The Kresge Foundation once again opened its doors this summer, welcoming seven interns to join the organization. The goal is to help foster young talent and expose them to the world of philanthropic work through their program.

For the first time, interns joined the Kresge’s staff retreat, hosted in June at the Marygrove Conservatory campus, which allowed interns to become fully immersed in the staff and work of the foundation.

For Legal Intern Oona Demko, a Law student at Wayne State University, the retreat was an impactful experience that brought context and set the tone for the work she did throughout the summer.

“I really got to know the community focus at Kresge and why they’re doing certain things,” Demko said. “I deeply appreciate their commitment to being engaged in Detroit, and I appreciate that they’re thinking about being at Marygrove and getting to know the businesses and the entrepreneurs and the community, coming into the neighborhood with intentionally.”

For one intern, Ryan Noble, who worked with the Talent and Human Resources team, the retreat was a unique experience as he reunited with an old mentor, Sommer Woods, who helped host the retreat.

“Sommer … ran a program called Midnight Golf in Detroit, a program that combines golf and mentorship and an HBCU college tour,” said Noble, a graduate student at the University of Michigan. “Seeing her was a lot emotionally, in a good way, because I hadn’t seen her in a while, so it was really cool to see her working together with Kresge for the retreat.”

Throughout the summer, interns had the opportunity to learn and collaborate with their departments. For Adiah Bailey, also a graduate student at the University of Michigan (U-M) and the American Cities Program intern, this meant getting hands on learning collaborating with her team in the field.

“I enjoyed participating in meetings with grantees and visiting their sites, while concurrently engaging in team discussions about how these grantees influence communities in ways that resonate with Kresge’s mission,” Bailey said. “It revealed a synergy between internal and external strategies that I had not anticipated.”

This summer also brought chances to learn more about what philanthropy is, and for Education Intern Sam Galvan, a graduate student at U-Mi, she now feels more confident in her knowledge of philanthropic work and now knows how to ask better questions in this space.

“Being able to think very thoughtfully and critically about how you can use money and grants and social investments has been a huge part of my work this summer,” Galvan said. “Understanding how to invest in communities in a way that’s not transactional, but that’s in partnership.”

Interns came from all different backgrounds from undergraduate to master’s, but no matter where they started, the foundation and internship program allowed them to shape their own experience. This was Investments Intern Peyton Davis’s first internship, and she believes this was a great opportunity to grow professionally.

“I’ve learned to write down everything that I don’t know and circle back to it and then ask questions when I need to,” said Davis, a junior at U-M. “Even though I might not know exactly how to approach something at first, it can work out in the end.”

For IT Intern Nicole Chen, a graduate student at the U-M, this opportunity not only helped her grow professionally, but gave her a chance to expand her network and grow as a person.

“A really good thing about the foundation is the whole company culture,” Chen said “It’s really friendly, even if you are from a different background, people are really interested in you, as a person which is the most valuable thing I will remember.”

Noble echoed this sentiment emphasizing the care and effort that his team and the entire foundation put into making the interns feel welcomed and part of the team.

“It was really cool just to be embraced for a little bit, and to have people ask, what do you want to do, and where do you see yourself going,” Noble said.

Annabelle Julien, a summer intern with the External Affairs & Communications team, is a senior at Michigan State University.