Hello everyone! It’s been a while since you last heard of me, and while the intern life keeps you pretty busy now’s the time to update you all. I am working at the New Orleans Citizens Diplomacy Council (NOCDC), which is a non-profit member based organization that arranges cultural activities and professional meetings for over 500 international leaders sent to New Orleans each year through the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program and other exchanges. The NOCDC mission is to promote citizen diplomacy- the notion that the individual citizen can help shape U.S foreign relations “one handshake at a time”. NOCDC’s members and professional resources, which include a wide array of New Orleans based nonprofits, government contacts, and organizations; are citizen diplomats who extend friendship, knowledge, and culture to international guests.
So far, my time at the NOCDC has been a dynamic learning experience as I have been learning something new every day. I have been trusted with a variety of responsibilities and tasks, from learning the basic’s of the NOCDC numbers database, which keeps track of the active programs for the international visitors, to contacting professional resources for a program on American Libraries for a multinational delegation, to writing a proposal on promoting Interfaith Dialogue for a Saudi Arabian delegation. One of the main highlights during my first couple of weeks at the NOCDC was a reception at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum for both a Russian and a multinational delegation. The multinacional delegation was composed by a diverse number of people from all over the world from Lebanon, to Senegal, to Egypt.
This was a great experience for both delegations and myself to learn more about Louisiana’s unique gastronomic heritage as we both got treated to a delicious menu that included Corn Choux, Turkey Jambalaya, Turkey Jumbo, and for dessert Banana’s Foster! It was so great to see citizen and food diplomacy in action, and how promoting international understanding is not only the job of higher state officials and diplomats but that of ordinary people that can come together for a meal. I will never forget the great opportunity of helping the museum’s director Liz with having to slice over 30 banana’s for dessert. I learned this speaks to a much larger lesson in the world of nonprofits, and how many times when working for nonprofits you have to wear many different “hats”. In the sense of the different tasks you will have to undertake to ensure your organizations success.
I came across this internship opportunity at the NOCDC through an electronic newsletter the Center for Public Service (CPS) sent out around the end of last semester, which detailed the experience of another Tulane intern. I had done a public service internship last semester through CPS, and I really liked my experience. Thus, I knew CPS was a great resource for finding more opportunities in New Orleans. I knew I wanted to do nonprofit work that was also related to foreign relations and foreign policy, so the NOCDC was definitely a great fit. I know how stressful looking for and securing an internship can be, but I would definitely encourage potential interns to use all campus resources available to them. These resources provide a great plug-in to amazing organizations, and using them can make your search a lot more streamlined than you could imagine. I would also recommend to be very professional in your first email inquiring about internship opportunities, as that first impression is very important. Lastly, be courteous and engaged during your interview and be confident in who you are both on paper and in person.
Overall, I am looking forward to working on more proposals and programs for international visitors throughout the summer and taking the initiative in drafting a proposal from scratch on Social, Economic, and Political Issues for Young Russian Leaders. As well as, going to more receptions and meetings with the delegations and learning how to foster community partnerships with professional organizations, and resources that are so essential for the creation of cross-cultural relationships. Until next time!
