Dristy Shrestha

Country: Tanzania
Organization: BRAC Tanzania

DRISTY: "BRAC is the world’s largest non-governmental development organization measured by the number of employees and the number of people it has helped. It is dedicated to empowering people and communities living in poverty, illiteracy, disease and social injustice through its various programs in areas ranging from microfinance, agriculture and food security, education and more. It currently operates in 11 countries across the globe.

BRAC started its work in Tanzania in 2006 with microfinance and livelihood development programs. In just less than a decade with multiple programs in various sectors ranging from agriculture and food security, education, empowerment and livelihood for adolescents, microfinance and small enterprise program, BRAC has become one of the largest financial institutions in the country.

In June-August 2016, under the supervision of the Program Manager of Microfinance Program, I had the opportunity to work as the Summer Research Intern at BRAC Tanzania. In this role, the main task I was entrusted with was to i) assess the services offered by BRAC Tanzania tailored towards smallholder farmers in the country, and ii) make recommendations to the Country Office based in Dar es Salaam on how to better address the needs and challenges of smallholder farmers in Tanzania."

"Personally, I had an incredibly rewarding summer filled with new challenges, new experiences, and learnings. BRAC is an organization that development practitioners such as myself study a lot about, both inside and outside class. Therefore, the opportunity to experience its activities and inner workings first hand and be a part of its team was a special treat for me. In addition, it was refreshing to explore Tanzania and go beyond my comfort zone into a country, region and continent that I had never been to."

Ashley Anderson

Country: Philippines
Organization: Millenium Challenge Corporation

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government agency that provides assistance to support economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries demonstrating a commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investments in people. As the very first summer intern for MCC‐Philippines, Ashley Anderson's main deliverable was to create a repository of social impact reports detailing the specific effects of select MCC programs on beneficiaries and their communities. In order to collect insights for the impact stories, she  arranged interviews with key stakeholders all over the Philippines.

Ashley: “My experience with MCC was a truly enlightening experience both for professional and personal reasons. Professionally, I was able to work overseas for the first time and, more importantly, in a developing context. After seeing the poverty and restraints to economic growth in Manila first hand, I am inspired to find inclusive development opportunities for the Philippines and have decided to focus my thesis on potential growth industries for the country. Furthermore, I now want to explore a career in emerging market entry strategy with a focus on Southeast Asia after I graduate. Finally, I want to express my gratitude for Mr. Blakeley and his family – because of his generosity and investment in Fletcher students I’ve been privileged to have this experience and the potential future opportunities it may lead to..”

Tapish Bhatt

Country: India

Organization: ACCESS

Tapish Bhatt spent a summer at ACCESS, which impacts the poor of India at all levels of the sector value chain. His work entailed Streamlining internal processes of the organisation viz. sales and production planning, designing a marketing strategy for JJADE, and studying the feasibility of a managed production cluster.

Tapish: “I remain committed to achieving impact at the bottom of the pyramid, but now I would like to work with corporations towards managing their donations better to achieve maximum output.”

Sebastian

Countries: Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala

Sebastián spent ten weeks working for Catholic Relief Services in Central America under the Agriculture for Needs (A4N) project, implemented in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. During this time, he traveled through these countries, interviewing farmers and women in savings groups, as well as local partners’ Staff. As a result of his work, CRS adapted a set of guidelines to be applied regionally for A4N. These guidelines set clear rules for local partners to implement the project and how to work wit the beneficiaries in delivering tangible and intangible inputs for agricultural production, small business, savings groups and large investments in productive infrastructures. Sebastián experienced firsthand the powerful effect that savings groups have in women’s lives and the challenges faced by rural households in the most impoverished areas in Central America.