How It Got Started (Pt. 2) – The Lightbulb

While a junior at Columbia my friends and peers were starting to consider plans for post-graduation. Time and again, I heard different students say they wanted to volunteer for the Red Cross or the Peace Corps (both do great work). I was surprised, however, by the fact that so many different students with unique interests focused on such a limited number of organizations. I began thinking about how many smaller non-profits out there could benefit dramatically from intelligent, ambitious, and altruistic students with unique skill sets. When I asked students why they selected from such a limited number of organizations, they typically replied that they did not know of many other options. There was a clear gap and a clear need, and thus spawned the initial conception of what would later become InternMatch. I thought at the time that I would create a website that matched students with opportunities to volunteer at non-profit organizations.