Community-Facing Summer Internship in San Francisco Takes Experiential Learning to a New Level

Last summer, five Utah State University students were invited to pilot a new internship program with Young Community Developers — a nonprofit designed to break cycles of generational poverty in communities of color.

For seven weeks, students Tierra Decker, Spencer Felix, Alexander Garces, Tate Harrison and Cheyanne Maughan learned about community-facing work firsthand while living in San Francisco.

“I think it's a valuable experience to go live somewhere different than where you are used to and grew up in,” Maughan said. “It opens up your perspective.”

The internship was initially proposed by YCD CEO Dion-Jay (DJ) Brookter, an alumnus of what is now known as the communication studies program at USU.

Since graduating, Brookter has made multiple trips back to Utah, where he maintains close ties with his alma mater and the people who supported him as a student. He has presented at USU on multiple occasions — Decker said he first learned about YCD during one of these visits and was inspired by the social justice aspects of the organization — and he has acted as a mentor for students exploring career opportunities while navigating the college experience.

In his presentations, Brookter has reflected on what it means to do meaningful work and discussed his personal experiences as a student of color living in Northern Utah. Perhaps that’s why he wanted to find a way to connect the people he now supports through YCD with his fellow Aggies. However, it was important to him that participating college students gain more than just a new line on their resume.

"The idea first came to me when I visited USU to speak, and I began to think about how [to] bridge the gap between [these] two worlds,” Brookter said. “Reflecting on my own experience at Utah State — one that, as a Black man from California, came with its challenges — I saw an opportunity to connect USU with the nonprofit sector in California. My hope was to create a space where students and youth from San Francisco could learn from each other’s different backgrounds and experiences."

The five students in the pilot 2024 USU-YCD “Study Local” program divided their time between two positions, serving as academic coaches and tutors in separate summer youth programs.

Tutors in the Summer Youth and Employment Program were paired with teachers at participating school sites to provide individual and small-group tutoring, work on study skills and create job- and college-readiness workshops. Interns in the Summer Bridge Program assisted teachers in the classroom, modeling instructions and in-class behaviors during activities and workshops to help students making the transition from middle to high school.

“I've been interested in nonprofit work as well as teaching — it's kind of two things I've gone back and forth between for a long time,” Harrison said. “It was good to see the intersection between the two.”

While not necessarily by design, this year’s initial cohort shared experiences in conflict resolution and active listening, with majors in communication studies, global communication, and social work, respectively. These skills proved useful inside the classroom, where the interns helped middle and high school students navigate everyday challenges, like issues with family and friends.

“It allowed me to take the skills I learned from my communication and conflict classes and being a Spacemaker and apply those to [students] where they were at,” Maughan said.

Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Belonging Cree Taylor accompanied the interns on their initial trip to California and supported efforts in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to partner with YCD on finding housing and making the experience of living in San Francisco for seven weeks attainable for the average college student.

“When our students see alumni who look like them and reflect their personal experiences, they feel that much more empowered in their own educational and career choices,” Taylor said. “Coordinating with DJ and YCD for this particular internship opportunity has been a great blessing for our students. It has helped them understand that their experiences as USU students are preparing them to participate in meaningful work all over the country. They can make an impact here in Utah, and they are equipped with the skills to help them succeed anywhere.”

Participants were encouraged to apply for CHaSS Experiential Learning Scholarships, which were set up to encourage “high-impact experiential learning opportunities … that enrich student learning outside of the classroom.” The donor-supported fund helps CHaSS students afford the costs associated with service learning, conferences, study abroad and internships and is currently accepting applications for spring 2025 through Nov. 1.

However, the students did so much more than relocate to the West Coast this summer. By interning with YCD — an organization dedicated to serving local people — they gained real-world experience, explored areas of personal interest, and came directly in contact with professionals and the populations they serve.

“The people that we met out there were awesome,” Harrison said. “Getting a feel just for … that community space was really beneficial, and the people were just great.”

The CHaSS students said YCD made an effort to personify the roles within their company, allowing the interns to see a wide variety of professions in the nonprofit sector.

“They [also] brought in a consulting company who gave us facilitation training. We met a bunch of different people who do a bunch of different jobs,” Felix said. “I think that was the highlight — just seeing in person some really cool opportunities [that] I could pursue professionally and getting experience interacting with them.”

Four of this summer’s five participants have since graduated. For some, this experience solidified their interest in nonprofit work; for others, it showed them that they’d prefer to work one-on-one with individuals rather than managing an entire classroom. It gave the participants insights into other perspectives and helped them find confidence in the skills they learned as undergraduates.

The “Study Local” program is reflective of CHaSS’ efforts to encourage students to bridge classroom and experiential learning.

“It was a really nice reminder of being in a different atmosphere, being in a different setting,” Garces said, “utilizing things that I've learned in the classroom to be able to make an impact.”

Taylor says there are plans to repeat the program in the summer of 2025. Interested students may contact her directly at cree.taylor@usu.edu. To learn more about YCD programs and the people they serve, please visit https://www.ycdjobs.org/

“I love to work to connect our students and our incredible alumni because it helps our students recognize the diversity of experiences, backgrounds and professions of USU and CHaSS graduates,” Taylor said. “It is important for them to understand that USU graduates are amazing human beings who are at the top of their game in a variety of fields.”