My name is Elinor Poole-Dayan and I just finished my first year at 缅北强奸. My program is Honours Mathematics and Computer Science with a minor in Geographic Information Systems. I am interested in data science, artificial intelligence, and web development. However, I also have wide ranging interests and passions in other academic fields. I am fascinated by global political issues, specifically those revolving around the oppression of women, the LGBT community, and antisemitism.
This summer, I interned for Project Kesher (PK), a nonprofit organization that aims to build Jewish community and advance civil society by developing and empowering women leaders. PK supports grassroots organizations tackling issues which impact the lives and well-being of women and girls in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, and Israel. I wanted to do this internship in order to be able to use my knowledge and skills that I am developing in my major and apply them to the fields that I am passionate about. I aimed to develop practical experience in non-profit work and gain insight into how such small organizations are run. In addition, the tight-knit team at PK leaves a lot of room for independence and requires a lot of responsibility and initiative. This closely resembles the type of atmosphere in many computer science jobs and will help prepare me for my career after university.
I worked remotely for PK at home in New York City, focusing on creating a website for their Israel branch to help them reach more of the Russian women in Israel who can benefit from PK鈥檚 work. In addition, I introduced and implemented a password managing software to help with the organization and security of their passwords. I also helped with foundation research in order to secure funding for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as other administrative tasks to help streamline workflow and increase at-home work efficiency.
An interesting part of the intern experience at Project Kesher were the 鈥渋ntern lunches鈥� with prominent female activists in the Jewish community. Since the internship was moved online due to the pandemic, these planned meetings turned into livestreamed Zoom discussions open to the wider community. I was able to hear from the Editor in Chief of Lilith Magazine, Susan Weidman Schneider, on Judaism and Feminism, as well as the Executive Director of The Good People Fund, Naomi Eisenberger, on the Jewish response to sexual harassment in the workplace. In addition, PK has a partnership with the Hadassah Brandeis Institute, and I was able to join their intern discussion groups with other interesting Jewish women. This included a photography workshop with a lesbian Ultra-Orthodox artist, a riveting discussion with a Canadian biracial Jewish woman who advocates for Jews of Color, and a conversation with an Israeli lawyer working on the Mizrahi Jewish women poverty and housing crisis. Having the opportunity to engage with such interesting women was an incredible opportunity and very inspirational.
One of the challenges I faced was that the Executive Director of Project Kesher Israel is extremely busy, and it was sometimes hard for me to move forward with my work on the website I was creating for her when she did not have time to send me the resources I needed. To help solve this, I created a timeline for the completion of the website. Unfortunately, it did not work out perfectly, so while I was able to get some of what I needed, I was still missing resources by the end of my internship. In order to facilitate the completion of the website after I left, I created a thorough documentation of the website, including information on how to update everything and most importantly, instructions detailing the next steps to the completion of the website and what resources were missing.
While I am not receiving academic credit for this internship, I gained a lot of interesting work experience and a greater understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. This internship opportunity turned out to be an incredible learning experience and I was able to grow as a person. Hopefully, this will allow me to explore the field of the intersection of technology and nonprofit work in the future.
I am extremely grateful to have received the Lev Bukhman Internship Award in Arts. The award funds helped offset the costs of having an unpaid internship while living in New York City for the summer, as well as travel and other related costs. I would like to thank Ms. Heather Sokoloff and Mr. Lev Bukhman for their generous gift!
