After completing their first year at SFS, Global Human Development (GHD) graduate students embark on internships at development-focused organizations around the world. These experiences not only empower students to put their academic learning into practice, but also develop skills and networks to help them secure jobs after graduation.
Despite massive changes to the U.S. international development field earlier this year, GHD students have secured prominent summer internships across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Check in with a few students who are advancing their expertise in diverse, global contexts.
Think about intentional, meaningful impact
Sary Valenzuela (GHD’26) was set on finding an internship in a location that was completely new to her and would help sharpen her quantitative and data visualization skills. She found the perfect fit with Voluntās Advisory, a Danish consultancy with a country office in Tunis, Tunisia. They specialize in program design, third-party monitoring and evaluations and measuring social impact, particularly in conflict-affected areas.
“At Voluntās, we are encouraged to think about meaningfulness intentionally, both in terms of the value we bring to others and the impact we create,” Valenzuela says.
She contributes to this mission by analyzing data sets and surveys for an evaluation of basic service provision in Libya, using methods rooted in policy translation and cutting-edge technology. In this work, she actively applies skills from her GHD specialization in quantitative analysis and impact evaluation.
Originally from Manila, Philippines, Valenzuela has found cultural parallels between her home and her host country—particularly in community dynamics and development challenges like climate change and health. Yet, her experiences in Tunisia also feel distinct.
“It has been incredibly humbling to be surrounded by such warm, welcoming people, both inside and outside the office, and to witness the collective spirit and concerns about events unfolding just across the border. The challenges here are vast, yet they echo through the smallest details of daily life, such as trade, inflation and travel restrictions,” she says.
This summer has solidified Valenzuela’s interest in impact evaluation and sparked a new curiosity in business development. She’s also begun learning French—something she is excited to carry into her final year of the GHD program.
Valenzuela encourages fellow students to be open-minded in their internship search, but grounded in their goals: “Align your priorities with what you truly want to achieve and make sure to have fun because that’s part of the summer internship experience.”
Aspire to flexible, context-aware development
What began as an informal coffee chat led Ohio native Jeremy Kundtz (GHD’26) to his internship with the Environmental Bamboo Foundation (EBF) in Bali, Indonesia. He had originally connected with the organization through Scott Guggenheim, an early champion of community-driven development and a professor in the Jakarta-based Asia Pacific Policy Lab Kundtz took the previous spring.
Kundtz was drawn to EBF because the organization works at the intersection of social development and environmental protection. The foundation promotes a bamboo-based restorative economy that drives locally-rooted economic growth, restores ecosystems and uplifts women and girls. This aligns with his academic goals of specializing in either environment and climate change or food, agriculture and rural livelihoods.
“I joined the GHD program to gain the skills I would need to support exactly this kind of work,” Kundtz says.
This summer, Kundtz has contributed to several different work streams within EBF, from program development and monitoring to communications and media. One standout project thus far has been helping to produce a short documentary for COP30 that features EBF’s Mama Bamboo program and its dual focus on planet and people. Kundtz says working with the local community members is incredibly rewarding.
“The generosity, hospitality, and warmth of these communities is an astounding thing to experience. That these resilient communities—and in particular, the women at their core—are championing a scalable model for a restorative economy (and getting real results), makes the experience all the more fantastic,” he says.
Kundtz looks forward to carrying these insights with him through the rest of the program and his future career, hoping to support local communities in developing solutions to poverty, climate change and biodiversity loss.
Kundtz advises that students focus on their individual passions, seeking out organizations that align with the impact they hope to support, even through smaller, lesser-known organizations: “Plugging into these organizations can be a great way to really learn what ‘development’ looks like in practice. Later on, in policy-making spaces and in the Halls of Power that SFS graduates will likely occupy, this knowledge will be of paramount importance.”
Co-create, experiment and learn in motion
Paawani Tewari (GHD’26), originally from New Delhi, India, wanted to apply her academic training in business finance, accounting and impact evaluation in a real-world setting. A conversation with Professor Erwin Tiongson, now director of the GHD program, encouraged her to think beyond traditional development spaces and pursue a more strategic entry into the private sector. That path led her to Rizome Bamboo, a leader in the sustainable materials industry, based in Manila, Philippines, which works with Indigenous communities to reimagine construction using engineered bamboo while embedding equity and climate goals into every layer of their operations.
“This opportunity felt like a rare alignment between my academic foundation, my desire to create impact and the kind of work I want to explore,” Tewari says.
Drawing on her GHD concentration in international business diplomacy and social innovation, she self-designed her summer project, developing a business case for Rizome’s social and environmental initiatives. It translates their impact into a language accessible to funders, carbon registries and ESG investors. For her, the numbers aren’t just data points—they’re tools for community transformation.
“The most meaningful part is knowing that my work will continue to grow long after I am gone, benefiting not just me, but the team, the Indigenous workers [that] Rizome partners with and the landscapes we are helping restore. That is the kind of work you do not forget,” she says.
Tewari hopes to build on this experience with a role in the private sector at a multilateral organization where business thinking meets development diplomacy, stakeholder strategy and evidence-based storytelling.
When it comes to selecting an internship, Tewari encourages students to chase depth and cultural immersion: “The work is important, but the perspective you gain outside of the office is what truly shapes you, and remember—summer internships are not the culmination of your career, they are just the beginning.”
A required component of the Master of Global Human Development program, summer internships allow students to apply their academic learning for 10-12 weeks in low- and middle-income countries, develop new skills and gain experience that will help them advance their careers. The first-year curriculum—grounded in a deeper understanding of economics, quantitative analysis and program design and implementation—prepares students to make a positive impact on their internship organizations and encourages reflective learning when they return. Funding for travel expenses and a modest stipend are often provided by the GHD Program, or in certain instances by host agencies where the students secure internships for the summer. Learn more about GHD summer internships on their website.