International Professional Exchanges Internship

Global Minnesota serves as the Minnesota coordinator for the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), which brings about 400 visitors to Minnesota each year. Global Minnesota’s role is to identify and arrange meetings with the most important local resources in their field of interest. The International Professional Exchanges Intern assists at every stage of this process, from the initial proposal to the final itinerary.

The Professional Exchanges Intern assists at every stage of this process, from the initial proposal to the final itinerary. See the full internship description here.

Applications for Summer are now closed. Please check back soon for Fall internship information. 

Applications for the Fall are not open yet. Students interested in fall internships should send an email with their resume to Jo Mattos at [email protected].

Program features include:

  • Hands-on experience working for a World Affairs Council nonprofit organization
  • Two assigned supervisors who will provide training and guidance
  • Opportunity to join Global Minnesota staff meetings to gain deeper understanding of our operations
  • Free admittance to public programs
  • Complimentary Global Minnesota membership
  • Networking opportunities
  • Gain both clerical and program-specific skills
  • Optional stipend of $500

What the internship will look like:

Support Local Resource Meetings and Reporting:

  • Research local topics and prepare proposals and/or case studies
  • Research and identify potential resources
  • Reach out to request donated meeting space
  • Confirm local meetings through Google Calendar
  • Prepare detailed final ground itineraries, confirmation messages and thank you communications
  • Set up program templates like Program Book and Trello Project lists
  • Enter data from the meetings into our permanent CRM for the purposes of reporting

Support International Visitor Experience:

  • Support creation of final itemized agendas for visitors
  • Collect local resources’ biographies for final agenda
  • Review Welcome Book for visitors and make suggestions
  • Assemble and distribute Welcome Bags at hotel
  • Communicate updates/changes with hotel and ground transportation
  • Provide media and communications support in the form of obtaining group photos, short stories and social media posts documenting international visitors’ trip
  • Follow up with the visitors to gain their survey responses
  • If schedule allows, meet with the visitors, ensuring they have access to loaned cold weather gear
  • If schedule allows, attend city orientation and join local visits

What you bring to Global Minnesota:

  • Must be pursuing an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, or Master’s degree, or have recently graduated
  • Nonprofit Management, Global Studies, International Relations, Public Policy, Peace Studies, and Political Sciences or Area Studies majors preferred but not required
  • Strong interest in working on detailed projects that require a commitment to accuracy
  • Previous office and project experience and strong communication skills strongly preferred
  • Previous work and/or volunteering experience ideal
  • Experience with Raiser’s Edge database software or another CRM a plus

Skills & mindset:

  • Dependable, globally-minded students with an interest in learning and the ability to write well, pay attention to details, commit to deadlines, be part of a team, and respond to feedback would be a great fit for this opportunity.

Timeline of program:

  • Start date: last week of May or first week of June
  • Expected completion: first or second week of August (flexible)

Reports to: Professional Exchanges Manager and International Exchanges Coordinator.

Important considerations:

  • Able to work in-person at the Global Minnesota office 6 to 8 hours a week and up to 2 to 4 hours remotely
  • Access to equipment and shared-drive will be provided in-office only
  • This is an unpaid internship with an optional $500 stipend available to those who successfully complete 12-14 weeks at about 10/hours week
  • The internship involves engagement with important daily tasks and is not set up to lead or own independent end-to-end projects