As the spring semester gets underway at schools across the country, we are excited for our 2 new interns that are starting at Mano a Mano this week! They join our dedicated team of volunteers and interns that are hugely important for us to succeed.
We asked Ben and Riccardo to write a brief introduction (like we did for our summer 2013 interns), which you can read below. They are both students from Macalester College, which just so happens to be the same school Mano a Mano’s co-founder Joan Velasquez attended as well.
Ben Lavin
Hello! My name is Benjamin Lavin. I was born and raised in New York City. Attending the United Nations school there, I became interested in international affairs and development at a young age. Currently, I am senior at Macalester College where I study economics and statistics. I am a co-chair of the international development organization on-campus. After graduating in May, I plan to serve in the Peace Corps. I have been nominated to work on business development in Benin and should hear officially within the next month. My aim is to work in international development abroad with the goal of becoming an economist at the World Bank.
Ben Lavin
I am very excited to intern at Mano a Mano! Last fall, the Macalester Development Group invited Dana to visit campus and present. I was and still am impressed by the effort and commitment of a small staff to coordinate and achieve so much. I was inspired by the model of development at Mano a Mano, which allows for local communities to decide what is important to them. I am privileged to be working with an organization that supports positive long-run development through a wide-range of projects. I look forward to working with the staff here in the Twin Cities in order to meet community needs in Bolivia.
Riccardo Maddalozzo
My name is Riccardo and I am a junior at Macalester College majoring in international studies and Global Health. I am originally from a small town in northern Italy, but I have also lived and worked in Norway, Sri Lanka and Georgia before and in between my time in the US. I am very passionate about health prevention and helping underserved and disadvantaged communities to improve their health and thus I am very excited to work for Mano a Mano and participate in its mission. After finishing my undergraduate I am hoping to eventually earn a MPH and operate in low-income countries in health policy, particularly regarding the prevention of infectious diseases.
Mano a Mano Intern Riccardo
Interested in an Internship?
Check out our INTERN page to learn more about internships with Mano a Mano.