I am writing from the NYC DonorsChoose.org office, where we are all busy getting ready for the new school year. What an exciting time! As our teachers are posting projects and setting up their classrooms, I am finishing up my summer internship. Soon, I will pack my backpack with pencils and notebooks and head back to school.I am about to begin my final year at the University of Chicago, where I study Psychology, and more specifically decision-making and child development. Deciding to intern here at DonorsChoose.org was easy – where else could I have the opportunity to impact countless classrooms by supporting teachers and promoting a high quality education for students?This summer I worked on the Customer Relations team, responding to teachers who email us with questions. I helped teachers participating in our Google/CAPE campaign post and fund their projects. I also conducted a few analyses to find out how to improve our site and respond to inquiries more effectively. For one project, I looked at results from usability testing to see how donors are interacting with our site, uncover trends, and suggest improvements.The best part of this internship was meeting all of the people working behind the scenes to keep this organization running. I feel lucky to be able to work with such motivated, intelligent, and fun people. In fact, I like it here so much I’m sticking around for a bit to learn about the great work happening in the Marketing Department. But then it is back to Chicago for this student, where I will be an enthusiastic advocate for my favorite nonprofit.
