Welcome, 2016 Summer Interns!

Each summer, the Federation welcomes a handful of interns to our office in San Francisco. These high school and college students join us for 8 weeks, and come to us through two programs – Achieve and the Kohn Summer Internship Program.

Achieve is a year-round scholarship program that provides select high school students with extensive academic support, mentoring, summer internships, cultural and community service activities, and college counseling. The program’s goal is for all Achieve students to go on to college, graduate, and become successful citizens who will give back to the community.

The Kohn Summer Internship Program, a project of Jewish Vocational Service (JVS), is a unique 8-week program that provides Jewish college undergraduates the opportunity to work for a Jewish nonprofit organization, build professional skills through JVS workshops, be mentored by Jewish community leaders, examine issues facing the Jewish community, and, of course, make lifelong friendships with other interns.

This summer, we are lucky to have four interns working in the following areas:

Camila Avila-Martinez is interning with the Federation's Young Adult Division through Achieve. She is a rising senior at Holy Names High School in Oakland. What Camila looks forward to at her internship is learning about community building and how she can apply her experience to help build and sustain communities in Oakland. A special hobby of hers is to draw and paint. Outside of her internship, this summer Camila plans on doing college research and attending a marine animal research program in Costa Rica.

Chelsea Roston is interning with the Federation's Pro Bono Consulting Practice through Kohn. She just finished her first year at Wellesley College, where she was very involved in Hillel and music programs. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys playing saxophone and traveling. She is a San Francisco Diller Teen Fellow alumna from Cohort 17. Earlier this summer, she interned with Cocofloss, a startup dental floss company based in San Mateo. She is very excited to be working at the Federation while learning professional skills, giving back to this community, and making connections.

Cynthia Santana-Rosas is interning in the Federation's Human Resources department through Achieve. She is a rising junior at Holy Names High School in Oakland. What Cynthia looks forward to at her internship is learning about the structure of an organization – how it works and how it supports the community. A special hobby of hers is to ride horses and perform traditional Mexican dances with them. Throughout the summer, Cynthia plans to spend time with her family and be active.

Sophia Weiss is an event planning intern working in the Federation's Development department through Kohn. She is a rising sophomore at New York University, majoring in Communication, Business, and Entertainment. In addition, Sophia is a San Francisco Diller Teen Fellow alumna. What She looks forward to in her internship is learning professional skills, the details of running a nonprofit, and forming connections with other people in the Jewish community. Sophia loves music and hedgehogs!

For more information on Achieve, visit their website, or email achieve@achieveprogram.org.

To learn more about the Kohn Summer Internship Program, email kohn@jvs.org. Applications for the Summer 2017 program will be online in December.