Events

Talking International Internships for Underrepresented Minorities at The Internship Summit 2022

May 12, 2022

The landscape around International Internships is changing at lightning speed. Students, educational institutions, providers, governments, and employers have adapted quickly and comprehensively to the demand for innovative work-integrated learning experiences. It’s time to evaluate our journey, adapt to new challenges, and innovate for the future.

The Evolution of The Internship Summit

Matt Byrnes was the co-founder and host of the Global Internship Conference that we all knew and loved for over 10 years. Pioneering acceptance for experiential learning and championing international travel to broaden young minds, Matt and his colleagues helped thousands of students work abroad. Last year, Matt founded The Internship Network with the inaugural event being a free online conference. This year, Matt’s done it again and The Internship Summit will also be online and free to attend. During the week of May 16th-20th, 2022, we will share the tribulations and successes of the last two years with Higher Education colleagues from all over the world.

Communities That Can and Should Benefit from Remote Internships

Virtual Internships is proud to be the headline sponsor of this event, knowing the importance of promoting global internships, whether they are online or in-person.

Our own Chief Academic Officer, Jillian Low, will take part in the Opening Plenary to discuss the state of the current landscape in the internship world.

Two of our other colleagues, Huong Vo (Cam) and Oanh Nguyen have been kind enough to volunteer to facilitate a Networking Social Event from the Virtual Internships office in Vietnam, so that conference participants in the APAC time zones can feel part of the conference and also have a chance to meet and greet their APAC colleagues.

Deborah Morrison and Rachael Criso will be giving a presentation on Wednesday, May 18th entitled: “All Boats Rise: Who Else Can Benefit from Remote Internships?” During that presentation, Deborah and Rachael will showcase three of our most interesting and innovative programs, illustrating how Virtual Internships attempts to widen the net to capture several groups of underrepresented students and individuals.

We hope to share the huge potential for remote experiential learning to impact the careers and lives of those often overlooked and left behind in our fast-moving interconnected world.

The presentation will offer the audience the opportunity to learn about three such programs:

Women Returners – Women whose careers are reignited with remote internships and coaching before they return to work
The Kiron Refugee Program – Skill-building and networking for refugees
Botho University Partnership – International career-boost for African students