At Summer Search, our work is all about creating opportunities. We offer our students exposure to many different experiences they might not otherwise have, which we’re able to do thanks in large part to the generous support from our many partners. Donors, summer program partners, and corporate partners are all critical to our young people’s success.
Speaking of corporate partners, Summer Search teams up with outstanding companies to provide our students with internships and professional development opportunities. In fact, several hire our alumni! In this post, we’re proud to highlight four of our partners that hosted Summer Search student interns this summer.
SAP Concur
SAP Concur, the world’s leading provider of travel, expense, and invoice management solutions, was the premier sponsor for Summer Search Seattle’s 2018 Leadership Luncheon in May, with SAP Concur President Mike Eberhard being a featured speaker at the event. SAP Concur employees also helped lead a professional development training prior to the luncheon for our students to learn and practice networking skills they would use while engaging with event guests!
SAP Concur also hosted Summer Search Seattle students as interns, enabling them to gain critical experience while strengthening their professional development skills. One of those interns was college student Patricia Gonzalez.
Patricia Gonzalez with SAP Concur President Mike Eberhard at a Pride event hosted by Pride@SAP.
Patricia, who worked on the Global SAP iXp Team, explains how her experience is helping her achieve her long-term goals in marketing and communications.
“I’ve been working closely with the Brand Manager on our social media content and strategy. I’ve taken an active role in posting on our Instagram and Twitter @SAPiXp! Right now, I would really like to explore how people interact with content and what engages them… I’m glad I get to test that out during my internship. It will be an experience I can have under my belt now that I will start my first marketing classes [in college] this fall.”
In addition to that professional development support, SAP Concur recently doubled-down on its investment in Summer Search with a $150,000 technology grant that will support all five of Summer Search’s sites nationwide!
Loomis, Sayles & Company
Summer Search Boston is proud to have partnered with investment management firm Loomis, Sayles & Company (LS) since 2005 to support Boston’s next generation of leaders. Through this 13-year collaboration, LS has left an indelible legacy as a key supporter of Boston’s annual Leadership Dinner, spurring catalytic fundraising and enabling Summer Search Boston to serve more students.
LS and their employees have generously contributed more than $860,000 to Summer Search and provided career advice to students through our Career Coach program. LS has also connected Summer Search to a deep network of other corporate partners, a pro-bono speech and communications coach, a public relations firm, as well as a texting platform used in our student recruitment efforts.
Additionally, over the course of this partnership, LS has provided internship opportunities to Summer Search college students. Since 2006, LS has hired several college-age interns each summer who have supported teams in the Securitized Assets, Corporate Communications, Finance, Marketing, Operations, and Legal/Compliance departments, amongst others. Summer Search students who take part in this internship work full-time from June through August. They are also offered a series of professional skill-building and development workshops, as well as the opportunity to work with their team on projects. These internships then become the building blocks for future employment opportunities.
This summer’s interns were Sandy Pierre-Rene (first photo above, far left) and Mei Huang (second photo, front row, center).
“We have recruited Summer Search students as interns for over eight years,” explains Meg Clough, Director, Community Investments at LS. “We LOVE working with Summer Searchers because of their amazing resilience, drive, and problem-solving skills. We enjoy hearing about their wilderness and community service trips, and they are always to first to step up and volunteer for community service events at Loomis. Summer Searchers bring creativity to us for a ten-week period, and the place seems so quiet and empty without their energy.”
That’s high praise coming from Meg Clough. In addition to serving on the Summer Search Boston Board of Directors, Meg is the co-chair of our Governance and Recruitment Committee. She has been our primary advocate and has demonstrated a personal commitment to Summer Search’s mission and students by helping to recruit Career Coaches, source internships opportunities, and secure event sponsorships. It’s these kinds of relationships with dedicated ambassadors like Meg that allow Summer Search to cultivate and maintain thriving partnerships that benefit our young people.
Summer Search Boston interns Mei Huang (left) and Sandy Pierre-Rene (right) with Meg Clough, Director, Community Investments at Loomis, Sayles & Company.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Since 2011, Summer Search New York City has partnered with international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Weil has a longstanding history of teaming up with nonprofit and community-based organizations for its Summer Internship program. They share Summer Search’s commitment of providing access and college and career readiness programming to diverse populations and communities, which is one of the core tenets of Weil’s Corporate Social Responsibility program.
“Summer Search students have always been strong candidates,” says Nicole DeLaRue, Recruiting Coordinator, Human Resources at Weil. “It has been wonderful working with them and having them participate in our internship program.”
This summer, Yanique Turner interned on the Weil Business Services team, a group that ensures that the highest level of support is delivered to all of Weil’s clients. Yanique was a point of contact at the main reception desk, greeting and interacting with attorneys, staff, and external clients utilizing the conference center rooms and resources. As a Business Services intern, she had the opportunity to develop professional and interpersonal communication skills, gain experience in various administrative duties, and work on special department projects.
Yanique Turner (second from right) with some of her colleagues on the Weil Business Services team.
Through several presentations during the summer, Yanique was also able to learn about other departments such as Social Responsibility, Diversity & Inclusion, and Marketing & Business Development, as well as gain an understanding of what jobs in those fields really look like.
“We hope our interns will be able to further develop their overall business skills, make meaningful network connections, and feel better prepared to reach their personal and professional goals,” explains Yvette Dorman, Senior Manager of Human Resources. “Internships provide a valuable educational experience for students to put into practice the skills they are learning through school. [Interns] also share their insights with the Firm and provide fresh perspectives on existing business processes.”
AT&T
In the fall of 2015, with a generous contribution from AT&T Aspire, Summer Search launched our Males of Color Initiative to enhance our student outreach practices by engaging alumni, parents, and community-based organizations as partners so more young men join our program and stay engaged to reach their college dreams.
Since then, AT&T employees have volunteered at student events, attended galas, and conducted informational interviews with students. And this summer, AT&T provided an internship to Summer Search Bay Area college student Hammad Zahid, who came to the opportunity through the support and connections of another Bay Area corporate partner.
Last year, BlackRock hosted a one-day series of career readiness workshops to support our college students as they prepare for life post-graduation. It was at his first “Dare to Lead” Conference in 2017 that Hammad’s 2018 summer would begin to take shape. As Hammad explains:
“During one of the informational interview sessions, I met the director of external affairs at AT&T. After exchanging contacts and following up with him over email, he e-introduced me to a college talent acquisition manager, Mychele Riddick who has been in communication with me ever since. We eventually met during one of her visits to UC Davis. I applied to a bunch of positions, I interviewed for one, which I didn’t receive (I was sick during the interview day, so may have not performed my best) but nonetheless, Mychele continued to work with me. Eventually I was able to land this position as an Engineering and Operations intern!”
Hammad added, “I am very thankful and excited to have this opportunity! As a Junior [majoring] in Computer Science, landing at a big company like AT&T really opens up my future!”
We’re incredibly thankful for all of our corporate partners who provide support for Summer Search – whether it’s through event sponsorships, career coaching, hosting professional development workshops, and especially for hiring our students as interns. Companies like SAP Concur, Loomis, Sayles & Company, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, and AT&T are truly making an impact in the lives of our students. As we say at Summer Search, thank you x7!