HBCU alumni were key to the success of Mercy Corps' new intern program

After a successful pilot last year, Mercy Corps is expanding its internship program, which partners with historically Black colleges and universities and offers paid placements to students from various academic backgrounds. The organization had been looking for ways to strengthen and build out its global internship program, Kristine Wilson, Mercy Corps’ talent and intern program manager, told Devex. There were already some HBCU students among the intern cohort, but there was also an opportunity to work more closely with these institutions and “deliberately give Black students in the United States opportunities to break into international development.” While the initial launch was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement propelled the program. “[As an organization] we really [felt], even if these have to be remote … it was really important ... to stand up and launch the [program],” Wilson said. From the pilot program in the fall of last year, over a third of the 22 interns were from HBCUs. Many of them have asked to extend their placement, Wilson said, and applications for the program are now being opened up to recruit from more HBCUs. Mercy Corps’ European office has also shown interest, with one team already hosting an intern remotely, she added. The organization has also just launched a new partnership with Hispanic-serving institutions to connect their students with paid internship opportunities in the international and development sector. Devex finds out what was involved in creating the program and ensuring it was inclusive. “[HBCU alumni] were invaluable as advocates and in making this program come to life … [in part because] they had these really strong connections with their former schools or their friends.” --— Kristine Wilson, talent and intern program manager, Mercy Corps Working with HBCU alumni In addition to collaborating with Mercy Corps’ diversity, inclusion, and equity officers, Wilson worked closely with the HBCU alumni among its staff to design the program. “[This] was important since they know the culture of HBCU students and what those students need to be successful,” she said. Wilson acknowledged that as a white woman, it was really important to ensure perspectives from people of color and allow them the space to lead on the design. These staff also played a huge role in bringing about and building relationships with different HBCUs, which are very family-orientated institutions. “[They] were invaluable as advocates and in making this program come to life … [in part because] they had these really strong connections with their former schools or their friends,” Wilson said. Harriett A. Paul, director at the Office of International Agriculture Programs at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University — which has had three students placed in the program — agreed that alumni are “a very powerful and meaningful piece [of the puzzle].” They play a vital and long-term role in recruiting talent and connecting universities to these opportunities, Paul said. Getting to know partners Mercy Corps initially partnered with 11 HBCUs for the pilot program. Wilson stressed the importance of being authentic, investing time in getting to know each partner, and building trust. “It's very personal, meeting them, learning about their lives, learning about their students, learning about the culture,” Wilson said. “Every HBCU is very proud of who they are and how they're different from [one another], that particular personality of that HBCU.” Joseph Jones, international research and development coordinator at FAMU, worked closely with the team at Mercy Corps for more than a year following the program’s announcement. There were several calls and discussions around the approach and what the school could do to ensure a meaningful experience for its students, he said. Part of Jones’ job is to find these types of opportunities for the school's students but he feels that for a long time, HBCUs have been overlooked as corporations and multilaterals focus their recruitment efforts elsewhere when these institutions offer some really highly capable students, many of whom are already well-versed in cultural sensitivity, and exposed to different languages, Jones said. His colleague also stressed that the HBCU community is highly receptive to new opportunities for their students. It helps institutions keep their academic programs relevant, prepare their students for the professional world and “increase the diversity of our population working globally,” Paul said. Challenging beliefs A key objective of the program was to create opportunities for students from a range of academic backgrounds, not just those that fit the traditional mold of a development professional with a master’s degree in this topic. “We wanted to challenge ourselves and really open up a completely different talent source,” Wilson said. “That meant looking for kind of non-traditional backgrounds that would also lend a completely different way of looking at the work we do.” The interns from FAMU have come from a wide range of fields, including agribusiness and computer science. “These internships … open new opportunities for them that they may not have considered [and think] how they can organize [their] skills and experiences ... in a way that they hadn't thought about before,” Paul said. Learning during the process Initially, Mercy Corps tried to create intern positions that matched the strengths of specific HBCUs, such as teaming up the policy and advocacy team with an institution with a strong political science department. The idea was to ensure that all partners had an intern placed but in practice, this process was time-consuming and difficult, Wilson said. It also excluded students that came from certain academic backgrounds but had interests and skills in other areas, she added. The recruitment process has now been opened up to more than 100 HBCUs, although Wilson’s team still works closely with those 11 core partners. “We feel like that's an easier lift for us administratively and will be more equitable because it touches way more HBCU students,” she said. Building on intern feedback Wilson’s team worked closely with Mercy Corps’ People of Color Affinity Group so that all interns had access to mentors. While this has been challenging due to the internship’s remote nature, there are plans to improve this when office work returns. Creating a sense of belonging and ensuring the interns felt connected to each other is also really important, Wilson said. One of FAMU’s students talked about their appreciation at being able to connect with interns across the program through social media and other initiatives, Paul said. Still, feedback from the earlier cohorts suggested that the interns were looking for even more opportunities to connect with other Black professionals and people from similar backgrounds. “We’re appreciative for that [feedback] and we’re looking [and] trying, as we continually do program design, for different ways we can build that in,” Wilson said.