Faye Gillespie from Acton, MA arrived to Washington this fall and will spend 4 months at Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). With HIF’s support, the Hungarian American Coalition’s Internship Program (CIP) is hosting seven interns in 2017 to provide first-hand experience at various Washington-based institutions. Internship participants are also expected to complete a Coalition research project that enables them to become familiar with the Hungarian-American community.
Faye Gillespie
Faye Gillespie is a third year undergraduate student at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) majoring in Economics with a double minor in Management and International Development. As a proud Hungarian-American she has been active in Hungarian-American events and activities since she was a child. She is fully bilingual and would like to pursue Hungarian-American business relations at a professional level.
I have been enrolled in Hungarian school, Hungarian scouts, and been involved in Hungarian-American events since I was a child. I pride myself in being a Hungarian-American. I believe that being binational is an advantage in this program because I hold a deep understanding of both cultures, and will be able to use that to maximize business relations and interactions during my placement. – Faye Gillespie
Faye Gillespie with her fellow intern, Jared Peralta at GEN’s office
Faye’s host institution is Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), a year-round platform of programs and initiatives aimed at creating one global entrepreneurial ecosystem. GEN helps people in 160 countries unleash their ideas and turn them into promising new ventures—creating jobs, accelerating innovation and strengthening economic stability around the world. Ranging from efforts to inspire and educate nascent entrepreneurs to advancing research and connecting global leaders in person, GEN operates in all types of economies and cultures and it is a compass to help address these needs by identifying effective initiatives that positively impact whole societies and interventions that target the most critical areas for entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world.
Faye already volunteered at the Hungarian Americans Together (HATOG) conference series in Sarasota, FL in 2014 and in Washington, DC this year. She had the chance to participate in breakout sessions on how to increase youth leadership and initiatives in the Hungarian-American community, as well as how to implement international marketing strategies. She has also attended the Hungarian American Coalition’s annual Gala Dinner and the American Hungarian Heritage Foundation’s Hungarian Charity Ball multiple times.
Prior to her internship at GEN, she was a communications assistant at her university and she also worked as a content creator at Vitaminwater in Montreal. Faye has extensive knowledge of all forms of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Buzzfeed) and how to maximize brand exposure.
Through assignments to think tanks and non-government organizations, CIP participants learn about the workings of both the U.S. government and the non-profit world. Their experience helps them establish contacts in the U.S. in their chosen field, and motivates them to enter public service in their country of origin.
William Charter, Project Manager; Jonathan Ortmans, President; Faye Gillespie, Intern; Celumusa Dlamini, Intern; Jessica Wray Bradner, Marketing and Communications Manager; Jared Peralta, Intern at GEN’s office