For the third consecutive year, InteRDom representatives attended the Columbia University Not-for-Profit and Public Service Career Fair, continuing an important relationship with Columbia that extends to many departments and programs. This year the Fair was combined with “International Organizations Day,” which attracted over 1,000 students interested in careers in international relations and development.
The fair was open to students from a consortium of schools that included Brown University, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, Mt. Holyoke, Princeton, Rutgers, Sarah Lawrence College, Smith College, the University of Pennsylvania, Vassar, Wellesley and Yale University. Both undergraduate and a larger-than-usual number of Master’s and PhD candidates had the opportunity to collect information about the programs and services that InteRDom offers, and to speak to program representatives about how an internship or research experience in the Dominican Republic can help them achieve their academic and career goals.
This fair has historically been very successful for InteRDom and this year was no exception; over 35 student resumes were submitted in application to the Caribbean Summer Program.
The featuring of international organizations in the agenda was beneficial for InteRDom, as many students who came to hear presentations from the Inter-American Development Bank, the Peace Corps, The World Bank, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) were inspired by the talks and landed at the InteRDom booth with an interest in traveling to the Caribbean with the program.
Other organizations present at the fair represented non-profit and public service agencies focusing on the environment, education, social services, health care, government and more. Some of those organizations include City Year, Dream Corps International, International YMCA, the Ryan Chelsea Clinton Community Health Center, Foundation for Sustainable Development, Teach for America and Yéle Haiti.
InteRDom Internships in the Dominican Republic, a program of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) is the premier internship, research and academic study program in the Dominican Republic. It offers international students the opportunity to research important topics at the forefront of the United Nations agenda, obtain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their fields of study and/or earn academic credits by taking courses and seminars at a local university.