After her junior year in college, our CEO, Amanda Keammerer, participated in the Smith College Praxis internship program. This program provided a one-time stipend to any student engaged in an unpaid internship or fellowship during the summer. Amanda used her stipend to intern at the LULAC National Office in Washington, D.C. This internship took place in 2008, which is when the LULAC National Conference was held in Washington, D.C. Amanda met members of Congress, heard presidential candidates Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Senator John McCain speak, and advocated for progressive policies on behalf of Hispanic U.S. residents. That summer internship led to a job offer with LULAC after Amanda’s senior year, and the rest is history.
The Praxis summer internship program continues today. Javilud was honored to host two Smith College students as Praxis interns, Amanda M. and Emily E. Below is a quick introduction to Emily. Emily (she/her) is a Smith College senior majoring in the Study of Women & Gender and minoring in Statistics & Data Science. Passionate about the intersection of feminism and technology, Emily is considering either graduate school or a position in the tech industry after she graduates in May 2021.
In lieu of a blog post, Emily published an article on LinkedIn that we highly encourage you to read. Check it out by clicking here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-iot-shaping-san-antonio-tech-industry-emily-ehrensperger/ . One of the exciting parts of this year’s Javilud internship program was the ability to bring in virtual speakers to the students. In this article, Emily shares what she learned about the Internet of Things (IoT) and innovation taking place in San Antonio, Texas. Be sure to connect with Emily on LinkedIn, too! Her May 2021 graduation will be here before we know it – and we know her project management and data science skills are in high demand.