CIEE Global Internship Conference - Day 3
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Today was the last day of the 11th Annual CIEE Global Internship Conference (GIC). It has been a fabulous week of constructive and collaborative discussion on how best to develop opportunities for global experiential learning that prepare students for employability in today’s interconnected world, while fostering mobility of young talent and the exchange of ideas across cultures.
Today’s plenary talk, moderated by Alexandra Wood, Vice President Global Ventures at CIEE, focused on the impact of global internships. Attendees heard from student alumni whose careers got a boost through participation in global internship programs. Eduardo Ibarra, CIEE Global Internship alum, now Training Specialist, Cognizant; Hermann Richter-Koch, BridgeUSA Intern Program alum now Project Manager, Pharmaplan; Miina Karafin, CIEE BAFF Professional Internship alum, now CTO, Nordecon AS.
Attendees also heard from employers, who successfully leveraged global internships to not just nurture young talent, but also to create new growth opportunities, including Paul Pedini, Senior Vice President, Skanska.
The finals of the GIC UNHCR Student Challenge were riveting! Our three student challenge finalist teams (Team Synergy, Wolves of Childs Way, Synergy) traveled from all over the world to be in person in Berlin to present their best ideas to help solve issues of economic inclusion for refugees. Judges and conference delegates witnessed these top student teams and future leaders present innovative ideas to solve one of the most critical issues of our time. The inaugural GIC UNHCR Student Challenge was co-sponsored by the UNHCR and Newlab with support from Microsoft and District C.
The judges, James P. Pellow, President and CEO of CIEE; Chrystina Russell, Co-Founder & Executive Director of rewirED; and Chris Melzer, Senior External Relations Officer (Germany) of the UNHCR were impressed by the creativity and thoughtfulness of the teams' solutions and presentations.
The winning team was Wolves of Childs Way: Justin Tang (captain), Muktahal Singh Birring, Armelle Davasse, and Karin Wong. Each team member will receive a CIEE-facilitated global internship in Summer 2024. Congratulations to Wolves of Childs Way!
At the wrap of the 11th Annual CIEE Global Internship Conference, the locations for the next two CIEE Global Internship Conferences were announced — in 2024 we will be in London, then in 2025 Singapore!