This past summer I interned with Emerson Collective as an Events Team intern in their Palo Alto location. Emerson Collective is a company that invests in entrepreneurs and innovators driven by purpose and a sense of possibility, working to create a world of abundance for future generations. The application and interview process were very straightforward. I found this internship via LinkedIn over winter break, filled out an application, and was contacted about an interview in the middle of January. I was so excited to receive my offer at the beginning of February and spend my spring semester looking ahead to a great summer.  

Over the eight weeks, I supported their mission to tackle complex challenges in education and economic mobility, immigration, and the environment. As a member of their Events Team, I witnessed the power of connection through gatherings and contributed to the magic of bringing the Collective’s initiatives to life. 

My work focused on helping on-site for over a dozen events across a wide range of the EC issue areas, seeing them from ideation to execution. My favorite event to help plan and execute was a Communicate with Confidence Workshop for their FirstGen internship program. It was a four-hour workshop where the interns had the opportunity to learn about presenting and communicating in the workplace. As this was my first internship in a corporate setting, listening in on the presentation was informative for me as well! We had great food catered and the event ran super smoothly. I also helped manage a data cleaning project to inform strategic decision-making and created an events sustainability toolkit with messaging & research backing what comprises a sustainable event. It was inspiring to explore how we can gather more sustainably yet still with impact.  

I was so nervous before my first day, having never worked in an office of this scale. Nevertheless, the second I stepped into the building I was greeted by so many friendly faces who do such important and meaningful work. Additionally, I was so impressed by how established their internship program was. They offered professional development sessions, networking opportunities, and hands-on integration with the teams every intern was a part of. All the interns were spread throughout six offices across the country, yet, we felt bonded as a unit, and I made many strong connections and friends. I walked away with confidence in strategic messaging, event research and outreach, and what on-site event support looks like. This opportunity pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me so much about events and how to be comfortable in the workplace.  It was one of the coolest experiences of my life, growing both personally and professionally. From this experience, I learned how important it is to me to do meaningful work that helps generate collective good.