UNH Hosts Social Innovation Internship Showcase July 25, 2018

Monday, July 9, 2018

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DURHAM, N.H. – Twenty-five interns will share what they achieved interning at innovative organizations focused on people, planet, and profits at the annual Social Innovation Internship Showcase at the University of New Hampshire Wednesday, July 25, 2018, from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. The event is free and open to community members, but pre-registration is required. The summer internship is a signature program of UNH's Center for Social Innovation and Enterprise (CSIE). Presentations will run from 10 a.m. to noon followed by a networking reception.  

Regional nonprofits and mission-driven businesses interested in hosting an intern in future years are encouraged to attend. In response to both student demand and a growing number of organizations focused on investing in and creating a future employee talent pipeline, CSIE added a second cohort this summer, doubling the size of the program. Last year's high-energy showcase attracted people from business, government, nonprofits, and higher education.

“I had the opportunity to intern at two world-class sustainability-oriented companies, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England (CCNNE) and Stonyfield Organic, and those experiences hands-down led me to earning a job straight out of college at CCNNE,” said Keegan Smith, who is currently field sustainability coordinator for CCNNE. “It was the best thing I did at UNH to be truly career ready.”

Building a pipeline of talented young professionals who understand how to align business approaches with mission is also inspiring to business leaders like Ashley Davis, senior manager of global corporate responsibility at Cole Haan. “Your students are all amazing individuals - they were so thoughtful and inspiring. If future leadership and stewardship of the world is in their hands, and others like them, that gives me hope and confidence.”

The program creates hands-on learning opportunities for students by connecting them to for-profit and nonprofit organizations for a rigorous and meaningful summer internship and providing mentorship and training in social innovation, an approach designed to harness and align the tools of business and public policy for positive social and environmental impact.

Students work at different host organizations based on their skills and interests, and each intern reports to a dedicated mentor. They spend the majority of the summer at their respective host organizations, but also regularly come together as a cohort for trainings in social innovation, and to participate in site visits to learn about other mission-driven organizations in the region, like Goodwill of Northern New England, Cole Haan, NH Community Loan Fund/ROC NH, and CCNNE.

The University of New Hampshire is a flagship research university that inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. UNH’s research portfolio includes partnerships with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, receiving more than $100 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.