Internships – Elliott School Graduate Student Services

GW Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund

GradAdvisorFebruary 20, 2018February 20, 2018Leave a comment

Summer 2018 Student Early Decision Applications Accepted Now Thru March 1

Students who will be interning in unpaid internships this summer are encouraged to apply for the Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF) program. KACIF supports GW students in pursuing high-quality, necessarily unpaid internships that foster their career exploration and enhance their academic program, while reducing the financial challenges associated with necessarily-unpaid internships.

Facilitated by the university's Career Services Council and funded through the generous support of alumni, parents and members of the Board of Trustees, KACIF provides grants ranging up to $3,000 to GW undergraduate and graduate students pursuing internships that are necessarily unpaid.

Early Decision Applications accepted February 15—March 1, 2018

General Decision Applications accepted April 1—April 15, 2018

Interested students can go to the KACIF website to review more information, including eligibility requirements and application instructions, and are invited to contact us at gwkacif@gwu.edu with any questions.

Spotlight on: Dmitriy Synkov

GradAdvisorJanuary 28, 2016Leave a comment

Synkov Photo 3 Dmitriy Synkov is a first-year graduate student pursuing an MA in International Affairs with concentrations in international security and economics. Currently, Dmitriy works as an intern at International Business Initiatives (IBI), an economic development consulting firm in Ballston, VA. Prior to IBI, Dmitriy interned at Pact, a capacity development NGO, where he served as the program management point-of-contact for global projects in the East & West Africa portfolio. He’s also worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Paul D. Williams, Associate Director of the Security Policy Studies M.A. Program at the Elliott School.

Dmitriy is interested in political risk analysis in emerging markets and early warning systems for conflict prevention. Before starting graduate school, Dmitriy worked at the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) as an editorial assistant for Building Peace Forum, a semi-annual journal on current trends in conflict analysis and resolution. Over two publication seasons, Dmitriy supported author selection efforts for the magazine, oversaw the execution of a multi-platform social media strategy, and assisted in the placement of magazine authors into various external media outlets. Dmitriy holds a BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and has also studied at York University in Toronto, ON.

Summer Spotlight on: Roman Torres 1

GradAdvisorJuly 7, 20151 Comment

Roman Torres is a first year student in the International Affairs program. His focus while at the Elliott School is international economics and data analysis, so Roman wanted a summer internship that would give him some practical experience working with data and economic issues in the real world. He found a perfect match with Planet Indonesia; a newly formed NGO based in the Indonesian part of West Borneo.

Planet Indonesia’s main goal is to help poor communities (especially those in areas with sensitive ecosystems) engage in productive economic activities that preserve natural habitats and cultural traditions. They do this by facilitating the creation of small joint-business groups in which people work together to develop skills, produce valuable goods, and successfully bring it to the market. Additionally, Planet Indonesia helps communities organize communal banks that are funded from the business groups’ sales, making credit accessible to populations outside the scope of mainstream financial institutions.

Planet Indonesia has asked Roman to assist in capacity training for the Indonesian staff. Particularly in areas like long-term strategies, monitoring and evaluation of programs, project management, and data analysis. Roman has held several workshops, introducing concepts and tools to help the

The small island village of Pulau Limbun (there are less than 100 households), where Roman is working on projects with Planet Indonesia.

Indonesian staff think about the organization’s mission, ways they can achieve their goals, how to measure their progress, identifying good indicators, generating and tracking data, and effective ways to communicate this information to donors and potential donors.

Roman plans to enter the field of international consultancy after graduation. His time with Planet Indonesia is giving him valuable experience working with a client from a completely different cultural background and with a different language, as well as to learning how to be effective while managing clients’ expectations. Roman hopes that the skills he nurtured during his internship at Planet Indonesia will make him a more competitive candidate in the job market later on.

He will also really miss Indonesian food! You can reach Roman with questions or comments at romantorres@gwu.edu

Elliott School Graduate Student Featured in the Chosun Ilbo for Work in South Korea

GradAdvisorJune 19, 2013Leave a comment

Alyssa Abraham Cafe Grace

Alyssa Abraham in Korea

Elliott School graduate student, Alyssa Abraham, was recently featured in The Chosun Ilbo-- one of the most widely read newspapers in South Korea (think the New York Times of South Korea), for her internship at Cafe Grace. Cafe Grace employs North Korean refugee women who have difficulty finding jobs in South Korea. Alyssa teaches English to a North Korean refugee while helping out in other ways (like making coffee on occasion!).

Alyssa's efforts to help North Korean refugees extends beyond the walls of the cafe. She assists with tutoring an English class for North Korean children and attended a Peace Conference last week. Alyssa spends a lot of her time building relationships with the people she works with-- many of whom have been very supportive of her efforts.

You can find a translated summary of the article here: "Helping Serve Refugees" -The Chosun Ilbo