Stephanie Pope is a Ph.D. student in English and completed two GradFUTURES Funded Summer Internships in the non-profit sector in 2019 and then again in 2020. In 2019, Stephanie's internship was with the Huo Family Foundation, and in 2020 she interned at Ithaka S+R. Below, she reflects on her experience at the Huo Family Foundation in the summer of 2019.

"It was a pleasure to be the inaugural Huo Family Foundation intern for the summer of 2019, particularly given that I had not much idea of what to expect when I joined the organization in June! I was excited to be given a huge amount of agency straight from the off; one of my first, and ongoing, tasks was to design a website for the Foundation from scratch – not a typical intern activity. It was exciting to design and produce things that are tangible, and will prove useful for the Foundation’s future developments.

The small team meant that communication, especially in the first few days, was so easy – my CEO was sat straight across from me! The atmosphere of the office, too, was hugely encouraging and supportive. I always felt as if I was contributing something that was genuinely appreciated to the organization, rather than someone that needed babysitting. Equally, I felt that my interests were catered to wherever possible: I love art, and so working to catalogue the family’s collection became one of my major tasks.

Besides all of this, I am so grateful for how incredibly well I was taken care of at the Foundation. Beautiful surrounds in Mayfair, free food, and a very generous salary meant that it was also possible to enjoy London to the fullest outside of work. I would without qualification recommend a GradFUTURES Fellowship for anyone looking for a varied, challenging summer work experience!"