Blog Post #1 (Learning With The National Women’s History Museum)
By Hannah Hilgeman
My name is Hannah Hilgeman and I am a rising senior at Tulane University studying English and sociology. This summer I have the incredible opportunity to intern with the National Women’s History Museum as a Prospect Research and Fundraising intern. The National Women’s History Museum was founded in 1996 by Karen Staser. The Museum does not have a physical space yet and operates their collections through a virtual platform at the moment but hopes to one day establish a physical museum at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The National Women’s History Museum is relatively new and has a small, tight-knit team of folks who help run all parts of the Museum, which is an aspect I’ve really enjoyed so far in my work with NWHM. Gender equity and feminist leadership are areas of social justice that I am quite passionate about, so working with an organization that values both of these greatly is wonderful as well.
My internship work thus far has consisted of learning how to conduct research for a nonprofit and then crafting donor research profiles based off of Board recommendations. This task was not one that I was aware existed before my internship but I have gained many useful skills from this aspect of the project. I believe my research skills have greatly improved and my written skills have as well. Before the end of the summer, I hope to improve my team communication, learn more about the ins and outs of the nonprofit sector, approach my responsibilities with a better time management arrangement, learn more about how museums operate, and create grant proposals. Here’s to a fantastic summer!