The Ford Institute for Human Security focuses on connecting students to NGOs, as well as alumni working in the field of Human Security, as potential internship opportunity providers. In addition, the Ford Institute helps students identify and apply for internships with organizations. Below is a list of past internships in the field of Human Security completed by GSPIAns.
To read a report of the GSPIA internship, click on the name of the student. For more information on connecting with these NGOs or former interns, visit the Ford Institute office in 3930 Posvar Hall. If you are a GSPIA graduate who would like to submit an article about your internship, please contact us.
Bright Kids Uganda/ASA Social Fund for Hidden Peoples: Paige Alderson (MPIA & JD’19)
Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Office : Kelsey Brennan (MPIA '20)
Entrena (Dominican Republic): Aaron Ross (MID '20)
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank: Joe Skibbens (MPIA '20)
Jewish Family and Community Services’ Immigrant Services and Connections (ISAC): Joe Simeone (MPIA '20)
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ): Rachel Travis (PhD Candidate)
Open Field: Timofei Kharisov (MPIA '21)
UNDP Asia Pacific Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH): Iyounan An (MID’21)
Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security: Uchenna Mbawuike (MPPM’22)
Pittsburgh Area Human Security Organizations
In 2011, the Ford Institute began connecting with the human security practitioners located in southwestern Pennsylvania. These practitioners frequently provide a conduit for GSPIA students to become interns with Western Pennsylvania human security and human rights organizations. Ford publicizes their programs to the GSPIA community and works with the organizations on projects of shared interest.
412 Food Rescue
412 Food Rescue prevents perfectly good food from entering the waste stream by redirecting it to those who are experiencing food insecurity. Thanks to thousands of volunteer food rescue heroes, its model of food recovery and redistribution prevents food from entering the waste stream and brings healthy food directly to people who need it.
Acculturation for justice, access and peace outreach (AJAPO)
AJAPO's mission is to provide a continuum of care which empowers African and Afro-Caribbean refugees and immigrants to become self-sufficient and integrated into the Greater Pittsburgh Community and Allegheny County.
Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE)
ARYSE supports immigrant and refugee youth in becoming engaged, confident, and celebrated members of our communities. ARYSE is recognized throughout the region as the premiere out-of-school-time resource for immigrant and refugee youth. ARYSE programs currently serve youth in grades 6-12 who reside in Allegheny County, representing over 15 different countries of origin and speak 30+ different languages.
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Quaker organization devoted to service, development, and peace programs throughout the world. AFSC's Pennsylvania Empowering Voices for Peace and Justice Program seeks to bring people of divergent views together to build a peaceful and just world.
Amizade
Amizade empowers individuals and communities through worldwide service and learning. Amizade is dedicated to promoting volunteerism, providing community service, encouraging collaboration, and improving cultural awareness in locations throughout the world. Since its inception, over 10,000 volunteers from North America, Europe, Asia, and South America have participated on Amizade programs.
Awamaki
Awamaki is a small non-profit that works to create economic opportunities and improve social well-being in rural Peru. It is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) and in Peru as a non-profit civil association. Awamaki is diversified and currently runs programs in education, cultural preservation, and sustainable tourism.
Bright Kids Uganda Foundation, U.S.A.
The Bright Kids Uganda Foundation, U.S.A. supports the Bright Kids Uganda Entebbe Home through fundraising in the United States. Since 2009, Bright Kids Uganda Foundation, U.S.A. has raised money to send children to school, and sent several interns from the University of Pittsburgh to the children’s home to help with specific projects.
Brother's Brother
The mission of Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF) is to promote international health and education through the efficient and effective distribution and provision of donated medical, educational, agricultural and other resources. All BBF programs are designed to fulfill its mission by connecting people’s resources with people’s needs.
Building New Hope
Building New Hope is a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh, PA and Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, we partner with a worker-owned coffee cooperative, operate two schools for at-risk youth, and sponsor high school scholarships. In Pittsburgh, we engage with local schools, faith groups, farmers, and businesses to spread awareness about and appreciation for the culture, coffee, and communities in Central America.
Computer Reach
Computer Reach is a technology outreach mission primarily serving the communities of Pittsburgh, PA. The mission of Computer Reach is to make technology available to people most in need through refurbished equipment, computer literacy, training, and support. They are unique in that they provide professional support, service, and training bundled with each computer.
EarthSpark International
EarthSpark empowers communities in Haiti by eradicating energy poverty. They achieve this by partnering with entrepreneurs and organizations to develop local businesses and country-scale supply chains, sustainable infrastructure, and innovative pre-pay micro-grid systems for clean and efficient energy
technologies. EarthSpark seeks to drive sustainable economic development by providing access to better quality energy services.
FOCUS North America
FOCUS North America is a national movement of Orthodox Christians, united in faith and joined by a desire to provide action-oriented and sustainable solutions to poverty in communities across America. As an expression of Christ’s love FOCUS North America serves the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and imprisoned by providing Food, Occupation, Clothing, Understanding, and Shelter.
FOCUS Pittsburgh
FOCUS Pittsburgh aims to build human development through programs that promote health and well-being. FOCUS Pittsburgh deploys a unique grassroots approach to understanding and addressing the health and well-being challenges of communities in The Hill District neighborhood.
Foundation for the Realization of Economic Empowerment
FREE is a faith-based Christian developmental organization committed to empowering women to rise above poverty. FREE aims to reverse the marginalization of women by providing them with the opportunity to better their lives and to restore them to a place of equality while respecting and honoring the men in their lives. FREE’s main areas of focus are teaching jewelry-making skills and developing jewelry enterprises, opening libraries and maintaining a literacy project, and building self-esteem.
Friends of Farmworkers
Friends of Farmworkers (FOF) supports low-wage workers as they pursue economic and social justice. We do this through the provision of Legal Services, Education, and Advocacy. We advance our mission by providing free legal representation on employment-related issues to eligible Pennsylvania workers. We also provide community education on legal rights for migrant and immigrant workers throughout the Commonwealth. For over 30 years, FOF has provided direct legal assistance to thousands of individuals and improved the living and working conditions of a much larger number through advocacy and impact litigation, including representation of groups of workers and class action litigation.
Global Links
Global Links is a medical relief and development organization dedicated to supporting health improvement initiatives in resource-poor communities and promoting environmental stewardship in the US healthcare system. Global Links' humanitarian and environmental mission begins with our three guiding principles: respect for all people, respect for the environment, and continuous learning.
Global Pittsburgh
Global Pittsburgh improves the region's global competitiveness by creating long-term relationships connecting the Greater Pittsburgh community with international leaders and influencers. Global Pittsburgh hosts international leaders for the U.S. State Department, attracts and welcomes international students and professionals to the region, and connects corporations with international resources.
Global Switchboard
The Global Switchboard is a nonprofit organization with a co-working space located in the neighborhood of Lawrenceville. As Pittsburgh’s home for global engagement, The Global Switchboard facilitates the collaboration of globally-focused organizations and individuals to amplify each member’s impact and create a network for collective action.
Hello Neighbor
Hello Neighbor works to improve the lives of recently resettled refugee and immigrant families by matching them with dedicated neighbors to guide and support them in their new lives. Hello Neighbor envisions a welcoming, inclusive, and vibrant Pittsburgh and America, whose newest neighbors can realize their dreams of success and prosperity. We aspire to see communities where everyone is valued for their diverse perspectives and are empowered to rebuild their lives with dignity and respect.
Homeless Children's Education Fund (HCEF)
The mission of HCEF is to advance the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness, guiding them to be productive, empowered citizens. As a national model for addressing the educational needs of unstably-housed children and youth, HCEF leads a collaborative effort among regional partners by providing educational programs and services in Allegheny County and advocating for policy and system improvement.
Inclusant
Inclusant enables non-profit and social entrepreneur leaders to maximize organizational diversity and equality of opportunity. Calling upon cross-sector experience and empirical evidence about the efficacy of different diversity training models, Inclusant offers clients systematic guidance for establishing and maintaining more diverse and inclusive workplaces in Pittsburgh.
International Orthodox Christian Charities
International Orthodox Christian Charities, Inc. is the official international humanitarian organization of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas. IOCC offers emergency relief and development programs without discrimination to those in need worldwide, to enable them to continue to improve their own lives and communities and to have means to live with dignity, respect and hope.
Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh (JF&CS)
JF&CS is a nonsectarian, nonprofit organization that offers immigration services, adoption services, counseling, a food pantry, career services, and older adult programs. For 77 years, it has remained vital and relevant -and always available to respond, no matter how difficult the problem -by continuously adapting our programs and services to meet the changing needs of our dynamic population.
Just Harvest
Founded in 1986, Just Harvest works to improve anti-hunger public policy and food access in Allegheny County. Just Harvest seeks to grow their newest programs, Fresh Corners and Fresh Access, which provide e-transaction capabilities at farmers markets and initiate healthy corner stores in local food deserts.
Living in Liberty
Living in Liberty offers a secure safe house for victims of human sex trafficking and does street outreach with victims on the streets. Living in Liberty also educates the community at large about sex trafficking, its prevalence worldwide, and its presence in our own communities.
The Nyadire Connection
The Nyadire Connection (TNC), based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a faith-based, non-profit organization that seeks to support and sustain the Nyadire United Methodist Mission in northeastern Zimbabwe, Africa. Nyadire Mission offers a hospital, primary and secondary schools, an orphanage, teaching & nursing colleges, a farm and many other services to the community.
Open Field
Open Field Through soccer, Open Field promotes leadership and life skills, health, education, equity, and social cohesion. Open Field envisions a world where youth from marginalized communities have access to opportunities and skills they need to succeed.
Rukmini Foundation
The Rukmini Foundation was established in order to address the root causes of discrimination and disenfranchisement of girls in the poor areas of Nepal. The Rukmini Foundation’s mission is to improve the lives of underprivileged girls by empowering them through a holistic program of quality education, supportive mentoring services and a physical well-being program.
World Affairs Council
Established in 1931, the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of key global issues throughout Western Pennsylvania in order to increase the region’s global competence so that it can better compete, collaborate, and make informed decisions in the 21st century global environment.