opportunity has been a true tri-co connection for me! Two of my friends are siblings, also from Northwestern Washington. One is a fellow Mawrter, and the other attends Swarthmore. They kindly connected me to this opportunity after hearing about my interest in affordable housing!

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

I have learned how to use ArcGIS to build an interactive map for housers to reference when trying to discover opportunities. This has been a difficult but rewarding skill to build! I have not taken a class in GIS yet, so I have been flying a bit blind. However, I am very passionate about data science and mapping, so I have always wanted to have the confidence with ArcGIS I am currently building. I am grateful that this opportunity has pushed me to learn, and for the opportunity to build from the back end the kind of tool I would want to use.  

Photos – Captions (did not indicate which one with which photo, will need to manually add!)

 The conference we hosted and two images from property walks our board members conducted after I found the properties and set up the tours!  

The interior image is from a property that will be purchased this month and stabilized for families making 50% of the area’s median income (AMI). 

Hannah Posner ’28 Interns with Wake County Indivisible 

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Name: Hannah Posner
Class Year: 2028
Majors: Creative Writing, Political Science        
 
Internship Organization: Wake County Indivisible
Internship Title: Organizing Intern
Location: Wake County, NC
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

 Wake County Indivisible is a nonpartisan civic engagement organization. We’re hosting a bunch of events leading up to the midterm elections, all with the goal that Wake County voters are informed and empowered to show up to the polls in November.

I’m currently planning and promoting two events: A Conversation with the Authors of On Courage: How to be a Dissident in an Age of Fear, and an event called Ready, Set, Midterms, where partner organizations will train participants to canvass, phone/text bank, register voters, be poll observers, and more. My work involves reaching out to organizations, creating social media graphics, and planning logistics. I also write our weekly newsletter and I will be working on a grant proposal to Indivisible National.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I’m super passionate about promoting civic engagement and protecting election integrity and I’m interested in pursing a career in the realm of non-profits/advocacy.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

I found out about Wake County Indivisible through Bryn Mawr alumna Abbey Thompson, who graduated from the same high school as me. I interviewed Abbey two years ago for my high school newspaper, and reached back out this year. Her sister Katie is now one of my internship supervisors!

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship has been working with the Wake County Indivisible leadership team. They are five impressive and dedicated women filled with chutzpah and Southern warmth. I really admire the way that they balance commitment to the work with staying joyful and grounded. They have encouraged and supported me to pursue what I’m passionate about in the internship.