OWU Magazine

January 14, 2016 | By Ohio Wesleyan University

Global Experience Guides Social Entrepreneurship

Katie Nunner ’15 spent the summer of 2015 interning with CARE for AIDS, a Christian nonprofit organization that partners with local Kenyan churches to operate centers that serve the physical, spiritual, economic, and social needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. She was placed in the internship through Praxis Academy’s Future Founders program, an intense eight-week entrepreneurial internship program for undergraduates and recent graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in entrepreneurship with purposeful innovation, and are serious about their faith.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the process of starting an organization from CARE for AIDS and the Praxis community,” Katie says. “The experience helped me to learn more about Africa, global health, and the challenges of attempting to create positive change in communities.”

Today, Katie is a graduate student at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), studying for her master’s degree in development management.

“At LSE, I am truly in an international community. Everyone is from around the world and is very knowledgeable about international issues—it’s exhilarating to engage in lectures and seminars with my friends from diverse countries including Germany, France, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Kenya. My experience at LSE has already expanded my world and I’m looking forward to future possibilities.”

Katie says her time at OWU inspired her to explore the world and give back to others. She participated in two travel-learning courses as a student, in London and Mexico, experiences she says helped prepare her for her post-graduate journey. “All of these experiences helped me to start to engage on an international level, and I am so thankful for the OWU community.”