New Internship Offerings in Brazil through IE3/UW Partnership

Press Release: New partnership creates internship opportunities for US university students in Brazil

 

IE₃ Global Internships, a program of the Oregon University System International Programs, and the Center for Brazilian Studies at the University of Washington have formed a unique partnership to promote opportunities for US university students to gain professional experience in Brazil as part of their university education.

 

The Center has recruited several of its contacts in Brazil to host interns. These include Homero Costa Advogados Law Office, Knowtec and The Information Company.  Homero Costa Advogados Law Office in Belo Horizonte in partnership with FUNDAMAR will host US law and pre-law students to exchange knowledge of Brazilian and US law.  Knowtec in Florianópolis hopes to receive interns with strong technical skills to add to their growing competitive intelligence, media monitoring, interactive media and e-learning objectives.  The Information Company strives to develop business relationships between the US and Brazil and hopes to attract interns interested in working both in their Seattle office and their São Paolo office to broaden their international business experience. 

 

According to Monya Lemery, IE₃ Global Internships Latin America Director, “We are very excited to promote cultural exchange with Brazil and open up opportunities for strengthening ties between Brazil and the Northwestern region of the US.  This partnership provides immediate access to US students, even those with little or no Portuguese language experience, to learn about Brazilian culture through full immersion in a professional environment while gaining professional skills that will help them be more marketable in our global economy.”

 

Pedro Leite Costa, co-founder of the Center for Brazilian Studies and North America Manager for The Information Company, says, “Brazilians are really interested in learning more about the US and creating relationships with the Northwest.  This is a unique opportunity for us to prepare students for the realities for working in an international business environment and at the same time build strong ties between the US and Brazil.”

 

The IE₃ Global Internships Program is one of the longest running international internship programs in the United States. Created in Oregon in 1996 by a federal grant awarded in recognition of the fact that university graduates who are fluent in other languages and able to work across cultures are vital to national and regional interests, the program has facilitated the placement and preparation of over 1200 interns at over 150 different internship sites in 80 countries worldwide. These sites include private sector companies, government agencies, schools, social service programs, nonprofits and non-governmental organizations.  In the years since its inception, public universities in the states of Washington, Alaska, Utah and Montana have joined the program to offer these unique experiences to their students.

 

International internships are increasingly recognized by universities and community colleges as an effective way for students to enrich their coursework and gain insight into the global context of their studies, resulting in deeper understanding of realistic applications of their chosen fields and more competitive resumes. “In addition to the incredible personal growth that comes from an international experience, participating in an international internship gives students a unique competitive edge over anyone else graduating and moving into the workforce,” says Cynthia Engel, Europe and Oceania Director for IE₃, “Employers can feel more confident in the student’s professional and personal maturity when they have completed an internship abroad: they are willing to take risks, are adaptable and flexible, have developed strong communication skills and can bring a creative, international perspective to the workplace.” 

 

The Center for Brazilian Studies has recently been developed at the University of Washington because of the economic, political and cultural importance of Brazil for the Pacific Northwest. It is the only center for Brazilian Studies in the Pacific Northwest. There is a need to provide a rich, substantial understanding of Brazil in order to enable this region’s businesses, opinion makers and civic leaders to effectively engage with Brazil as well as South America and other Portuguese speaking countries, such as Mozambique and Angola.  A number of Brazilian civic and business leaders have expressed their appreciation of the growing significance of the Pacific Northwest – especially in the areas of aerospace, information technology, agriculture, health care, renewable energies and the nonprofit sector.

 

Both Ms. Lemery and Mr. Costa hope that the new internships will raise awareness among university students of Brazil’s ties to the Pacific Northwests and help cultivate a mutually beneficial commercial and civic relationship.  Their goal is to allow 10 students to participate in the internships in the first year, with numbers and internship opportunities increasing in the following years.

 

For more information on the IE₃ Global Internships Program: http://ie3global.ous.edu

For more information on the Center for Brazilian Studies: http://jsis.washington.edu/brazil/about.shtml