GIIP News

Announcements

GIIP Heads East

Carsten, DC
by Jessica Carsten

As a recent graduate of UCSC but life-long GIIP devotee, I recently started a one-year project in Washington D.C. to manage internship placements for GIIP students while creating opportunities for new strategic partnerships. GIIP has expanded greatly since its founding nearly eleven years ago. GIIP now has a referendum fund from UC Santa Cruz, has begun to raise an endowment, has an impressive global network of alumni, and has a growing base of partner organizations, including nine strategic partnerships. Additionally, the successful development and expansion of GIIP is outgrowing the capacity of the GIIP Fellows and directors, making alumni a great new resource for the growth of the program and broadening opportunities for new partners.

D.C. is dense with NGOs, social justice related organizations, think tanks, government offices, and accomplished GIIP alumni. Additionally, many motivated students who participate in the GIIP program also participate in the UCDC exchange program. This exchange allows them to apply for an internship of their choice in Washington D.C. while remaining a full time student, living, and taking courses at the UC Washington Center.

As the new coordinator for GIIP Internships and Strategic Partnerships in Washington D.C., Iʼve been working with GIIP alumni to assess corporate style NGOs such as the World Resources Institute and Human Rights Watch for effective strategic partnerships for GIIP and intern placement opportunities for GIIP students. My focus is also on regional outreach, professional networking, alumni relations, and integrating a permanent internship for GIIPers at the UC Washington Center. This project will also set the groundwork for an alumni-student mentorship program and further fundraising opportunities for GIIP in Washington D.C.

GIIP Returns to Ghana

Healy, Ghana by Lucas Healy

NGOs and CLOs have used mobile phone technologies to track violence in Kenya, advance democracy in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and have provided banking services and medical services in numerous African countries. The possibilities
of mobile phone technologies are endless, but there is still a lack of understanding in the developed world on how to implement mobile technologies for social advocacy. Will the technology make sense to the locals? Does it contradict local customs or culture? Is there enough electricity? Can the technology handle the local weather? There are many variables on the ground that can render a mobile technology project useless.

The Voice of Ghana (VOG) is a small technology assessment and implementation project taking place in and around the University of Ghana, Accra from July 29th, 2010 to May 2011. Focusing on mobile technologies, VOG will provide a well documented,
on the ground assessment of ICTs in Ghana. Understanding the importance of support from the local people, the assessment will be conducted in coordination with students and faculty at the University of Ghana, and local NGOs.

VOGʼs detailed budget shows the cost of the assessment and implementation totaling 10,343. This money will go to research that in the long run aims to improve healthcare, agriculture, education, and the overall quality of life for Ghanaians. This project is the final result of my work at the University of California Santa Cruz. There I have been trained as a research sociologist and social advocate. I have also been trained by The Global Information and Internship Program (GIIP) to design, fund, and implement
a sustainable information technology project in partnership with a community.

Fighting For a More Progressive National Security Strategy

Nazar, DC My name is Hasnain Nazar and I spent this past summer in Washington, DC working with an NGO, Win Without War (WWW). As a student of politics and international relations, I understand the grave importance of our military policy. I decided to apply for the social media intern position for this particular NGO because of its goal to demilitarize Iraq and Afghanistan and close Guantanamo. I researched both areas and became familiar with our foreign policy toward these nations.

My project was funded through GIIP project funds and my own personal funds. WWW produces action alerts, blogs and videos to run a campaign based on a more progressive national security strategy. This NGO was managed mostly through a website. The videos that were posted on the website called for knowledge of Final Cut Pro and iMovie. I wanted to help build their website and make it SEO (search engine optimization) friendly. I also was looking forward to making videos for the organization. While there I did both of these- I was able to apply my web knowledge of html and css to manage the website while making videos through both Final Cut Pro and iMovie.

These are all skills I received through my time in GIIP. There were very few times I was unable to accomplish a goal I had for assigned myself or one that was assigned to me. Anytime I was faced with a problem I was able to find the solution through research.

Any future interns for this organization should have a comfortable understanding of Final Cut Pro and be able to make storyboards and direct and execute films on their own. Before starting work at the organization make sure to get a clear understanding of what is expected of you and outline projects that can be completed while you are there. Your time is valuable; as is theirs, make the best of it.

Sustainability Around the World - Japan

Richler, Japan

by Emily Milstein and Neil Richler

New GIIP fellow Neil Richler spent the summer in Japan working on Advancing Sustainable Communities via Ancient Japanese Farming Practices. The goal of the project was to understand what factors, such as information and communication technologies (ICT), allowed small Japanese farms to prosper, despite the encroachment of cities and the spread of industrial agriculture. Richler worked with a number of small and medium sized farms in Japan whose owners had been struggling to make their farms sustainable. He found that the farms that succeeded most in this endeavor were those that used ICT to manage networks of customers, distributors and land holdings.

Even those farms that do use ICT however will benefit from the expanded use of technology. Such technologies, according to Richler, could include inventory
management systems and increased internet technologies.

Richler hopes those farms that successfully use ICT can serve as a model for other farms in throughout Japan and the rest of the world.

New Partners in Sustainability

by Carrie McKee

This year, GIIP is developing a project in partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the UCDC program. WRI is an environmental think tank based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on objective research and analysis to produce real solutions to environmental and human problems. The UCDC program provides housing and credits for UC students to live for a school quarter in Washington, D.C. and intern with a governmental or non-governmental organization.

GIIP Director Paul Lubeck, GIIP alumnus and WRI staff Rhys Thom, and GIIP alumna Jessica Carsten are working together to build this new partnership. Combining resources from across the three partners, GIIP plans to train and send interns to Washington, to participate in UCDC while interning with WRI. Lubeck, Thom, and Carsten pitched the program to WRI in mid-November, and the idea was very well received. According to Thom, WRI is very excited at the possibility of working with GIIP student interns, as the skills GIIP students possess are highly in demand. WRI is looking for students with general tech, databasing, web, and video skills, and those with a project-structured focus, all of which are key components of GIIP training. With UCDC, interns will have access to university room and board, while earning university credits for their work.

Thom traveled to UC Santa Cruz and spoke to new GIIP students in their fall class on November 16th. With many new GIIPers interested in sustainability and environmental issues, there is already a group of interested students. This new program coincides with the development of a sustainability working group, as students look to take a more direct role in environmental issues.

GIIP hopes the WRI partnership is one of many new opportunities for internships in Washington, D.C.