Now until July 29, the University of Pennsylvania Office of Development and Alumni Relations is hosting two interns for the CASE Advancement Internship Program. The initiative, organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, is designed to increase the number and diversify the pool of professionals in educational advancement and to attract graduate and undergraduate students who may not have previously considered a career in the field.

The eight-week program provides interns with an all-expenses-paid training session in Washington, D.C., a book allowance, stipend and hands-on learning experience at Penn Development and Alumni Relations. Interns program-wide are receiving on-the-job training and gaining skills in the three professional areas of advancement: philanthropy, alumni relations and communications and marketing.

Penn’s interns are working within the Annual Giving program and Penn’s School of Dental Medicine. Emilie Vocaj Wan Bok Nale, a May graduate of Penn’s College of Arts & Sciences and former supervisor and student caller for the University’s Annual Giving Program, is conducting peer-school research, interviewing staff members and analyzing data to create a white paper on fiscal year program planning.

“One of the things I have learned over the course of the internship is that ‘people give to people,’” Vocaj Wan Bok Nale said, “It has helped me understand the immense value of growing relationships with donors.”

Ian Banks, a rising junior from Slippery Rock University currently embedded in Penn Dental Medicine, is re-designing the School’s website, creating messaging targeted to young alumni and helping to craft a strategy for social-media communications.

“Here at Penn we have one of the best DAR teams in the country,” said John Zeller, vice president for development and alumni relations, “and we are proud to help inspire and educate young people who want to do the exciting and gratifying work of advancing the University’s mission.”