Career Services Spotlight – Monique Gaynor, MPA ’17, JetBlue Crewmember Crisis Fund

I am a People Operations Intern at JetBlue. My role is working for the JetBlue Crewmember Crisis Fund (JCCF). It is it’s own 501(c)3 organization that functions as an emergency fund for JetBlue crewmembers experiencing a crisis situation such as a natural disaster, death of a spouse, or house fire. I found out about JetBlue’s internship program through the Marxe school career website. Once I applied, I interviewed with my current supervisors and was extended an offer shortly after.

My two main projects are working with the Executive Director to automate our application and donor management systems as well as managing JCCF’s communications committee. Aiding with the transition to MicroEdge and Raiser’s Edge has definitely helped to increase my knowledge of the backend of CRM systems. It is the first time I have been involved in the coding aspects of database management systems. Managing the JCCF communications committee involves a lot of collaboration between our organization’s board members, JetBlue’s Corporate Communications department, and external vendors in order to move JCCF’s promotional goals forward. These responsibilities fit into my overall career goals because upon graduation from the MPA program, I knew that I wanted to work in the field of corporate philanthropy.

A piece of advice that I would give students who are looking for internships is to have a clear idea of what your career objectives are and how the internships you are applying for will help you meet them. Also, try your best to sell yourself and leverage any past experience you have that are related to the job responsibilities.