Current Interns and Students

Former Interns and Testimonials

Ben is a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, and will graduate this Spring with a bachelors degree in American Studies. Last Spring, Ben spent a semester studying language, culture, and history in Barcelona, Spain, and hopes to continue his cultural education in the coming years. Previously, Ben worked as an intern for Sport and Society, a non-profit organization committed to positively affecting youth through the allure and power of sport. After graduation in May 2009, Ben plans to pursue his passion for youth-oriented community and national service.

Sarah Tucker

Sarah is a sophomore at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, studying International Politics with a certificate in Justice and Peace Studies. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sarah first got into the youth service field through working with PeaceJam, an international organization which works with Nobel Peace Prize winners to promote youth service-learning. In high school, Sarah was a participant in this program, and is now working to bring PeaceJam to the DC area. While unsure about future career aspirations, since she traveled to Ghana in the summer after her Junior year of high school, Sarah is sure that she wants to work with development and human rights issues in Africa. In the meantime, however, Sarah is delighted to be serving as the intern for IANYS at ICP.

Adeola Olagunju, Summer 2007

Working at ICP has been a truly rewarding and educational experience for me. During my nine-week summer internship I have had the opportunity to work with each staff member on wide array projects going on in the office. For the v project, I researched, interviewed, and wrote case studies for innovative international youth service programs while also contributing to some French translation. In addition to this, I have contributed to the development of the Talloires Network by creating a stratagem to further student engagement; accompanied staff to Capitol Hill for the introduction of the Summer of Service Legislation that ICP co-authored to the House of Representatives; as well as accompanied Chief Executive Officer, Susan Stroud to a digital video conference with Palestinian leaders of the Palestinian National Commission for Voluntary Work at the State Department. As the intern assigned to youth service programs in the regions of Sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa, I have kept abreast of all the current news related to youth service in these regions while simultaneously cataloging this and any other information ICP has into our searchable world database of youth service programs (available on our website) and ICP�s in-house library. As the intern designated to the Middle East, I have also written a country profile for the August installment of our monthly newsletter for Palestine, based upon my own research, my experience a the digital video conference, and an interview with a representative of an organization present there. My most important and rewarding project, however, has been overseeing the development, creation, and (hopeful) completion of the Critical National Needs publication with a fellow intern.

Lily Axelrod, Summer 2007

I had a fantastic summer working at ICP. The staff made me feel welcome right away, and I enjoyed the office's collegial atmosphere, flexible schedule, and fun location in Dupont Circle. As an undergrad, I felt like I was treated like a full member of the staff and given challenging projects which related to my interests. I primarily worked on our contract with UNICEF to study youth civic engagement in East Asia and the Pacific. I designed a focus group discussion which was used with young volunteers in the region, helped design and disseminate questionnaires to learn about specific programs and nations contexts for youth civic participation, and conducted background research for the final paper. In addition to the UNICEF study, I worked on our project for v, a British charity seeking to learn about innovative volunteer programs around the world. I put my Spanish skills to the test interviewing young volunteers in Latin America, wrote up the results of my research, and contributed to the final report to v. I also wrote an article about a Hungarian youth service program for ICP's online newsletter, contributed to apaper about youth service in post-conflict countries, and attended a meeting on the Hill regarding the Summer of Service legislation ICP is promoting.

Sejal Jhaveri, Summer 2007

During my time at ICP I worked on a variety of projects. The main project I worked on was the Critical National Needs paper. This paper focused on youth service organizations that addressed national needs such as literacy, earthquake relief, and HIV/AIDS prevention. During my internship we wrote a large portion of the paper and were given creative freedom which allowed me to extend my knowledge of youth service and take a major role in the development of this paper. In addition I worked on projects like the v report, writing the IANYS box for the newsletter and the database. All the projects I was given at ICP were determined by my interests and allowed me to learn valuable skills and study new information. My time at ICP was highlighted by the incredible people I worked with and the new and innovative projects I was able to take part in.

Bryan Seck, Spring 2007

From January to May 2007, I was the Research and Communications intern at ICP. In this position, I wrote newsletter articles, researched and wrote memos on ICP projects and interests, and designed and implemented a database and website of National Youth Service Policies and Civic Engagement Programs worldwide. When working on the database project, I was given space to take the lead and transform data from an in-house Excel file to a fully searchable and updatable website/search engine open to all users worldwide. The two project coordinators (Katherine Hutter and Charlotte McDowell) and I worked together to format the database and its website to be intuitive for users searching for policy and program information and for future ICP interns who will constantly update the database through the website. The National Youth Service Policy and Civic Engagement Program database and website is a collaborative success in which I am very proud to have participated and from which I have learned immensely.