Alessandra Rosa Policarpo

I had the privilege to work as an Operations Intern for the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), which supports small Latino businesses in the Twin Cities. As a double major in Economics and Political Science, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to connect both majors while engaging with the Latino community in the Twin Cities.

LEDC works on four main fronts: Business Development, Employment and Training, Lending, and Agriculture. They needed help to create a single database where they could access the information of the four departments. Keeping their databases organized is crucial since they rely on grants from companies, which, in turn, ask LEDC about the impact of their financial support. I started my work by talking with the people from the four different departments and understanding how they measured and stored data, and only then could I create a single database. Developing new measures to quantify their impact was also a significant part of my job. It involved research, learning about CDFI (Community Development Financial Institutions Fund) terminology, and communicating with other team members. Another task I undertook was creating a mentorship program for the women working at LEDC. I led a survey to understand the women’s necessities in the workplace and which training they need/want to undertake.

One of my greatest successes at LEDC was conducting the women’s mentorship program. I believe I gave essential insights on the need to ask the women workers how they felt at work and what we could do to improve their technical and communication skills before launching any initiative. This experience taught me a lot in a short period. As a Latina, I was very grateful to have had contact with the Latino community in the Twin Cities. I enjoyed learning more about the LEDC’s work and giving them a hand on the two projects. I hope I can still be in contact with their initiatives in the future.