Maine Career Catalyst

Thank you to all the 2024 participants and employers for a great summer! With twenty events throughout the summer, interns all around Maine got to network, explore the state, learn professional development skills, and make new friends! Maine has so much to offer soon-to-be college graduates! We love this program because we get to provide free events and resources to young professionals as they spend their summer in Maine during their internship experiences! To all summer interns, make sure to stay in touch and know you will always have MCC as a resource as part of our growing alumni network. You can reach out to us for new opportunities in Maine and continue to make Maine connections. And one more special thank you to ALL of our incredible summer sponsors! #mainecareercatalyst #mainesummer #internship

Our last MCC Summer 2024 Spotlight is drumroll please... Ava Shapiro! Ava is a rising junior at Colby College majoring in Government & Educational Studies. This summer, she is a part of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center Summer Government Internship Program working for the Maine Department of Education in Communications & Outreach. Some of her favorite parts of the job are writing articles, attending different education events, and designing promotional materials. In her free time, she loves skiing, hiking, exploring new towns, and going to country music concerts. Her favorite places in Maine are Sugarloaf Mountain, Portland, Ogunquit, Wells, Acadia National Park, and Boothbay Harbor. A fun fact about her is she’s met Abby Lee Miller from "Dance Moms." She hopes to stay in Maine after graduation and pursue a career in educational policy.

On Wednesday, we celebrated the end of summer with our last MCC Summer Program Event! Interns got to watch the Portland Sea Dogs take on the Altoona Curve, network, and celebrate their last few days as a summer intern! MaineHealth Intern, Sam Mgendi even got to throw the Ceremonial First Pitch! Thank you to everyone who came out to Hadlock Field last night, and a big thank you to our event sponsor, Hannaford Supermarkets !

As the summer 2024 program comes to a close, we are definetly reminiscing on our wonderful events! #mainesummer #internship #mainecareercatalyst

Today we are shining the MCC Intern Spotlight on Stephanie MacVane! Stephanie is business marketing undergrad student at the University of Southern Maine with a minor in tourism/hospitality. She is part of the Innovate for Maine Fellowship Program and this summer, her host company is Maine Homestead. She said during this position, "I am focusing on various marketing projects from research to creativity. This is my first time working with a small business and I am gaining much knowledge and experience." In her free time, Stephanie enjoys going to the beach with friends frequently, and going to local restaurants around Greater Portland. One of her favorite places to go in the summer is to the Eastern Promenade in Portland and visit the food trucks!

Meet Rachel Uwimbabazi! Rachel is second-year master’s student at Northeastern University in Boston, majoring in Data Analytics. This summer Rachel is a BerryDunn — Assurance, Tax and Consulting Intern at their Portland Office, where she is a part of BerryDunn's Medicaid Practice Group. "It's been an incredible opportunity to leverage my health knowledge while applying my data skills to enhance data capacity tasks for our clients." In her free time, Rachel enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is particularly excited to explore Maine this summer, especially beaches and Acadia National Park.

Today the spotlight shines on Khushi Panchal! Khushi is an international student from India. She is currently a rising senior at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she is a double major in Biology and Psychology. This summer, Khushi is a MaineHealth Institute for Research Intern. She is thrilled to be at MaineHealth, and says her work is exciting because "my work involves studying mice to explore how changes in thyroid hormone levels during development can affect various neuroendocrinal systems." This summer is Khushi's first time in Maine, and she has really enjoyed it here! She says so far, "my favorite part of the summer has been discovering the beautiful beaches here." She is eager to explore more of Maine and meet new people while doing so. She also wanted to mention "that none of this would have been possible without the EQUIP stipend that I was awarded by MCC and Educate Maine. I am truly grateful for the support and generosity!"

Join us for our LAST webinar of the summer to hear young professionals sharing their experiences moving from intern to full-time. Learn what to expect as you move away from short-term experiences into long-term roles and how some former interns leveraged their experiences into an offer at the same company. Each panelist has a different story and a different path to share that can help shape the actions you can take this summer and beyond. We will hear from employers from L.L.Bean , BerryDunn — Assurance, Tax and Consulting , and Martin's Point Health Care! This webinar will take place August 6th at 12:30pm. RSVP here: https://loom.ly/mgoRdok

Caeden recently graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington with a degree in environmental policy and planning, and a minor in psychology, and he is rom Union, Maine. This summer he is an intern at Kennebec Valley Council of Governments. At UMF, he was introduced to geographic information systems (GIS), and he is able to apply what he has learned in the college classroom to a professional workplace at KVCoG. He says "I am making all sorts of maps for comprehensive planning purposes and digitizing documents directly within the software itself. My position allows me to collaborate on planning projects with various municipalities within Kennebec County." In his free time, Caeden can be found either reading, running, reviewing reality television on YouTube or experimenting with a new recipe that he found online!

An annual favorite, this event will celebrate the summer of work and dedication of all our participants and the employers who have mentored and supported them. Prior to the first pitch we will host a networking picnic and BBQ for participants and employers in a tented area behind the third base grandstand. We will then move into box seats located on the third base line for the game. Interns will be able to claim free tickets to the event in advance and a limited number of free employer tickets will also be made available. Employers will also have the option to purchase tickets to this event if they would like to send more than one representative or encourage intern supervisors and mentors to attend. This game will take place Wednesday, August 7th, at 5:00pm, when the Sea Dogs take on Altoona Curve! This event has a limited occupancy and is first come first serve. Reserve your ticket today using this form: https://loom.ly/yK3OaGU Thank you to our event sponsor, Hannaford Supermarkets.