Student Stories and Projects
Matt Stone (MPA ’24) started a consulting startup, Scaling Seeds, as a part of his practicum and experiential learning here at MIIS. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe your organization.Matt Stone (MS): I worked on developing a consulting firm focused on streamlining business models for impact organizations, with a vision to support social and environmental impact. The… Continue Reading A Summer of Strategic Impact: A Q&A with the Founder of Scaling Seeds
Stimson Center, South Asia
Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Summer Internship
DPMI Client Project with Grameen Foundation, 2017
by: Rosetta Guo Rosetta Guo (CI/TLM ’25) details her experience interning for Blackbird.io. Read about her ChatGPT research experience here Through my experiential learning activity—a remote internship with Blackbird.io—I had the opportunity to deeply immerse myself in the tech ecosystem of the language industry. This experience offered invaluable lessons and perspectives, which I am eager… Continue Reading Automate Like It Is 2025 — My Experiential Learning Experience @ Blackbird.io
DPMI Client Project, Grameen Foundation Spring Break, 2017
ITED Washinton DC Semester & U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA)
Jordyn Dezago (IEM/MPA ’24) completed her practicum at Helpmate, Inc., a nonprofit working to eliminate fear and violence and provide support to survivors of domestic violence. Here is her story: Helpmate is best described by its mission statement: “We work with our community to eliminate abuse and fear by providing safety, shelter, and support for… Continue Reading Breaking Cycles of Community and Family Violence Through Education and Advocacy
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
Directed Study Ben and I went to Mendoza to investigate environmentally practices in conventional, organic, and biodynamic winemaking. We also investigated trade relations with the United States. Upon touring wineries, we learned about their environmental practices, how much easier it is to be environmentally conscious the smaller you are, and how the market for organic… Continue Reading Carlos Henri Ferre, IEP ’19
by: Rosetta Guo Rosetta Guo (CI/TLM ’25) shares her research with ChatGPT and localization practices. Read about her internship with Blackbird.io here Hello, fellow localization enthusiasts! I’m Rosetta Guo, MA candidate in Translation and Localization Management. I recently embarked on an enlightening research journey exploring the integration of AI in localization. I’m excited to share… Continue Reading Catch Yourself Up with the Latest Technology: Insights from my ChatGPT Research Journey
DPMI Client Project with Root Change over the Spring Break ’17
DPMI Plus with HUMAN-I-T, Long Beach, CA
The League of Arab States, Office of the Permanent Observer to the United Nations, NY
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION INSTITUTE For my practicum, I have traveled to Portland, Oregon to work with a non-profit organization called the Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI). This organization focuses on helping people learn how to work across cultural difference by providing the tools, and knowledge to help participants build skills necessary for them to effectively work in… Continue Reading Christina Lee, IEM/MPA ’18
Internship with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Internship Summer 2017
Jordyn Dezago describes her mentoring work in the Girls Inc group at Monterey High. She accounts her connection and passion with education and community uplifting. Within this article, Jordyn shares an encouraging moment on the impact of mentorship with youth. Continue Reading Cultivating Leadership in Young Women at Monterey High [Jordyn Dezago MPA/IEM ’23]
IPSS with UN Women, New York
World Learning, Washington, D.C.
California Natural Resources Agency Internship Sacramento, CA
Intercultural Communication Institute
Urban Tree Canopy Project, Santa Cruz
by: Xinyi Zhu Xinyi Zhu (CI – Chinese ’24) details her experience working for Translation for Elders in Philadelphia. In the chilly Philly where I worked for the non-profit Translators for Elders (TFE), I was no longer interpreting for people I never met on screen, but individual figures with their own unique stories and identities.… Continue Reading Exploring Community Interpreting in Chilly Philly
Summer Internship at Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County
Internship at the United Nations – Conventional Arms Branch
CHILDREN AT RISK, Houston, Texas
MPA Practicum with National Women’s Political Caucus, Monterey
Donnelley Language Solutions Internship
Bolshoi Ballet Academy & Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital Summer Internship
Alfonso Camacho-Martinez (NPTS ’25) shares his work on a project involving illicit economy detection. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe your project. Alfonso Camacho-Martinez (ACM): My directed study involved using multispectral satellite imagery to identify and monitor areas of illicit economic activities, such as illegal deforestation, unregulated mining, and unauthorized cultivation of drug-producing crops. I acquired and processed… Continue Reading Harnessing Multispectral Imagery for Illicit Economy Detection
by: Diego Tabilo Diego Tabilo (IEP ’24) spent his practicum with the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance working on a strategic framework for companies disclosing their environmental impacts on the ocean. Here is more about his experience. The Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) is the only multi-sector collaboration connecting the international finance… Continue Reading Influencing How Companies Disclose Their Environmental Impacts on the Ocean
Girls Inc. of Alameda County, Oakland
IEM Practicum with AIRC, 2017
Summer Intern, Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies
Search for Common Ground Summer Internship
NAMATI As the Global Programs Fellow at Namati, I was fortunate to witness a kind of organizational team that I think is very important and should be incorporated into more international development organizations. During my time, my work varied, but generally focused on providing support across programs, using data to inform strategy, facilitating learning, and… Continue Reading Jenna Hudson, IPD ’19
Frontier Market Scouts (FMS) Washington DC, 2016
Intern, UN Women Summer 2017
Internship with Mercy Corps Summer 2017
International Rescue Committee
The Foundation for Sustainable Development, Oakland, CA
International Rescue Committee, San Jose, CA
San Francisco Estuary Partnership, Oakland, CA 6/10/2017 – 8/04/2017
NAFSA Region XII Conference
Habit Summit, Standford University
DPMI Client Project with FHI 360 over Spring Break, 2017
UN SDSN Youth, Climate Action Network & UN MGCY Internship Summer 2017
IPSS at InterAction, Washington, D.C.
Research Fellow, The Council on Hemispheric Affairs
Intern, Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Summer 2017
Summer Intern, Center for Climate Security (CCS)
Intern, Communities for a Sustainable Monterey County (CSMC) Summer 2017
Communities for a Sustainable Monterey County (CSMC) Internship Summer 2017
Conservation International
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) Summer Internship
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Marine Debris Division Location Seattle, WA
IPSS with Atlantic Council, DC
Cultural Training Abroad, Directed Study at MIIS
Intern, United States State Department, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation Summer 2017
Languageline Solutions Summer Internship
Greenbelt Alliance, San Jose, CA, USA
Permanent Mission of Georgia to the UN
Combating Terrorism Center, West Point
DEA Financial Investigations Team Summer Internship
WildAid Marine, San Francisco
International Rescue Committee
Internship at the United Nations Population Fund
by: Benjamin Mendelsohn Benjamin Mendelsohn (TLM ’24) details his practicum experience working on LocReady, a digital resource for Localization students. In the fall semester of 2023, I worked with my two teammates, Maddy and Lindsay, on managing LocReady as part of my practicum project. LocReady is an organization dedicated to improving career readiness and helping… Continue Reading Navigating the Localization Industry: A Practicum Experience with LocReady
Coral Crissey (MPA ’25) spent their summer in Mount Desert Island, Maine working for the Common Good Soup Kitchen as the Grant Writing and Communications intern. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe the organization you worked for: Coral Crissey (CC): Common Good Kitchen is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing nourishing meals and promoting social good through… Continue Reading Nourishing Change: Grant Writing and Communication at Common Good Kitchen: A Conversation with Coral Crissey
Eleanor Bent (IEP ’24) worked with the Coral Reefs of the High Seas Coalition (CRHS) on policy, communications, and science related to protecting our coral reefs. Here is more about her experience. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe the organization you worked for: Eleanor Bent (EB): The Coral Reefs of the High Seas Coalition (CRHS or ‘Coalition’)… Continue Reading Protecting Coral Reefs on the High Seas with Eleanor Bent
Amigos de Bolsa Chica Summer Internship
START (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism) & US Department of State
Intern, Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) Summer 2017
The Diversity Abroad Network
by: Leilani Leszkay Leilani Leszkay (EPM ’25) worked with the Food for Climate League as a part of her experiential learning experience. Here is her story. The Food for Climate League works to identify optimal communication tactics and avenues for engagement to catalyze a global movement toward climate-beneficial eating. The Food for Climate League leverages… Continue Reading Shifting Hearts and Minds in Sustainable Eating
IPSS with Atlantic Council, DC
William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, Washington, D.C.
IPSS with The International Rescue Committee (IRC), Sacramento
Jake Lopata (NPTS ’25) participated in a Diplomacy Lab project in collaboration with the U.S. State Department studying migration along the Darién Gap. Here is more about their project (another participants included: Tom Short (ITED/MPA ’25) and Lucy Inkster (Middlebury College ’25)). Read about Tom’s experience here. Experiential Learning (EL): Describe your work. Jake Lopata… Continue Reading Studying Migration on the Darién Gap: A Diplomacy Lab Project
DPMI Monterey Winter 2017
by: Adiba Juya Adiba Juya (IPD ’24) applied her data and policy analysis skills for an internship with Education for Employment (EFE). Here is more about her experience. My name is Adiba Juya, and I am a recent graduate of the Master of Arts program in International Policy and Development at the Middlebury Institute of… Continue Reading Utilizing Data Visualization Tools for Evaluation Purposes
UN Environment – North America Office
International Rescue Committee
Bolshoi Ballet Academy Summer Intensive Internship
California State University San Marcos – Office of Global Education