An internship brings clarity, direction and nuanced understanding
"The Freeman Fellowship became a great launching pad."
By Kate Hoving
The summer before her senior year, Redeit Hailu ’24 spent eight weeks as a Freeman Intern Fellow in Chaing Mai, Thailand. She worked at We women foundation, a nonprofit committed to uplifting ethnically marginalized women from Myanmar.
An international relations major, Redeit had just returned from spring semester her junior year at Charles University in Prague, studying the post-Soviet socio-economic development of the Czech Republic. She was looking for an opportunity to work abroad, something she had always wanted to do. And as much as she valued her time in Prague, she was looking for something outside of Europe.
Redeit underwent the competitive application process for the Freeman Intern Fellowship with the hope that she could gain knowledge not only about effective international development work, but also about herself and her goals. She gained all of that and more.
“The Freeman Intern Fellowship was one of the best experiences of my time at William & Mary,” Redeit says. “It helped clarify and narrow the direction I want to take in my career.”
As part of the application, she could rank her preferred assignment, and We women, a grassroots, nonprofit that focused on lifting ethnically marginalized women from Myanmar through educational and professional opportunities, was especially appealing. The foundation assists students in preparing for university, advising them during the application process, and supporting them during their study and throughout their job search. The foundation also provides scholarship funding for university tuition, as well as academic tutoring and coaching.
“It was the intersection of the work I wanted to do -- economic development and women's empowerment. It just happened to be in Thailand, which is a wonderful location, of course, so I ranked that as my top choice. I had never done anything focused on Southeast Asia before, and suddenly I was immersed in Myanmar politics, trying foods I'd never had, and visiting temples.”
At We women, Redeit was part of a small team–the founder, Redeit’s manager and some volunteers-- so she was able to do a lot of very hands-on work. “I got to hear the women’s stories directly and be under the leadership of locals, and I think that was fundamental towards my understanding. It was different from what it would have been working at an American nonprofit.”
In addition to teaching, Redeit worked on a very successful fundraising campaign, called Educate One Empower Thousands, which resulted in their being able to send four women to university. She handled the social media and wrote blogs about the different women to highlight and showcase We women’s work to their donors.
Redeit’s assignment was different from the other Freeman Fellows in her cohort that summer; it was a solo assignment and remote posting “Most of the time my work was done at a co-working station, and I would see my supervisor only every two weeks. It was also the first time We women had hosted someone from William & Mary, so there was that added layer of needing to establish and then meet expectations from the school and the program.”
Rani Mullen, associate professor of government at William & Mary, was the faculty director of the Freeman Fellowship program that summer and saw the impact Redeit had on the organization. “Redeit had the most challenging Freeman internship of all the 22 Fellows, , the trials she faced when working on difficult issues (such as women rescued from sex trafficking), and the challenges she faced as an African American woman in Thailand. And yet she excelled at dealing with some difficult situations. Her mentor and supervisor raved about Redeit’s ability to assess a situation quietly and devote day and night to solving the issue.”
We women made a strong impact on Redeit, as well. “My supervisors explained that all the media and coverage that we in the U.S. receive about anything going on in Myanmar is primarily regarding the military junta and Rohingya genocide. But there are also so many different ethnic groups with their own armed militias, facing their own struggles and their own centuries of repression. And that's something I didn’t know at all until I arrived in Thailand and got to communicate and interact with those communities and learn about them through our various partners. That shows the importance, I think, of awareness and understanding of the nuances you can get from the people on the ground, and that helps when it comes to looking for solutions and formulating what makes sense.”
She found it essential to hear and value input from the local community. “One of the most important things my supervisor told me was that she felt that oftentimes people from the West come [to her country] wanting to implement their own ideas or solutions, and they don't listen. No matter how many degrees or international experiences they might have, nothing overrides humility and having a local experience and local understanding.”
That echoed advice she had received from some W&M alumni, who had advised Redeit to seek out an in-country fellowship, as it would be fundamental to her understanding of global development. “Going through the Freeman Intern Fellowship confirmed everything that they had said. I was able to gain a more nuanced understanding and exposure to multiple perspectives, which is so important as I start my career.”
And her career is on its way. Redeit was selected to be a Princeton in Africa 2024-2025 Fellow. “The Freeman Fellowship became a great launching pad.”
The Princeton in Africa fellowship is a highly selective, yearlong service program that places recent college graduates and young professionals in a social-impact driven company or nonprofit NGO, with the goal of helping future leaders develop lifelong connections to the people and nations of Africa.
Redeit’s fellowship, which began fall 2024, is in Nairobi, Kenya, at a nonprofit called Food for Education (F4E). A school feeding nonprofit started in 2012 committed to combatting childhood hunger and improving educational outcomes by providing nutritious school meals.
As a fundraising associate at F4E, Redeit’s duties build on what she learned at We women while developing new skills. “My day primarily consists of writing and managing donor reports, writing and managing grant proposals, and scoping out new donor engagement strategies and funding opportunities. This role requires significant collaboration with other departments, and it's nice to get to work with multiple teams and support different projects.”
She is learning from the management of F4E. “This is a female- and locally-led organization, and I can see the difference it makes in terms of leadership, decision-making, and advocacy compared to other organizations in international development. F4E's high level of efficiency and multi-pronged angle at creating impact throughout the value chain challenges the status quo of school feeding programs and social entrepreneurship on the continent.”
Life is very different from the solo assignment in Chaing Mai. “Nairobi is a bustling city with so much to do. Its similarities to Addis Ababa, where my family used to live, have definitely helped in terms of adjustment. Having a positive experience at F4E and living in a city with many other PiAf fellows has also helped. Additionally, skills I developed through the Freeman Fellowship experience when it comes to navigating life and work in a foreign context, especially as a young individual, have made things go more smoothly.”
As for what comes next for Redeit, her priority now is completing her fellowship successfully, but true to character, she is thinking strategically about her next step and new goals.
Getting a master’s degree is one option. She knows she wants to select something about which she is passionate, but not surprisingly, she wants it to be useful. “It's not a question necessarily of what I want to pursue, but rather using the opportunities and capabilities that I have, what makes sense? What can I do that will make the greatest impact? So, until I can really identify that, I think I'll hold off on a master’s program.”
Ying Liu, associate director of global partnerships at the Reves Center, manages the Freeman Intern Fellowship at W&M, and has no doubt about Redeit’s potential. Citing her cultural adaptability, global experience, and strong commitment to global development and gender equality, Liu is confident, “Redeit’s passion for empowering women and disadvantaged groups, along with her exceptional research and project management skills, truly sets her apart from other students. I am confident she will continue to make a meaningful impact both locally and globally.”
And Redeit has a very clear idea of the value of the Freeman Intern Fellowship. “It encouraged me to pursue opportunities and equipped me with very tangible skills for working abroad in international development,” she explains. “I walked away so much more confident. I know I can live anywhere in the world and apply to all of these different fellowships, without really any concern or fear, because I learned I can take care of myself and still have a wonderful time.”
