Meet Nadia and John, Our Summer 2019 illuminAid Interns!
Summer is here, and illuminAid has no plans of slowing down. We are excited to announce that we have brought on two new program interns that will be helping with tasks from research to project planning and everything in between. John Acevedo and Nadia Torkman are current students studying at California State University, Chico, and are already hard at work here at illuminAid. Both well-versed in international relations, they bring a lot to the table and will serve important roles here. John has been tasked with development projects while Nadia will be heading work on social media and outreach. Let’s get to know John and Nadia better!
John Acevedo
John Acevedo is a Chico local and a senior at Chico State. Currently, he is finishing up his schooling this summer and will have earned a degree in Political Science and International Relations after concluding summer classes. In his free time, he likes to travel and enjoys to eat spicy food as well as read non-fiction books, especially by his favorite author Yuval Noah Harari. John is grateful for the opportunity to gain professional workplace experience while interning with an organization whose message and impact is so positive. Post-graduation, John’s goal is to obtain a position with the State Department as a political officer and reunite with his favorite city where he studied abroad, Prague.
One global issue that he finds pressing is how production automation is threatening the livelihoods of populations in developing nations that rely on the jobs that first-world companies provide by outsourcing work. He believes this is a problem that will grow in the future and it is not a topic that has been heavily addressed yet on an international platform.
Nadia Torkman
Nadia Torkman will be entering her fourth and final year at Chico State in the fall and will be graduating in spring 2020 with degrees in International Relations and Political Science, as well as minors in Global Development Studies and Psychology. She is a member of Chico State’s Track and Field Team and competes in the high jump and javelin. Nadia also works as an NCAA sports compliance assistant at her university. She enjoys hiking and being outdoors as well as cooking and spending time with friends and family. A career that involves current global issues and multinational partnerships is interesting to Nadia, though she does not have a specific career in mind yet.
One current global issue that is interesting to her is under the human rights umbrella, specifically rights for women and children including healthcare and education. Looking into how outside factors and the widening wealth gap between first and third world nations play into these issues and cause high child mortality rates in regions in Africa and India, for example, is something that piques her interest and is something she sees as a top global matter. Nadia is excited to be a part of illuminAid and hopes to get an inside look into the work that nonprofits do while sharpening her professional skills.
