Last year, the nonprofit my dad and I co-founded, the Eastern North Carolina Internship Program, hosted its first cohort of summer interns in Tarboro. The five interns were matched with us through their funding scholarship, the Robertson Program.
This summer, we hosted eight interns: a new set of five Robertson Scholars, plus one intern matched through UNC's Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship, one intern recruited through UNC's School of Education, and one hometown intern (a Tarboro native). The eight of them worked in a variety of nonprofit and governmental organizations— including the county health department, the public school system, a summer learning program called Freedom School, a local girls' club, and the Tourism Development Authority.
The mission of the ENCIP is two-fold: bringing the world to Eastern NC—and sharing Eastern NC with the world. We accomplish this by designing and managing community-oriented summer internships. Our goal is to facilitate meaningful and sustainable community development while providing inspiring, high-capacity learning opportunities for young leaders. We're learning as we go, but I think we've done a pretty good job so far!
Yesterday was the last day for most of our interns. I'm looking forward to debriefing with them once they're back on campus. One of my favorite parts of managing a small, young nonprofit is the accelerated learning curve, the rapid improvement we can achieve by constantly evaluating ourselves and looking for ways to improve for the next internship cycle.
Below are some photos from our goodbye dinner, graciously hosted by ENCIP board member Mary Jane Jenkins! Sadly, we don't have a group photo of all eight interns this year. That's something to remember for next year...
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| (L to R) Shanell and Christine, the leaders of Michael's Angels Girls Club; Katherine, the health department intern; and Serena, the public school intern |
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| hostess Mary Jane Jenkins, with her spread of traditional Southern food |
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| our Edgecombe cake! |
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