UWA student Stephanie Carmichael has contributed to an initiative helping Town of Mosman Park residents secure funding for programs that support and benefit the community.
The Bachelor of Commerce student put her marketing and media skills to use by assisting with the development and promotion of the community partnership program, which provides grants for individuals and not-for-profit organisations to support and sustain initiatives that contribute to an active and diverse community.
Facilitated through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship at UWA, Stephanie said her experience working in local government was “really rewarding”.
“I saw how passionate and motivated many of the Mosman Park team members were to improve their community and I thought this was very inspiring,” she said.
“I was able to harness my research skills from university, create promotional materials and use different digital platforms. I also attended meetings with members of the community, with a particular focus on sustainable practices for the future,” said Stephanie.
Stephanie was thankful for the support of the mentors she met through her internship.
“It did not take long for me to realise that my ideas were encouraged and valued by the staff. This helped me gain a lot of confidence not only in my internship but in my studies, work and volunteering,” she said.
“The internship opened my eyes to new career paths, and how you can continue to be an active citizen in your workplace. The staff cared about their community and this was displayed in their work each day.”
Stephanie is eager to continue to give back to the community with an ongoing volunteer role for Ignite Mentoring, which delivers programs to disadvantaged high school students to build self-confidence and improve educational outcomes.
Stephanie says she would “definitely recommend” the McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship program to other students.
“Not only do you get practical experience relevant to your degree, but you also gain an important understanding of how you can continue to be an active citizen after your studies,” she said.