Modern slavery may not be a great way to start a conversation at dinner, but it exists in almost every corner of the globe. As we speak now, many people, even in the US, are forced to work against their will without access even to their basic rights. With the support I received from the Tuck Gives, I was able to generate an impact on the people who need help the most.
The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS), a D.C. based public-private partnership, is catalyzing and coordinating a coherent global strategy to end modern slavery. Partnering with global and local partners, GFEMS’ strategy includes increasing resources, engaging government and the private sector, funding transformative programs and technologies, and ensuring robust assessment of impact across all partners and programs. What impressed me the most as an MBA student among these approaches was that the GFEMS is ultimately trying to make modern slavery economically unprofitable. This can be a powerful long-term solution, but requires consistent concerted efforts not just among governments or public organizations, but also private for-profit companies. In this regard, modern slavery is a very pertinent issue to Tuck students who will be HR managers, sourcing managers, and the CEOs of global companies in the future.
I have helped GFEMS create impact in any way that I can. I conducted research for current and future investments, evaluated proposals, and supported my colleagues in order to enhance intervention strategies. I learned much from the tasks I performed, but more profoundly from the internal meetings and discussions about not only investments, but also managerial and investor-related issues that a non-profit organization faces. Understanding how my colleagues, including GFEMS CEO Jean Baderschneider, tackled a variety of issues was a great learning opportunity for me.
The internship was also a wonderful opportunity to apply what I have learned from Tuck’s Core Courses. Both the soft and hard skills that I learned in the classroom were applied to define issues, understand them, and to create an impact on them. In particular, practical knowledge I gained from MIINT and FYI was helpful for my research.
Personally, spending the summer in D.C. offered me the chance to learn more about the United States. I visited some of world’s best museums, tried different restaurants, and explored the Mid-Atlantic region.