ME&A Headquarters Welcomes 2021 Summer Intern
ME&A proudly welcomed an accomplished and engaging student joining our headquarters in Bethesda, Md., this summer as an intern. ME&A’s 2021 summer intern is Ananya Amirthalingam, a rising junior at Georgetown University majoring in Psychology with minors in Public Health and Chinese.
A Northern Virginia native, Ananya spent much of the summer supporting ME&A’s new Digital Technologies and Research Unit (DTRU) as a data analyst assisting with the Feed the Future Global Program Evaluation for Effectiveness and Learning (PEEL) project. She used SPSS software to process and analyze some 500 Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing survey responses and drafted paragraphs and summaries for a program evaluation report in tandem with the team leader.
“I have really enjoyed how the DTRU unit has given me multiple opportunities to grow and challenge myself. It felt really powerful to have my name on a report being sent to USAID,” she said. “The people at ME&A – Chris Coffman and Gary Woller especially – have also been super insightful and welcoming. I really appreciate how much ME&A has taught me about the international development space.”
Ananya also organized and oversaw the donation of ME&A equipment to local non-profits and nongovernmental organizations.
“We have interns in order to support their future careers and help them to fulfill the school’s requirement for an internship,” said Lizette Laserna Salvador, ME&A’s Director of Human Resources. “This does not change during the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want our internships to be a real-life experience — but this year safely working from home.”