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Mike Cook
Web Development Intern
Stanford University |
Mike Cook, then a senior at Stanford University, volunteered
at Start Up as the Web Development Intern. In this position, Mike
worked with other volunteers and Start Up staff to implement
a comprehensive redesign of the Start Up website.
Mike first learned about Start Up in January 2002 when he enrolled
in an Urban Policy seminar at Stanford. Students in this service-learning
class complete an internship in East Palo Alto in addition to their
regular course work. Mike had some experience in web design, and
was excited by the work Start Up was doing in local economic development,
so he chose to join the Start Up team and work on the Web site redesign
project.
"My internship with Start Up has been very rewarding,"
Mike said. "I was really impressed by how much thought Start
Up had put into my internship, which made it easy for me to hit
the ground running and have an impact right away." Mike's internship
lasted from January-April 2002, and during this time he helped
to update the existing website and generate new content as well.
In addition to his work on the website project, Mike said he learned
a lot about nonprofits and about entrepreneurship. "It was
really exciting to get involved with an organization like Start
Up, and to see first-hand the impact that Start Up has in East Palo
Alto. I have a much better idea now of what it takes to run a successful
nonprofit, and what it takes to start a for-profit business."
Start Up was founded by six students from the Stanford Graduate
School of Business, but Mike observed that the University-Community
partnership is so successful because it is mutually beneficial.
"I've learned so much from my internship at Start Up that I
could not have learned in the classroom. As someone who has studied
urban renewal and economic development theory, it was nice to finally
see these processes in action."
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