What are you looking for in an internship?
As I was entering my final semester at The Ohio State University, studying for a business degree with a specialization in finance and economics, and an interest in sustainability, I was also interested in completing an internship. This was at the start of 2022, when internship programs at many companies were still on hold or being re-assessed. Still, I hoped to find a program that would match up with what I was looking for.
Beyond experiencing a great company culture, I wanted the opportunity to understand different segments of the company and to meet with its leaders. I wanted exposure to the entire company through my work and challenging projects that tested and improved my skills. On top of ‘what’s in it for me,’ I wanted to make a real impact in a sustainability program: to utilize new and further honed skills in assisting the company in reducing their carbon footprint, learning about sustainability in their industry, and helping create high standards and methods for the company to utilize after my tenure.
Can you make a real contribution as an intern?
In my experience, definitely yes. As an Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) Intern at Dwellworks I like to think that I was able to accomplish all my goals. Dwellworks is a privately held company with private-equity investors. The company provides real estate, destination and temporary housing services for corporate relocation and global business travel clients. They have a global reach and supply chain, and so a significant opportunity to impact sustainable development. Dwellworks has been around since 2007 and had well-established values and business operations that made adopting an ESG initiative a natural progression. My intern project was to contribute to their first full-year ESG Impact Report. I conducted a lot of research over the course of my time with Dwellworks, ranging from market research on sustainability tools and greenhouse gas emissions methodologies to better understanding the relocation and business travel industry and the opportunities for positive sustainability action that Dwellworks could champion.
What I Learned
Most important to me was helping Dwellworks set up an ongoing methodology and process for gathering data and identifying specific projects and accomplishments that contributed to the company’s ESG/Sustainability commitments. In cooperation with the ESG Project Management team I learned a lot about setting priorities and strategy and then collecting data about utilities usage, travel, commuting, IT equipment reuse and recycling and more and analyzing that data through standardized carbon calculators. The goal of ESG is to create reliable, standardized information about sustainable practices and social responsibility. The analysis I performed converted ‘source material’ into tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) equivalents distributed across Scope 1 (company operations), Scope 2 (purchased services), and Scope 3(supply chain) emissions. The data will get more complete and more accurate as the company’s programs expand, but it felt great to be in at the beginning building a lasting framework, and learning about the whole sustainability/ESG ecosystem. My outputs for the impact report included charts and visuals based on Excel and Power BI…a tool I learned to use on the job. A lot of the learning came from the teamwork (all virtual and remote, but still closely connected.) As we were creating this report each person on the team took detailed notes and contributed to creating a step-by-step process document (in Teams) that the company can use and adapt as needed going forward. The team was flexible and comfortable working in sprints to get the report published at the end of the first quarter, in synch with the company’s schedule for its annual client reviews. I felt lucky to have an internship where I could have so much impact and a work schedule that gave me flexibility to finish up my undergraduate coursework.
Finding a Good Fit
All this is to describe how I felt being able to have a positive impact at Dwellworks and contribute to project standards for an innovative company that has great values and is serious about reducing its carbon footprint. I knew early on that Dwellworks would be a good match for me, as I was told from the beginning about the work and its potential impact. Since ESG is still new to many businesses, with lots of evolving practices. no one has everything figured out and standardized. Being remote yet still be able to do such work was really a blessing and although the world has gone through some pretty challenging experiences in the last few years, I personally would not have had this opportunity if remote learning and working had not been an option. I had a great experience at Dwellworks…appreciating the value they saw in my work and giving me the opportunity to do something meaningful for me and their business. Keep an eye out for their internship postings, you won’t be disappointed.
For a copy of the Dwellworks 2021-2022 ESG Impact report contact esg@dwellworks.com.