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The International Business Development Internship
Leadership Initiatives is working to end extreme poverty in Northern Nigeria through entrepreneurship and innovation. As part of the International Business & Development Program, Leadership Initiatives identifies small business owners who live under $1.90 a day, have little formal business education, and are struggling to provide for their family’s basic needs.
Once business owners have completed training, Leadership Initiatives pairs International Business & Development Interns with a business partner and business mentor. Interns are given the opportunity to help tackle major issues at the grassroots level by working directly with small business owners to support and incubate local entrepreneurs. Students will work with Leadership Initiatives staff over the course of nine months to provide income-generating solutions that focus on food supply, women empowerment, environment and sustainability, personal care, and mobility.
The International Business & Development Internship aims to introduce interns to the complexities and challenges of running a small business and working within community development. Interns will gain an understanding of the unwavering commitment, focus, and determination required to work within this field. From working with interns, local business owners will have new knowledge of entrepreneurial skills they need to create business opportunities that will contribute to socio-economic development and significantly transform their lives.
Our Internship Team
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Kavya Iyer
Lambert High School
Class of 2025
Kavya Iyer is a sophomore at Lambert High School. Kavya Iyer is a hardworking and self motivating student who is taking many Advanced Placement and honors courses this year.
Kavya enjoys playing the clarinet with the Lambert High School marching band. In future years she hopes to be a drum major. At school, she is an officer of TSA (technology student association) and she is a member of FBLA (future business leaders of america). She is also a member of the top band in her school, which is called wind ensemble. During her free time, Kavya enjoys dancing and watching television.
Kavya is excited to be the team lead of the International Business and Development Internship program this year. She is very interested in business and computer science and hopes to get her MBA in the future. Kavya wants to be a CEO of a business in the future.
Aashvi Shah
Lambert High School
Class of 2025
Aashvi Shah is a rising sophomore at Lambert High School. Aashvi is a dedicated honor student who is enrolled in both Advanced Placement and Honors courses.
Aashvi enjoys dancing and playing tennis. At school, she competes in DECA. She played for Lambert JV tennis and has done dance for 11 years. During her free time, Aashvi enjoys reading and baking.
Aashvi is excited to be participating in the International Business and Development Internship this year. She loves learning about entrepreneurship and hopes to someday be one. In the future, Aashvi wants to take the skills she has learned and use it in her own work.
Induhasini Muppavarapu
Lambert High School
Class of 2025
Induhasini is a rising sophomore at Lambert High School. She is a determined student participating in both Honors and Advanced Placement courses.
Induhasini enjoys playing tennis and reading books in her free time. At school, she is one of the officers in the Student Government Association and a member in both HOSA and FBLA.
Induhasini is very excited to be participating in the Business and Development program this year. She is really interested in learning more about business and hopefully pursuing a career in that field. In the upcoming future, she hopes to utilize the skills learned to make an impact in the business world.
Our Internship Team
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Tara Arnold
Oaks Christian School
Class of 2023
Being a part of the International Leadership and Business internship during this school year is extremely exciting for Tara Arnold. She is looking forward to growing a business amongst her peers while creating lifelong communication skills in and outside the workplace.
As a rising junior at Oaks Christian High School, Tara is a committed student who participates in Advanced Placement courses. Tara is highly passionate about her participation in Oaks Christian’s Global Leadership Institute, Dorm ambassadorship, Service team, and their Lion’s Voice leadership program. She also spends her time tutoring less fortunate elementary students in her community. Tara is one of Oaks Christian’s dedicated Speech and Debate captains while participating in school and club volleyball.
In the future, Tara would like to study Political Science and Business. Her interest in the political world sprouted during the 2020 presidential election and has since participated in David Valadao's victorious political campaign. She aims to protect the rights of the American people in her further political and law career. Inspired by her political interests, Tara is president of the Junior State of America (JSA) club at her school. Ms. Arnold also desires to understand the business world and heavily invest in the stock market throughout her career.
Shreya Bhatlapenumart
John P Stevens High School
Class of 2023
Shreya Bhatlapenumarti is a rising senior at John P. Stevens in Edison, New Jersey. She is a very diligent and ambitious student who has been taking honors and AP level courses for the majority of her school career.
Shreya has been learning French since she was in 6th grade and is a proud participant of the French National Honors Society. She is also heavily involved in school clubs as she has been a part of Key Club, JPawS, FBLA, and Physics Club since freshmen year of high school. She has also played tennis for 6 years and was on her high school's junior varsity tennis team.
In the future, Shreya would like to major in Business Finance and minor in Economics. Her interest in this field began when she discovered her love for mathematics when she took on the role of a treasurer in two nonprofit organizations. Through this experience, she gained critical problem-solving abilities, quantitative skills as well as a sense of responsibility that comes when handling money. She is hoping to productively utilize her skills to pursue a successful career as a business financial analyst.
Sivani Vasireddy
Fort Zumwalt South High School
Class of 2025
Sivani Vasireddy is a sophomore at Fort Zumwalt South High School. Sivani is a very dedicated and passionate student that is enrolled in both accelerated and Advanced Placement courses.
She is involved in various school groups such as FBLA, HOSA, DECA, scholar bowl, and the tennis team. Outside of school, she likes to dedicate time to volunteering. She helps assist children who are hard of hearing or profoundly deaf at the Central Institute of the Deaf. With her passion for learning, Sivani participated in the International Business and Leadership Summit this past summer, helping an entrepreneur from Bauchi, Nigeria establish his start-up technology business. A fun fact about Sivani is that she is bilingual and is on her way to learning her third language, French.
Sivani is excited to participate in the International Business and Leadership Internship! Sivani is very passionate about business and finds it very fascinating. In the future, Sivani plans on majoring in finance or economics and hopes to pursue higher education to receive her master's in business administration.
Arden Williamson
The Bullis School
Class of 2024
Arden Williamson is a rising junior at the Bullis school. She is on the high honor role and continues to challenge herself with AP and honors classes.
Arden loves to be active. She plays on her school’s soccer, lacrosse and basketball teams. She also plays travel soccer for a local soccer league. Arden enjoys community service — volunteering weekly at her church’s opportunity shop and being a buddy for someone with a disability.
She is excited to be a part of this internship program because she is interested in a business career. She is looking forward to helping people globally. She looks forward to taking this new knowledge and experience to business school where she hopes to earn her master’s degree.
Our Business Partner
Muhammad Shuaibu
Business Statistics
He is very close with his family. In addition to supporting his wife and kids, he also cares for his parents. Thanks to his business, Mr. Shuabiu's first child is enrolled in school.
Mr. Shuaibu starts off each morning with prayers. After he completes his morning prayers, he begins his work day by tidying up his shop and working on orders from the previous day. He works throughout the day and takes breaks to complete his daily prayers.
Muhammad Shuaibu
About Muhammad
Mr. Shuaibu has four apprentices working for him; he pays them for their labor by providing them with meals.
Mr. Shuaibu utilized his business revenue to successfully enroll his first child in a school and provide for his wife.
Mr. Shuaibu wants to acquire working equipment to improve the productivity of his business and eventually diversify his products ranging from bags to shoes.
Muhammad Shuaibu
Community Impact
In the future, Mr. Shuaibu hopes to see more businesses engaged in cobbling. Mr. Shuaibu has a team of apprentices and employees to educate his community's youth in the cobbling trade.
Mr. Shuaibu intends to extend his business throughout Bauchi State and provide his community access to a nearby, high-quality cobbling business.
Muhammad Shuaibu
Our Partnership
Mr. Shauibu has little time to devote to developing and advancing his company because of his limited access to financial education.
Mr. Shauibu seeks to empower the youth in his local community and help them break the continuous cycle of poverty.
Our Approach
FINANCIAL TRACKING
Financially literate entrepreneurs make growth-oriented financial and economic decisions for their savings, borrowing, and investments. Our team is working with Isiyaka Sa’ad to create an effective financial tracking system for his business finances, receipts, and daily costs.
OUR ADVERTISING
Our team identified target markets and key demographics to create a customer acquisition plan. We are working with Isiyaka Sa’ad to redesign his brand and create effective marketing campaigns.
BUSINESS IMPROVEMENTS
Steady growth is a critical component of creating self-sustaining communities. Our team is working to identify key areas of opportunity for Isiyaka Sa’ad and design solutions with grant money to improve his business to foster growth.
Our Fundraising
$574 RAISED
$176 NEEDED
$750 GOAL
Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced some of the highest growth rates globally over the past 10 years. While this means that people in these nations have become more optimistic about their social and economic future, the region continues to face a myriad of historical problems. In order to continue steady growth and achieve a future of equitable conditions in the region, our International Internship Program team seeks to build stronger communities from the grassroots level through fundraising for community development.
Funds raised are used to implement community-based education programs, pay staff to run the operations on-site, and invest in training for local leaders. Leadership Initiatives uses fundraised money to develop a network of support for actionable change and accountability between our team, the Leadership Initiatives staff, and the community stakeholders we work with.
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