The Baines Report
Last December, I was offered my dream internship — working with the U.S. Department of State — after a two-month application and interview process. As a master’s student in global policy studies, the opportunity to work for a summer at the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It would […]
Photo: Germán Enrique Padilla Díaz (CC) Crook Fellow Jessi Stafford shares more of her experiences interning for Artists for Soup: Creating a life in Matagalpa has been lovely. I am surrounded by friends, my favorite restaurants, my favorite cafes, and work in the comfort of my office. But Artists for Soup did not begin in Matagalpa. The organization […]
Photo: Robert Bassam (CC) Crook Fellow Amara Uyanna makes the case for bolstering philanthropy with scientific principles, backing up her argument with experiences gleaned during her time working with Sustainability International: I’ve always thought of philanthropy as an art: the art of giving. While I still believe there’s an artistic component to it, I am now of […]
Photo: Zenia Nuñez (CC BY 2.0) Crook Fellow Dane Ulik has been spending his summer working for Artists for Soup, a nonprofit whose mission, amongst many others, is to improve food security in La Paz Centro and Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Dane is applying his research and data analysis skills to aid the organization in refining their initiatives, and […]
Photo: (cc) Shashi Bellamkonda Social Media Swami Network Solutions Crook Fellow Michael Deegan is based this summer in the Office of the Coordinator of Assistance to Europe and Eurasia with the State Department in Washington D.C., and shares his experiences and advice on the State Dept.’s security clearance process: I couldn’t believe it. After all but giving up and starting a […]
Photo: Indi Samarjiva CC 2.0 2017 Crook Fellow Samer Yousif is interning this summer with Ashoka, a nonprofit that supports a worldwide network of social entrepreneurs in their mission to address development issues in their own localities. Here he updates us on his work evaluating the impact of these entrepreneurs’ initiatives: The capitalist structure has […]
Photo: Jurgen 2017 Crook Fellow Amara Uyanna is interning with Sustainability International this summer in Nigeria, and updates us here on the environmental conditions of the Niger Delta region, where among other responsibilities she is coordinating bioremediation efforts in the area: “Time is an illusion” just as much as “time is of the essence.” Either of the […]
Photo: elaine faith 2017 Crook Fellow Jessi Stafford shares her observations on the effects of poverty on daily living conditions in La Paz Centro, Nicaragua, seen as she works this summer for Artists for Soup: I’ve seen it many times. Volunteers come to help missionaries, non-profits, or other organizations working with the impoverished. They’re trying to do […]
Photo: Rene Schwietzke The commonly cited metaphor by Thomas Jefferson, calls for the “separation of church and state,” which has been used to counter wide array of policy decisions. As we have seen with numerous policy proposals both past and present, religion is not always separated from affairs of the state. In fact, sometimes religion has […]
Photo: Wikipedia As with most perspective-changing events, this one began on an idle Tuesday. One of my Nepalese coworkers approached me and explained that ISET hosted a competition awarding funding to graduate students, and the competitors were presenting their projects today. The presentations were going to be in English, and they asked me if I […]