I am Cristina Gandásegui, a Sustainability, Science & Society student, minoring in Communication Studies. I was born and raised in Panama City, Panama, and spent my childhood visiting remote corners of the country, exploring jungles, Caribbean islands and indigenous communities. This inspired me to pursue a career in Environment, and I am deeply passionate about conservation sciences, community empowerment and education.
This summer, I had the pleasure of working with Climate Reality Project Canada (CRPC), where I interned under the Atlantic Canada Climate Network (ACCN). The ACCN works to connect grassroots activist groups with each other while also providing them with the resources necessary to increase the impact they seek to generate in their areas. I started the internship excited to learn about climate advocacy efforts in Atlantic Canada, and to experience first-hand the culture of non-profit organizations.
During my time at ACCN, I helped expand a database of youth climate advocacy groups in the region, and conducted research on schools, organizations, and youth advisors that are involved in the climate sphere. I performed Analytics Reports on the existing social media pages and proposed an entirely different approach to the social media management based on different target audiences. I redesigned the graphics for the Instagram and LinkedIn pages, created content calendars, and pitched innovative ideas, all based on my experience as a young climate advocate. Additionally, I envisioned and started to create a campaign targeting youth groups.
The highlight of my internship was definitely getting to know my supervisor, Ashley. We worked side by side for the duration of my time at CRPC, and our conversations quickly became what I looked forward to the most every day. I started out wanting to learn about advocacy efforts in Atlantic Canada but ended up discussing topics way beyond that. Connecting with someone whose passion for education and climate is so palpable was extremely inspiring. I will cherish all the knowledge she shared with me, but, most of all, I finished my internship feeling optimistic, empowered, and hopeful.
The most challenging aspect of my internship was its remote aspect and the abstract nature of the work. I was based mostly in Montreal, while my supervisor was based in New Brunswick. However, we communicated almost daily. Also, since my work was performed remotely, I had the opportunity to travel back home to Panama for the last two weeks of my internship to spend time with my family before the start of the upcoming fall semester. Regarding the abstract nature of the work, it was difficult at times to understand the true impact of the work we were doing. I will not be able to launch the campaigns we worked on, as they are scheduled to start in September, but I will still be able to support the ACCN through their social media channels.
I would like to thank Wendy Patton Keys for her generous donation. The funding made sure I could stay in Montreal for almost the entire duration of my internship. This experience helped me discover one of my passions lies in non-profit work that focuses on community education, community building, and community empowerment. It helped me narrow down on what niches I want to pursue inside my degree and the valuable knowledge passed on to me will definitely help me further understand future coursework.
