Every summer, Penn's office of Development and Alumni Relations partners with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) to host the Penn/CASE Advancement Internship program. It is designed to diversify and attract students to a career in institutional advancement while strengthening the higher ed advancement profession overall. This summer, Penn Nursing and Wharton undergraduate William Xi is placed with Penn Medicine's development professionals. Xi is a student in the dual degree Nursing Healthcare Management program.

"I heard about the eight-week CASE Summer Internship through my job as an Engagement Ambassador for the student fundraising office," Xi says. "The opportunity to work in a very niche field and really expand on my experience as an Engagement Ambassador in a health care-related space in the Penn Medicine office is what drew me to the CASE Summer internship." Xi's specific advancement projects at Penn Medicine and UPHS revolve around data management, artificial intelligence, and social media engagement.

Xi highlights an experience that has changed the way he views fundraising and development. "I had lunch with the vice president of Development of Alumni Relations and his chief of staff and AVP of DAR Diversity Initiatives. Hearing their stories and experience helped me understand that a lot more goes into fundraising and development than asking alumni and previous donors for money; a big part of this industry revolves around fostering and maintaining relationships through many different initiatives from so many different divisions in an institution, which is something I did not know until this internship experience."

Read more at Penn Nursing News.