Meet our Summer Interns!

As summer kicks off, Mano a Mano is excited to welcome a group of amazing interns who are working with us! We are only a staff of 3 in the US and we depend on interns and volunteers to be able to do our work.

Meet Samantha

Samantha Carter is working FULL-TIME for Mano a Mano throughout the Summer.  She is currently a student at Johns Hopkins University studying International Studies, Economics, and Spanish.  She is originally from Plymouth, MN.  Samantha is a proficient Spanish speaker and will be traveling with Mano a Mano to Bolivia in August to volunteer with Oxford Development Abroad (ODA) students in Mano a Mano’s new Garden and Demonstration Center. This Summer at the St. Paul office, she is working with Office Manager Dana on volunteer coordination, corporate relations, grants management, office maintenance, and more; we are very lucky to have her with us all summer!

Meet Emma

Emma Knatterud-Johnson is working part-time for Mano a Mano throughout the Summer.  She is currently a student at Grinnell College studying Sociology with a concentration in Global Development Studies.  She is staff-member Nate Knatterud-Hubinger’s younger sister (note from Nate: this does not mean she gets preferential treatment!).  She is originally from St. Paul and will be helping Mano a Mano in a wide variety of ways this Summer.  She has offered to advise Mano a Mano on the decoration of our new office, arrange a Mano a Mano library within the office, and help compile and organize stories surrounding Mano a Mano projects in the rural communities of Bolivia.  We are gracious for her bright and lively personality in our office!

Meet Julio

Everyone knows Julio!  Julio is part of the Velasquez family and we are thrilled to have him helping us!  He is a student from the University of Minnesota studying Business and will be helping Mano a Mano with a considerable amount of work this summer.  He is creating a business plan for our craft program, training staff on graph composition, cataloguing medical supplies, helping to organize a project database, and assisting with structural changes to our sorting room format.  He comes from the very family that made the Mano a Mano dream a success and we are honored to have his hard work ethic and knowledgeable presence at the office!

Meet Mary

Mary Peterson comes to us from the University of Minnesota where she is studying Strategic Communications, Public Relations, and Spanish.  She is working part-time on projects such as database management, social media projects, and compiling project data on 300+ infrastructure projects.  She comes from a background working at the Carlson Global Institute and we are excited to have her public relations and database skills for the whole Summer!

Meet Julie

Many of you may already know the amazing Julie Froslan as she has been with Mano a Mano since January 2013 and was a huge part of planning and facilitating our Spring Gala as well as so many other things.  Julie came to us after completing her Masters Degree in Gender Studies at Depaul University in Chicago and moved to Minnesota recently for a change of pace and because “Minnesotans are just so great.”  She said that!  Julie has incredible graphic design and computer technology skills and has had a big impact on our program here in St. Paul.  She is responsible for the beautiful Mother’s Day cards we sent out this year, creating and improving on Mano a Mano powerpoints/slideshows, and is now helping with our Annual Report.  We are so lucky to have her and she will be greatly missed in August when she moves on to an Americorps VISTA position.

Are You Interested in Interning with Mano a Mano?

We are always looking for help! Although we don’t have any availability for the summer, take a look at our Intern Page for more information and contact us if you are interested in interning with Mano a Mano for the upcoming fall or spring semesters.