ICVA Internship Portfolio

Introduction:
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) is a global
network of humanitarian non-governmental organizations for
humanitarian action. It serves as the bridge between NGOs dealing
with humanitarian efforts and the United Nations by bringing fieldbased experiences to the attention of the heads of UN agencies. ICVA
is the only global alliance of humanitarian NGOs in existence. The
International Council of Voluntary Agencies has a unique role in
advocacy, policy development, communication, and partnership. It
supports NGOs that protect and assist people in emergencies by
bringing their work and views to the attention of governments, the UN,
and other international agencies. ICVA is a platform for increased
collaboration and coordination between NGOs and other humanitarian
actors, which is crucial to improving the lives of communities affected
by humanitarian crises. It also adds value to humanitarian action by
linking humanitarian practice and policy and facilitating coordination at
the global and regional levels and in humanitarian crises at the country
level. ICVAs main objective is to help make the world a place where
people that are negatively affected by crises are protected and are
able to rebuild their lives with dignity. They do this by helping their
members voice their opinions about certain issues in order to get
policies written or changed to help refugees and other people
struggling in low income or crisis-affected countries. There are
currently about 77 members that are all NGOs who carry out
humanitarian programs consistent with ICVAs mission. Each member
pays an annual membership due and ICVA provides access to the
highest levels of humanitarian leadership, brings NGO voices and NGO
perspectives to the key decision makers, influences global policy and
practice through NGO field experiences, keeps them informed about
key issues, and provides opportunities to network with other NGOs
from around the world.
There are a total of 14 employees on ICVAs Secretariat: Nan
Buzard, executive director, Tanya Wood, Regional Hub Manager, Eigil
Kvernmo, Senior Policy Officer, Melissa Pitotti, Policy Officer, Klara
Josipovic, Information Officer, Colin Debarbieux, Associate Information
Officer, Diane Rolt, Human Resources and Administration Manager,
Jane Bennett, Finance and Grants Manager, Manuela Corbolino,
Account Assistant, Emilia Cavuoto, Administrative Assisant, Marzia
Montemurro, Senior Policy Officer, James Munn, Regional
Representative for Asia, Reza Kasarai, Regional Representative for
MENA, and Lilane Bitong, Regional Representative for West Africa. The
organization began over fifty years ago with only a Secretariat of four

people. ICVA has clearly grown and gained a great reputation in the
NGO community.
I am the Communications intern and I work with my supervisor,
the Information Officer, Klara Josipovic, in the communications
department of ICVA. The communications department, while only
consists of one person, is very different than most NGO or non-profit
communications departments. This is because the aim is not to
advertise to the general public, but instead only to relevant NGOs and
other international organizations. We aim to increase our membership
by recruiting as many eligible NGOs to apply and agree to work with
ICVA. Not only does the communications department strive to
constantly get new members, but they also prepare and circulate
important, relevant information to ICVA and its network. The
communications department has many roles within ICVA, more than
usual communications departments in NGOs or other organizations. We
are in charge of providing important information to our members,
which is one of the most important jobs within the organization of ICVA.
We also have to design and maintain the website and do other ITrelated tasks, like fixing the server. We are in charge of all of the
design work too, which includes posters for conferences and the offices
of UN agencies and NGOs, videos and slideshows, the template of the
annual report, and other projects that arise. The communications
department also spends a lot of time writing press releases and other
documents for ICVA as well as editing the work of others in the
organization, especially those who are not native English-speakers.
ICVA is a very important organization in the humanitarian and NGO
sector and there is a lot of work that goes into running such a great
organization.
I have many goals I would like to accomplish during my time
interning with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies. I have
always had an interest in learning about communications and graphic
design, so I hope to learn if this is the path I would like to take with
regards to my future career. I also hope to learn how to use my
interests and talents with graphic design, photography, and
communications in order to work in the humanitarian and non-profit
sector. I want to blend my talents with my interest in helping those in
need and I think this internship will help me realize how to do this in
the future. I also hope to learn if the humanitarian sector is the area in
which I would like to work in the future. This will be my first time being
exposed to an organization working the humanitarian sector so I would
like to learn what it is like to work behind the scenes, not in the field
directly. I hope to make connections with many key people who work
for various NGOs and learn about different organizations that I could
possibly work for in the future. I also hope to learn what it is like to
work at a traditional 9:00-5:00 office job and see if it is the right
environment and schedule for me for my future. I will also be here for

ICVAs annual conference during my fifth week and therefore I hope to

learn what it is like to organize and attend a large-scale conference
with many representatives from NGOs and see how they discuss issues
in the world and how to approach solving them. Overall, this is a brand
new experience for me and I think I will be learning a lot within the
eight weeks at ICVA.

Weekly Journal:
Week One:
Beginning my first week at my new internship was both nervewracking and exciting. I was ready to begin my position as the
Communications intern at International Council of Voluntary
Agencies (ICVA) and learn how to use my talents and passion with
graphic design, photography, and communications to better the
world by working in the humanitarian and NGO field. My first week
consisted mainly of familiarizing myself with the organization and
what projects I will be working on long-term. The executive director,
Nan Buzard, and I sat together for an orientation and learning about
the basics of what ICVA does and how the organization runs. I then
met with my supervisor, Information Officer, Klara Josepovic, to go
over my specific duties as the Communications intern. She assigned
me multiple projects, some long-term and some short-term. For
example, I have to design posters for our members to hang in their
offices, take pictures at the annual conference, research the history
of ICVA to put into a timeline, compile a list of frequently asked
questions for the website, design the front windows and conference
posters, input information into excel files, write a social media
strategy, and help design the new website. I spent a lot of time
reading annual reports and other important documents published by
ICVA to learn what they have helped with in the past with whom
they work. From what I learned about ICVA, I compiled a list of

possible frequently asked questions for their website. I also began

to research what ICVA has done since it was founded in 1962. I also
drew up some designs for the front windows and began to research
if social media would benefit ICVA. I helped with little tasks my
supervisor needed finished, like inputting a contact list into an excel
file. Overall, I learned a lot about ICVA and what it does and how
people with art and communications background can be an asset to
an organization like ICVA. So far I am really enjoying the work I am
doing.

make list of FAQs for website

Familiarize myself with previous annual reports and other ICVA
documents
Introduction by Nan (executive director)
Discuss projects/tasks with Klara
Begin research for social media evaluation
Design folder covers
Imput liste des journalists into excel file
Begin research for history of ICVA by reading 40 years of history
of ICVA document
Begin thinking about design for windows

Week Two:
Unfortunately, I spent most of my second week at home because I
was sick with bronchitis. However, despite this, I was able to get some
work done. I spent a lot of time doing research for the social media
strategy. I found a lot of information about how NGOs and nonprofits
can benefit from using social media sites properly. I had never written a
strategy before and therefore I was very excited to learn. My main goal
is to put together a document to present to the executive director
explaining how social media would benefit ICVA and how to use it
specifically. Along with writing the strategy I contacted Linkedin in
order to figure out how the current employees can become admins of
the ICVA company profile so that we can begin to update it. I was able
to retrieve the necessary information so my supervisor can now access
the page. I also finished designing the ICVA posters that will be printed
next week to be hung in the office and the offices of ICVA members. I
had smaller tasks to work on when I was home including editing the
ICVA monthly bulletin and begin thinking of catch phrases for the
conference posters. This week was slightly frustrating because I could
not go to the office three out of the four days of the week, but I still
managed to learn some new things. I learned how to design posters
and edit them based on my supervisors suggestions to make them

represent the organization well. I also learned much about the website
Linkedin and how NGOs can utilize it. This week made me a little more
comfortable with my work and I feel like I know have a better grasp
about what ICVA does as an organization.

Site map
Help design web page
Design UN posters: finished
Begin designing conference posters: think of catchphrases
Emailed LinkedIn to get login/admin info
Continue social media research
Continue history project: read 2013 monthly bulletins
Help edit monthly bulletin
Sick.

Week Three:
The third week working for ICVA was extremely busy. I finally
adjusted to the environment and the schedule of working full time and
I feel like I officially know what my responsibilities are and how to
complete them efficiently. The beginning of the week I wrote a proposal
to go along with my social media strategy. I included information about
what social media platforms ICVA should use and why,
recommendations on how to manage the sites, and the pros and cons
of using social media for NGOs like ICVA. I had to read a couple of
articles my supervisor gave me to incorporate into the proposal. Also, I
attended my first staff meeting to discuss what was currently
happening within the organization and what needs to be done to
prepare for the annual conference. I was told during the meeting that I
need to attend a meeting on April 8th dealing with social media and
UNHCR. I am looking forward to attending because it will help me
finalize my social media strategy for ICVA. This week I was also
assigned a new project. I need to create a new site map for what I
think the new website should contain and how it should be organized.
Along with the site map, I also need to make a wireframe that shows
the specific design of the website. I decided to go ahead and instead of
making a simple wireframe, to use a program in order to actually make
my own website about ICVA to propose to my supervisor, the executive
director, and the company in charge of programming the new site. I
also was assigned certain duties for the annual conference that is
approaching quickly. I am the official photographer and I also need to
take notes to later be used in a reflection paper. The main thing I was
able to learn this week was how to multitask and how to make my own
website. I am very excited for this project because I have always

considered web design as a possible future career and I think this will
help me decide if I am still interested in pursuing the idea.

Work on linkedin research

Edit annual report from Lauren
Make proposal
o What id use and why
o Recommendations
o Pros and cons
draft social media strategy
o each recommendation
read article on social media
meeting 9:15 am Tuesday to discuss:
o poster
o social media
o timeline
o website
Tuestday: Staff meeting
o Need to attend meeting april 8 for UNHCR social media
Wed: assigned new prokect: create site map and website
wireframe for new webstie (Bo who is in charge is coming in and
im part of project)
Fri: finished website design, went over schedule and duties for
conference

Week Four
Week four was quite busy because the annual conference is the
following week and we had a lot of work to do in order to prepare.
Monday I joined my supervisor and the executive director of ICVA for a
meeting with Bo, the man in charge of designing the new website. We
discussed many details about what goes into the new website
including the platform to use, how simple it should be, improving the
search bar mechanism, and how to differentiate between a page and a
document. Unfortunately I was unable to show them the website I had
been working on because they were not quite ready for the design

aspect. After the meeting I edited my version of the website to include

what they suggested and was able to show my supervisor briefly. This
week we finalized the conference posters after a lot of work and
ordered them to be picked up before the conference. In my free time I
have worked more on the social media strategy and timeline projects.
Also, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at the United Nations. I
went with my supervisor to an IASC Working Group and OCHA meeting
with regards to a recent mission to Mauritania. It was a very intimate
meeting with only about 15 people who discussed the issues occurring
in Mauritania and what needs to be done to address them. I learned
quite about because I was unaware of the severity of the problems in
Mauritania because the media does not cover it. _____Friday was a day
full of last minute errands with my supervisor in order to prepare for
the annual conference. We were asked to buy the name badges, print
the posters, buy the prize for the group activity, edit the final version
of the participant list and put together the nametags.
Monday:
o meeting for website,
o design conference posters,
o regional hub research
o regional hub template
Tuesday
o Klara sick
o Website adjustments
o Conference poster design adjustment
o Timeline design work
o Edit social media strategy
Wednesday
o OCHA meeting about mission to Mauritania
o Organized name tags for conference
o Finalized conference posters
Friday
o Printed posters
o Made nametags
o Ran errands for conference stuff (chocolate, badges,
posters)
o Edited final version of participant list
o Cut and put together name tags (to finish Monday)

Week Five:
Monday
o Badges

o Staff meeting
o Make slideshow/video
o Print and pick up posters
o Edit participants list
o Assign tables
Tuesday
o Annual conference
o Make additional badges
o Hang posters
o Upload presentations to usb
o Make another video
o Help with running presentations
o Take notes
o Help with specific questions (charging, broom, water, etc)
o Take pictures
o Clean
o Help with microphones
o Hand out forms/papers
Wednesday
o Board Meeting and Workshop
o Take notes
o Transcribe feedback
o Upload presentations
o Get sandwiches
Friday
o Transcribe feedback
o Closed bored meeting