How I Benefited from Interning at SAVI

By Rishika Chauhan, SAVI Research Assistant Intern

I am a full-time graduate student at IUPUI and am pursuing master’s in nonprofit management at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA).  Part of the school’s curriculum requirement is to participate in an internship, and my academic advisor highly recommended participating in SAVI’s internship program.  This internship was a good fit for me because I’m highly interested in the nonprofit sector, particularly within education, and wanted to gain experience in that field.

I was given the opportunity to utilize my skills and grow my experience with nonprofit organizations and their interactions within the community. Specifically, this internship has helped me:

• Network with community organizations.
• Research education indicators in Marion County and present those findings in various forms.
• Develop my analytical skills on a deeper level. This aspect particularly supports my career objectives since strong data analysis and interpretation skills are highly sought-after in any career path.
• Gain experience in Microsoft Access. I completed a training course on Microsoft Access as part of my internship. This database tool has proved very beneficial to my professional and educational career. Many other courses are also available free of cost as part of the internship.
• Gain experience working with nonprofit organizations and how they work to support the needs of the community. I participated in meetings with other organizations and was able to learn more about the status of education in Marion County. This helped me network with professionals in the field of education and gain exposure on how different organizations come together for a common purpose.

Here are is an example of the project I completed during my internship at SAVI:

• I helped update the 2014 Central Indiana Education Alliance Community Report. This community baseline report is an annual report that reflects on trends in education of children of all ages across Marion County and the state of Indiana. As part of the internship, I collected and interpreted data, created charts to visualize the data, and updated existing templates. This helped me get involved with various aspects of the report. The 2014 report is in production, but the 2013 version can be found below:
  • https://edalliance.iupui.edu/Resources/2013communitybaselinereport.pdf

The SAVI internship has given me valuable experience in areas of interest for employers. It is a highly respected program that provides hands-on experience, guidance, and the ability to network with organizations in the community. I have learned a lot in the education sector and learned to combine research with apply it to real-world situations.

SAVI is looking for new interns for the summer and I would highly recommend it.