By Daymine Snow '25
Thanks to the Institute for Latino Studies, I was able to intern at the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY) this past summer.
ILS provided me with housing and a three-credit Latino Studies course through their Cross-Cultural Leadership Program (CCLP), in which I learned about U.S. Latino culture, history, and politics. The summer was jam-packed, as I navigated a full-time internship in the nonprofit sector while building community for myself in New York City.
Interning with the Fund for the City of New York was such a great experience I would go so far as to recommend it to any first-year student looking to define their professional path. My interest in their mission was inspired by FCNY President Lisette Nieves, who lectured on campus as a Transformative Latina Leader in April.
As a dynamic organization, FCNY was instrumental to helping steer my nascent career. My day-to-day duties varied from hands-on service, like volunteering at a food pantry, to supporting the back office business operations by making entries in financial spreadsheets for FCNY grantees.
I was tasked with completing a computer science project that resulted in automating the creation process of the financial statements for over eight organizations. Overall, the work was meaningful, and I felt empowered in the numerous ways I was able to add value to the organization.
The Cross Cultural Leadership Program (CCLP) provided by ILS, helped strengthen my understanding of the Latino population in the United States. The class focused on topics that our public schools never taught me during my studies in New Orleans. Through our weekly readings and discussions, I was interested and shocked about events such as the Zoot Suit Riots and how L.A.-based Mexican Americans were antagonized by local and state authorities during the 1940s.
All educated professionals, and in particular, Notre Dame undergraduates, should immerse themselves in another community to learn how they fought these adversities. Being surrounded by majority Latinos, like my roommate and classmates, and learning about their history through this course, led me to reflect more about the Black community and think about ways to bring us together.
I decided to foster relationships with New York City professionals and met dozens of amazing Black ND alumni who all offered a load of wisdom to me. I thought about how other Black ND undergrads interning in the city would benefit greatly from seeing and connecting with ND alumni who look just like them. I collaborated with Trebor Goodall, a Black ND alumnus and sports business professional in NYC, to host a networking event featuring 23 undergraduates and 12 alumni.
My hope is for this to become a tradition for the Black ND community in other major U.S. cities, like Chicago and Los Angeles, where undergrads and alumni can get together every summer.
I am incredibly grateful for the experiences I was afforded through my internship, classmates, dorm, and city-wide community. Through ND connections, I gained experiences I will take with me for the rest of my life. I met and befriended amazing people and put on an event bringing all of those people together to forge their own connections.
Through it all, I learned a ton and became a more well-rounded individual that’s able to support cultural communities advocating for equality and equity. In just one year at ND, I became a “force for good.”
Special thanks to Paloma Garcia-Lopez, Associate Director of ILS, and Eric Love, Director of Staff Diversity & Inclusion in the Office of Human Resources, for their mentorship and support of my career trajectory.