Hands-on Experience
Internships are a critical element of the Friedman School experience, enabling our students to create important connections and grow their professional networks. Supporting internships provides our students with the opportunity to work hands-on in their respective interest areas, learn from professional mentors, and explore different career options. They’re another way the Friedman School prepares students for success as they pursue careers across the health and nutrition landscape.
“The internship experience I had during my summer in South Africa provided a fresh approach to my food policy and nutrition studies and a unique opportunity to apply methods and expertise I learned in the classroom. This wouldn't have been possible without the generous support from Aid for Africa and I am forever grateful!”
What you can support
When you support internships, you allow students to take their education beyond the classroom and gain crucial real-world experience at a range of different organizations. Internships are required for most of our master’s students, and it is vital that the Friedman School have the financial resources to fund this aspect of the school experience. Your generosity will make a meaningful impact on students, opening the door to a wide range of future career opportunities. Your gift will:
- Provide stipends for student living expenses during some internships.
- Cover travel expenses to and from internship locations.
- Enable students to pursue unpaid internships at non-profit or community organizations.
The Virginia and Dr. Elie J. Baghdady Fund for Maternal and Child Nutrition helps malnourished children and mothers throughout the world by supporting the development of humanitarians skilled in international nutrition interventions and policies. Georgette Baghdady, N03, has created an endowed fund in honor of her mother and late father at the Friedman School that sends interns across the globe. The Baghdady Fund supports one student internship at the master’s level each year focused on helping malnourished children and mothers in the developing world. Internships are a requirement for many of the school’s students to help shape their career goals. However, travel and living expenses are often quite costly, especially for those traveling abroad to work with humanitarian organizations and communities in developing countries. The fund’s current endowment level generates an annual scholarship that covers approximately one-half of the cost of a summer internship. The hope is that the endowed fund will continue to grow through additional donations, in order to generate a scholarship that can fully support an internship. The first scholarship was awarded in the spring of 2020.
To learn more about contributing to the Baghdady Fund, please contact Cindy Briggs Tobin, senior director of development and alumni relations, at Cindy.Briggs@tufts.edu or 617-636-0962.