BU Graduate Student Lands Internship with United States Agency for International Development

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Bellevue University student Amanda Menin is expanding her skills through an exciting internship opportunity.

Menin, who is studying Industrial and Organizational (I-O) Psychology at Bellevue, just entered her final year of graduate school. She recently landed a Virtual Student Federal Service internship for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“I took this internship because it will allow me to get relevant experience in the I-O discipline with a federal agency,” Menin said. “The internship is long-term, May through September, and virtual, which will allow me to get heavy into the work while maintaining work-school-life balance.”

Menin currently works full-time as a Senior Trade Analyst for Wells Enterprises, the maker of Blue Bunny, Halo Top and Cheesecake Factory ice cream.

During the internship, Menin will be a part of a team that will work to modernize the way the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Acquisition and Assistance Lab does business and will help design a pathway to shift the current Office of Acquisition and Assistance culture to one that is kind, flexible and adaptive using scientifically proven methods.

“I am looking forward to helping USAID transform their image and in helping with real-world issues,” Menin said. “They are a humanitarian agency and that compliments my undergraduate degree (Sustainability Management) that I received through Bellevue and my current I-O Psychology degree very well. I feel like the internship will be very intrinsically rewarding and educational for me.”

JoDee Goracke, Assistant Professor and Program Director at Bellevue University, said the internship is a great opportunity for Menin.

“This project is especially exciting for me because it merges my personal research interest of design thinking and the topics of I-O which not all of my students get to lean on my research expertise during their time in the program,” Goracke said. “She’ll gain valuable real-world experience through the internship that will directly build her skill-set as an I-O practitioner.”

Menin will start the internship by attending a leadership retreat, and from there they will dive into learning all about USAID. She will be in a group of three other interns who will be working with Foreign Service Officers who have worked all over the world. Menin is the only I-O Psychology intern in the group.

“They are excited to teach us the ropes of their jobs, to connect us with others who work within USAID or the U.S. Department of State and to get us started working on projects that are meaningful and exciting to us,” Menin said.