Qatar Foundation hails success of student internship programme with The Economist Group

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and The Economist Group (TEG) marked the end of a successful internship programme recently and praised participating students for their exemplary performance.

The three-week internship programme, entitled Education Connections, is a key milestone in the fruitful relationship between TEG and Qatar Foundation, who share common values and goals. The challengingwork placement, which took place in TEG’s offices in New York City from 10 – 30 August, wasdesigned to give students hands-on experience with one of the world’s leading media groups.

Maha Al-Meer from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and Asmaa Fikree, Fahad Alkhater, and Natalie Diong from Georgetown University – School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar), were chosen from among hundreds of university applicants for their outstanding ability to “think outside the box” and to present a project in an engaging and analytical format.

With the assistance of TEG’s event programming division, the interns benefitted from a comprehensive programme that enabled them to get involved in all aspects of events management. They were offered the valuable opportunity to design a professional conference using techniques implemented inTEG’s divisions. They were also required to assist on a variety of tasks, including the creation of event agendas, speaker selection, research, and social media activities.

Tariq Al Sada, Corporate & PR Manager at Qatar Foundation, commended the students and urged them to continue working hard and learning outside the classroom.

He said, “Our productive relationship with The Economist Group highlights just how powerful and valuable partnerships can be in developing the potential of youth and making a real difference in their overall education. Through this practical learning experience and interactions with experts in the field of media and event management, we are confident that our students will continue to engage and play an important role in the transfer of knowledge.”

Throughout their internship, students interacted with leading members of TEG and were exposed to fundamental skills and practical lessons that are critical to the effective management and execution of projects. To research and develop their own ideas, the four interns collaborated with professionals working in areas such as operations, programming, marketing, and sales. The interns were also taken on site visits to give them thechance to select potential New York venues for their project.

“Education Connections was the perfect opportunity for Maha, Asmaa, Fahad and Natalie to gain hands-on experience and valuable insight into the publishing and media industry. We were delighted to have them in our offices in New York interacting with our team,” said Paul Rossi, Managing Director and EVP, Americas. “This was another example of how, through our successful partnership with Qatar Foundation, we’re unlocking human potential.”

In addition to being exposed to all aspects of the business, project participants also learnedabout The Economist by speaking with editors, brand managers, creative directors, bureau chiefs, and representatives from The Economist Intelligence Unit. Through these meetings, students were able to gain useful insight into the publishing and media industry.

The four student interns culminated their internship experience at TEG by presenting well-researched proposalsto senior management. Each project consisted of a comprehensive agenda, as well as a viable marketing plan, feasible budget, and list of prospective sponsors.

Fahad Alkhater, a Qatari student majoring in International Politics at SFS-Qatar, saidhe found theinternshipto be rewarding and felt empowered to have gained so much knowledge.

“It has truly been an honor to represent Georgetown SFS-Qatar and Qatar Foundation in this once in a lifetime opportunity to work with the renowned Economist Group,” said Fahad. “The knowledge that I have acquired so far will prove invaluable in my future endeavors, particularly in the logistical operations undertaken by companies and the nuances and complexities that underlie them, as well as the social aspects of business including networking and negotiations.”

Qatari student Asmaa Fikree echoed similar sentiments and stressed the importance of learning to work as a cohesive team and managing time effectively in order to achieve highstandards.

“Not only have I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about how a media corporation works, how an event is planned from start to finish, but I have learnt the skill of teamwork in the office, and the importance of collaboration to ensure the final product is the best it can be,” said Asmaa, who is studying International Economics, with a certificate in Arab and Regional Studies at SFS-Qatar said.

She added, “The programme has been challenging because we constantly find ourselves working harder to ensure that our work is up to the standards of The Economist, which makes us push boundaries and think outside the box to come up with better and more creative ideas that can make a difference.”

Fellow student Natalie Diong from Singapore believes this internship has helped further her ability to think creatively and critically.

Natalie, who is currently majoring in Culture and Politics at SFS-Qatar explained,“I strongly believe that this experience will facilitate a ‘transfer of knowledge’ within Qatar, which will eventually result in fulfilling the national goals of Qatar as these individual experiences will transform into shared experiences among youth as our group returns to speak of the new skills that we gained. Such simple conversations will turn into moments where new human potential is recognized.”