The Youth Vote - College of Business Administration - University of ...

Nicaragua Calling:UNI Senior Takes Education to the FieldDuring her last semester at UNI,Kristi Philips (Economics and Spanish’11) needed some extra credit hours tomaintain fulltime status. So she signedup for independent study and worked asan intern with a non-profit UNI studentorganization dedicated to providingassistance to the Matagalpan region ofNicaragua.Philips spent a semester exploringways that Zona Franca Masili, a sewingco-op in Nicaragua, could improveproduction efficiency and productmarketing.The co-op is primarily made up ofwomen displaced after Hurricane Mitchstruck the Matagalpan region in 1998.The members built the company fromscratch and produce textiles made of100-percent organic cotton and sell themin the U.S. and Europe. The co-op wasthe first in Nicaragua to be certified by“While they’re working hard andputting in the time, they don’thave the educational backgroundto understand how to run abusiness. It’s a lot of things thatwould be basic for us.”Philips saw some of her businessrecommendations implemented rightaway. For example, rather than sewingin a tag, the co-op members now usetheir screen printing operation to screenprint the tag information on the back ofthe shirt.Philips learned from them as well,including what it means to put in a longday.“It’s a 40-minute walk from whereeveryone lives to where they work. Theyleave for work by 6 a.m. to be therebefore 7. They take a 30-minute lunchand then work until 6 or 7 p.m. Thenthey start the long walk home,” Philips[The displaced women] took a huge risk in trying to startthis up. It was great to see how dedicated they were.ScholarshipsMake it PossiblePhilips received the new UNIBusinessScholarship for Social Engagementfor her internship. The scholarshipwas created to remove the financialimpediment of unpaid internshipsand encourage students to use theirbusiness knowledge to improve theworld. The scholarship is available toUNIBusiness students who completean internship with a non-profitorganization whose mission clearlyoutlines a social purpose and servesthe public interest. The internshipwork must have a clear relationshipto the business function of theorganization.the World Fair Trade Organization.In May 2011, Philips spent two weeksin Nicaragua working directly with ZonaFranca Masili members. She translatedemails and conference calls; took photosfor promotional materials; presented abasic business seminar and proposed abusiness plan for the co-op.“Most of the co-op members haven’teven finished high school,” Philips said.said. “They have a lot of pride in theirwork. They took a huge risk in trying tostart this up, and had a lot of road blocksalong the way. It was great to see howdedicated they were.”Philips is now pursuing a master’sdegree in Latin American and Caribbeanstudies at New York University.Learn more about Zona FrancaMasili at www.zonafrancamasili.com.thanks Gene(Marketing ’60) and MaryAnne Dietz for their generouscontributions to the DietzFamily Student ProfessionalDevelopment Fund.15