Choosing DonorsChoose: Joseph’s Internship Journey

This is a guest post by Joseph – a current Logistics & Business Relations Intern at DonorsChoose. 

Over the past few months, I have served as the Logistics & Business Relations Intern at DonorsChoose.org, an internship I found here on WayUp. DonorsChoose.org is a non-profit that allows both people and businesses to donate money to important education projects submitted by public school teachers across the nation. So far it has been a fantastic internship experience.

Challenging Work:

During my time here at DonorsChoose.org, I have focused on analyzing current and potential vendors for education supplies, based on inventory size, pricing, shipping costs, and a variety of other important factors. While I am an intern and not a full-time staff member, I have been given real projects and been able to play a significant role in DonorsChoose.org’s mission to best serve teachers and their needs. Analyzing this data helps the organization make more informed decisions about how to get the right resources at the lowest possible cost.

As a graduate student studying Economics, much of my life in the classroom and working as an intern is spent crunching data and working with numbers. This internship has provided ample opportunities to compile and analyze data and make recommendations based off my research, all of which offers new perspectives on how my data skills can be put to use.

A deeper education:

I’ve also been able to sit in on a wide variety of meetings and get insight into what goes on at DonorsChoose.org on a daily basis. There have also been a couple of guest speakers such as Desiree Rogers, a new Board of Directors member, and Lauren Bush, CEO and Co-Founder of FEED Projects, who have come here over the past few months, providing an interesting and insightful diversion from everyone’s routine.

DonorsChoose.org has a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, and interns are certainly made to feel a part of that culture. In spite of not being a full-time employee and not being here every day of the week, everyone here has always made me feel part of the team. I’ve also gotten to enjoy quite a few office parties with great free food!
Moving Forward:

Since my work here directly ties into what I’ve studied in the classroom, this internship has been an extremely valuable experience that complements my studies well. After many years of education, I’m glad to have gotten such a great chance to apply what I’ve learned in a meaningful fashion.