This summer, I had the opportunity to spend time in South Bend, Elkhart, and Niles, Michigan, working as a civic innovation intern with enFocus. This role provided me with a fantastic community-building experience, surrounded by like-minded interns who inspired and supported my desire to learn and work.
I learned several valuable methodologies, particularly the top-down approach, which was a significant shift from my academic training. As a student, I was accustomed to presenting research and the supporting factors before presenting a conclusion. However, in consulting, especially when providing recommendations, it’s crucial to present the recommendation first, allowing stakeholders to follow along more effectively.
During my internship, I worked on two projects. The first involved providing software recommendations to enhance the organizational efficiency of a school with unique tuition tracking systems. In this project, I conducted sales calls and demos with potential software solutions, performed market research and evaluated 31 different platforms, categorized the recommendation into 3 succinct solutions, and presented my findings to stakeholders. Another value-add that came from this project was being able to immerse myself in the world of education and scholarships. Learning more about how each state, federal, or organization-funded grants and scholarships work has provided me with confidence to apply my financial and data analysis skills to yet another sector.
The second project focused on assessing the business viability of a startup, where I provided recommendations and projections to the owners. In this project, I performed an initial SWOT analysis along with evaluating in-area competitors in the market. I then performed regression analysis to project the supply and demand of the market, and then finished it off with financial
statements of our assumptions and projections for the startup. The financial statements were by far the most rewarding part of this project as they allowed me to experience firsthand, the assumptions and ideology behind projecting a company’s finances. One of our main considerations was the split of our revenue that comes from each tier of pricing.
A huge thank you to enFocus and Wabash College for offering me the chance to make a positive impact in the community and develop my professional skills.
