Global interns reflect on their virtual experience
This summer, three college students based in India, Germany and Midwestern United States took part in the Cloudera Foundation’s first-ever global, virtual internship program. In six packed weeks, they made meaningful contributions to the organization’s work, while gaining a behind-the-scenes look into how a Silicon Valley technology foundation operates.
“We could not be happier with the outcome of this virtual global internship program,” said Claudia Juech, CEO of the Cloudera Foundation. “The Foundation was moved to create this program open to students everywhere in response to the broad cancellation of internships caused by COVID-19. What we got was a mutually rewarding experience that we will never forget.”
The program ran from June 22 to July 31. The interns wrapped up their experience with a case study on the grantmaking process. Working together, they presented their findings on the fictional nonprofit, AgLine, to a simulated board of directors.
Meet our interns:
- Nafisa Islam Fariba is a master’s student at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt in Germany. She worked on data for good strategy.
- Charu Tandon is a student at BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus, India, and will earn a master’s of science in economics along with a bachelor’s in engineering. She was a cloud data engineer intern.
- Mariana Erana Salmeron is an undergraduate in Global Studies and French at the College of William & Mary. She worked on corporate social responsibility.
Hear what they have to say about their time with the Foundation…
What is your most significant accomplishment of this internship?
Following the 6 weeks, how has your perspective changed or shifted?
What surprised you about this internship?
COVID gave the foundation its first fully remote internship. What worked well, and what would you do differently?
Do you have a virtual internship experience to share? Tell us about it in the comments below.
