Action from Afar with ENP Remote Internships

This summer, due to the new reality of COVID-19, ENP is offering for the first time the opportunity to make a difference in Israel through a remote internship with ENP. Whereas in the past interns would volunteer out of ENP’s Jerusalem office or on-site in one of ENP’s many field locations, now they can do so from the comfort of their home, in a variety of innovative ways, utilizing all of the available technological tools. Additionally, once a week, the interns gather to catch up on each other’s progress and experience insights provided by ENP by way of a speaker or other activity.

The pilot cadre of interns is already underway: ENP is excited to welcome three new US-based interns through jInternship: Jesse Strawderman, Sammi Re, and Alyssa Holcomb.  Each, according to their skills and interests, is spearheading a variety of initiatives to help experience, contribute to and share the story of ENP’s work.

Each intern adds an abundance of skills to ENP. Majoring in communications, Jesse is in her second year at George Washington University in DC and is working on forging a partnership between ENP and Blue Star Camps in North Carolina, where she served as a camp counselor, with an aim of recruiting other summer camps in this important initiative. Sammi is studying Brain and Cognitive Science at the University of Rochester and will be interviewing some of ENP's Ethiopian-Israeli Healthcare scholarship recipients on their experiences. Majoring in Psychology at the University of Central Florida, Alyssa is working on introducing ENP SPACE students to sign language by translating a popular song into sign language and teaching it through Zoom. Additionally, all three are working collaboratively on a special Zoom project which will introduce virtual missions that reveal ENP's work in new and exciting ways to virtual visitors to ENP.

All three were drawn to ENP for the chance to make a difference and help others. “I chose to volunteer at ENP because I’ve always been driven to utilize the resources that have been given to me for something greater than myself,” says Jesse. “I am passionate about social justice, and value the importance of providing equal opportunities to all people by reducing the inequities between different cultural groups, and that is exactly ENP’s goal.”  

ENP’s International Relations Associate Yael Salem is already impressed by the commitment shown by the three and is confident they will make a lasting contribution in ENP’s work. “There are so many ways to contribute remotely nowadays and we can already see the huge benefits of remote internships. Jesse, Sammi and Alyssa have dived right in, and fully embraced the opportunities this type of internship offers. Being in the United States they are able to easily connect local organizations with ENP, and their tech savvy makes them perfect for formulating new and creative ways to communicate ENP’s message to the world under the new circumstances.”