When hiring interns, employers like that GW students fit the bill while the university lessens interns’ burden on footing the bill.
Amiko Matsumoto, GSEHD MA ’01, first met Mallory Barg Bulman, CCAS BA ’00, MPA ’04, when Bulman was a student at GW and Matsumoto served as director of the school’s Office of Community Service. Next, their paths crossed during Bulman’s internship at the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, where Matsumoto served as the Program Coordinator for Higher Education in its Learn and Serve America program.
Now, the two both serve in senior leadership roles at the Partnership for Public Service, where they have the chance to hire many interns, including from GW. Their relationship points to the enduring value of connections formed by students both on-campus and in the “real world” of Washington that surrounds GW.
“I did quite a few internships at GW and found they were one of the key secrets to the sauce of a great GW experience,” says Bulman, Vice President of Research and Evaluation. “It’s at the center of it all.”
Matsumoto, Director of Talent, agrees, and says success stories like Bulman’s demonstrate how necessary internships are to students’ future prospects. She further stresses the related need to keep internships open to all students, regardless of their family’s financial capacity.
That conviction prompted Matsumoto to be an active champion and partner in GW’s Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF). Established by the GW Career Services Council, the fund aims to encourage GW students to pursue high-quality, necessarily unpaid internships that foster their career exploration and enhance their academic program. Launched in 2013, the grants totaled $662,000 in their first four years, going to 389 undergraduate and graduate students. The maximum amount for each grant is $3,000 and the average is $1,700. Recently, the program has grown to include KACIF travel grants that reimburse students for public transportation to and from their internship up to $300.
“KACIF allows students to have those types of valuable, enriching experiences regardless of their financial situation,” she says.
Since 2014, the Partnership has welcomed 23 GW interns through the KACIF program, thanks to a gift from a donor with ties both to the organization and GW.
“The alignment that we have with GW students has been something that’s been a real strength,” she says. “They come prepared to learn, they bring a lot of different skills, and they have worked across the organization. They have really contributed significantly to the work we do here.”
Bulman has hired and mentored interns from GW, as well, and been impressed with their work on the organization’s biggest project, the annual ranking of best places to work in the federal government. The task is massive and complicated: making sense of survey responses from more than 400,000 people.
“The GW students I’ve hired, both as interns and staff, have been exceptional,” she says. “All of them have been able to look at complex policy programs using a variety of tools that they gained through their studies at GW, and apply those analytical abilities to be able to really identify real-world solutions that have made a huge difference.”
Understanding internships both as a student and an employer, she too stresses the need for the funding provided by KACIF.
“The truth is that many internships do not pay well at all,” she says. “When universities are able to offer financial benefits, it does allow a better playing field for all students to get the type of exposure and opportunities for growth needed to launch successful careers.”
If anyone asks why internships are so important, or what they lead to in terms of future employment and promotions, she can tell a compelling story: her own.
– Dan Simmons
