I worked on two projects - one regarding strategy and expansion opportunities and a second regarding organizational structure and process development for external teams. This project was very important for the organization especially because the COVID outbreak shifted the attention of the whole organization into moving every one of their 55 schools to an online format. During my time there I was able to support them in focusing on developing medium- and long-term strategy to better understand where to play with new schools and how their teams could work more effectively, more collaboratively, and reach bigger results. I also helped with a social media crisis in which we had to analyze and come up with a public relations communications strategy to make sure the organization was positioned properly in the media.

I had to leverage both quantitative and qualitative skills acquired during my MBA for all my projects. I relied on quantitative skills from MBA classes to improve my project finance analysis, evaluating cost benefit and risks to compare possible expansion opportunities. Research and plotting work also required a quantitative skillset to analyze huge amounts of data and use tools and processes learned in Business Analytics and to be able to produce information in a concise and simple way. On the qualitative side, client management and interview skills gained through my MBA and my previous work experience allowed me keep the stakeholders inside the client happy and eager to work with me to deliver on the projects. It also enabled me to conduct and analyze 20+ interviews that in the first two weeks of my summer gave me direction into everything I was going to build during the whole summer.

My internship was 100 percent virtual, which presented some challenges. Thankfully, my manager and the people that I had to talk with were very keen to talk and meet. I believe that since it was so easy to set up virtual meetings, I would have had the opportunity to talk to more people if I were physically there. I was even able to participate into some executive committee meetings that brought me a better understanding of the challenges faced by the organization. Working remotely can be isolating sometimes, but the people in the organization made me feel like I was there.

I take out from this experience mainly three things:
- How important it is to be passionate about the work you do; by conducting several interviews I was able to feel the passion that those who work for nonprofit organizations bring with them every day, and it is inspiring and rewarding.
- Virtual work can sometimes drive more results than being physically in the office; not having to commute or participate in meetings in person leaves more time to focus on the work at hand, reduces distractions and enables you to manage time more effectively.
- Having two direct managers I had to learn how to manage two completely distinct work streams at the same time, both in terms of content and workstyles. I was happy to learn that I am very adaptable and flexible and am prepared to tackle distinct projects at the same time going forward.