Aceso Global, Washington, DC
This summer I was graced with the opportunity to intern at Aceso Global, a small non-profit based in Washington, DC that provides advising on hospital-centered healthcare system improvements. The non-profit field has been something I have held interest in exploring for a long time, and thanks to the Alumni Sponsored Internship Program, I was able to finally explore my interests. This summer I developed a better understanding for the role of consulting agencies in the business world and learned far more than I thought I would about global public health, the importance of strong hospital systems, and the way non-profits interact with each other to achieve great feats. Neither was I shielded from the ugly side of things and saw the competition between non-profits, the struggle for proper implementation of interventions, and the occasional let down as project results are analyzed. This summer proved to be a great learning experience for things specific to the non-profit public health sector and to the working world in general.
As an undergraduate summer intern, I was given a variety of responsibilities, ranging from classic “intern work” such as data entry and budgeting, to real hands-on work I could only do as an intern for an organization as small and trusting in my abilities as Aceso Global. General responsibilities included the support in design and preparation of presentations to communicate Aceso Global’s mission to key stakeholders and clients, supporting accounting needs, event logistics, assist with reviews and grant proposals, and supporting organizational research needs such as funding opportunities as well as technical research needs such as about management, quality, and hospital financing.
Most of the work I ended up doing was researching and reviewing existing literature on various public health related topics in order to curate more informed grant proposals and novel white papers. In particular, the research was largely done to collect information for projects on country assessments in Latin America for the Global Fund, developing an integrated care knowledge stream for the Joint Learning Network, on health system redesign integrating public and private systems and delivery for states and regions in Latin America, and on developing health service delivery options for the Government of India. One project that had me particularly excited was work that I did to assist a non-resident associate in writing a white paper about the historical perspectives of mHealth technology integration into healthcare business models. The paper was being written as Aceso was also engaging in implementing mHealth interventions in Malawi, which contextualized the creation of the white paper and provided an excellent source of examples of the do’s and don’ts of mHealth technology and health care business integration. It was fascinating to go back and explore such a diverse pool of literature, from medical reports stating the effects of mHealth technology on the health of the users, to business strategies discussing the importance of a healthy business model, to technology reviews, I felt I got to see the importance of crossover between various different disciplines. I really enjoyed working with the senior associate who was passionate about his work, but also very receptive to commentary from an amateur white paper writer such as myself. Of course, what was most exciting was getting to release the paper and anticipating responses to the topics we covered.
All the people I worked with were incredibly passionate about what they were doing. It was so inspiring to see people who are really invested in what they do, ensuring they deliver the highest quality performance they could through collaboration and open discussion, while maintaining a healthy work environment. The members of the group come from a very diverse array of backgrounds, which made me, a psychology-philosophy double major, child of Russian immigrant parents, from the tiny island of Saipan, feel right at home. A majority of the members of the group were very easy to approach and made discussing my personal career aspirations easy and comfortable. They were honest in discussing job prospects and the sustainability of holding a job in the non-profit sector and were also very encouraging of me finding my own way through a complicated job market. They were open to discussing what my educational background could bring to organizations like Aceso Global, while also opening my eyes to opportunities beyond there.
In pursuing this internship, I learned a lot of about what it means to be a part of a team, be it small or large, and how collaboration is inevitable and often necessary in producing the highest grade of work possible. Learning so much about healthcare systems and non-profit work has me excited to be back at Williams, trying to connect what I learn in class to what I experienced in the real world. While typical chronology presents in-class experiences prior to real world experiences, I will be engaging in quite the opposite, taking my first experiences of public health in the real world and bringing it to my first public health-related class at Williams. I am excited to see how academia surrounding relevant topics will impact how I reflect on what I learned this summer. The summer internship also has largely influenced what I want to write my psychology thesis about, as I am now devoted to doing something that could be relevant to non-profit work and global development.
While the experiences I had in the office are invaluable, what I learned outside of the internship had just as big an impact, if not bigger, on shaping my post-graduate aspirations. Being in Washington, DC was incredible. I fell in love with the city and the surrounding areas and came to love it enough that I can see myself living there in life after Williams. Being in such a politically relevant city also motivated me to become more involved and attune to current events and politics, something I have long struggled to keep up with. DC is rich with Williams Alumni who are excited to hear from Williams students and so beyond my conversations with members of Aceso Global, I was able to talk to a variety of different people outside of the organization including professors, stay at home parents, and executives of a range of organizations about their experiences. These conversations led me to question traditional post-graduate paths, as well as develop a plan of action of my own, a plan of action I am excited to pursue.
None of the above would have been possible without the generosity from the Kershaw Internship Program that sponsors amazing opportunities like this one. One of my favorite bragging points about Williams is how tight knit the community is and how the allegiance to Williams never really fades, even after years of graduate school and experience in the professional world. The Kershaw Internship provided me the opportunity to explore the working world of non-profit consulting, live in the nation’s capital, and connect with other amazing Williams alumni, things invaluable to college experience. For that I am eternally grateful.