CIRI’s summer internship program creates opportunities for shareholder and descendant college students, recent college graduates and those enrolled in or recently graduated from an applicable vocational training program to directly apply their education in a practical work setting, while gaining insight into CIRI’s culture and businesses.
This year, CIRI hosted five summer interns. On Aug. 22, four of them presented to the CIRI staff and executive team, highlighting what they had learned and how it will help them as they pursue their educational and career goals. (A fifth intern, Mahalia Hunt (Alutiiq), was unable to present due to her college’s earlier start date.)
Whether writing articles for the Raven’s Circle or helping plan future land-development projects, Charles “Chas” Anderson (Aleut) benefitted from “incredible mentors at CIRI who taught me about the amazing things the company is doing and a lot about business in general.” A junior at the University of Virginia double majoring in economics and English, Chas spent his summer in CIRI’s Land and Resources and Real Estate departments with forays into Corporate Communications.
Rachel Crosley (Alutiiq) is going into her senior year at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, double majoring in computer science and mathematics. For her, the CIRI summer internship taught her “so much more” than she could ever learn inside the classroom.
“I’ve experienced writing code for real software, learned four new programming languages, experienced working in a professional setting, did a lot of public speaking and learned about Alaska Native culture,” Rachel explained. “In the future, I’d really like to work for a company that cares about the community as much as CIRI.”
Autumn Olson (Inupiaq) received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 2016. She is currently pursuing post-baccalaureate studies in physical medicine and rehabilitation. This was her second consecutive summer as a CIRI intern.
“When I started my internship last summer, I didn’t really know anything about CIRI or my culture,” Autumn said. “For me to come up and be an intern and have my voice heard was so amazing.
“A huge thing I did this summer was work on the CIRI C3 Experience,” she continued. “The CIRI value of ‘act in the best long-term interest of shareholders,’ the C3 program is doing it. I can’t wait to see how it grows.”
A recent graduate of Oregon State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Ron Perry (Tlingit) appreciated the hands-on aspect of the internship. “I pitched Granite, which was described to me as the Cadillac of shareholder records management software, to Alaska Native regional and village corporations,” he said. “I actually got to type a few contracts, which was exciting – putting pen to paper, that’s how business gets done.”
CIRI would like to thank its 2018 summer interns and commend them on a job well done!
For information on CIRI’s summer internship program, visit ciri.com/internship.
