International Professional Exchanges Internship

Global Minnesota serves as the local 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.

Internships for the Spring 2024 semester have now closed.

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 International Visitor Experience:

  • Communicate updates/changes with hotel and ground transportation
  • Support creation of final itemized agendas for visitors
  • Assemble and distribute Welcome Bags at hotel
  • 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
  • Provide media and communications support in the form of obtaining group photos, short stories and social media posts documenting international visitors’ trip
  • Collect local resources’ biographies for final agenda
  • Follow up with the visitors to gain their survey responses
  • Review Welcome Book for visitors and make suggestions

Support Local Resource Meetings and Reporting:

  • Research local topics and prepare proposals and/or case studies
  • Research and identify potential interlocutors
  • Confirm local meetings through Google Calendar
  • As needed, help obtain donated meeting space
  • Prepare 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

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
  • 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: week of January 29
  • Expected completion: week of May 3

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