United Way of Tarrant County’s mission extends beyond providing essential services to the community; we are equally committed to nurturing the next generation of leaders. This summer, we worked with individuals ranging from high school to graduate students to help them grow their knowledge and professional experiences.
UWTC worked with five dynamic interns: Amy Maroney, Christopher Kee, Jaelynn Smith, Anika Washington and Ryan Vyas. In addition to the benefit obtained by UWTC, these talented individuals gained invaluable hands-on experience, sharpened their skills and made meaningful contributions to our organization and the Tarrant County community in their positions at United Way.
Meet Amy
A Master of Public Health student from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Amy Maroney assists UWTC’s maternal health program by gathering and analyzing data. She also will analyze data for One Second Collaborative, build a dashboard for Area Agency on Aging (AAA) to map ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) data, and foster UWTC's partnership with The Renaissance House. Since her master’s curriculum requires internship hours, Amy continues her UWTC role past the summer, until May 2025. "I am thrilled to better understand how data is collected and to understand better the impact UWTC has on the people they serve," Amy shared.
Meet Anika
OSC also gained Anika Washington, a Master of Social Work student at The University of Texas at Arlington, who is supporting the group through December 2024. She assists the team with executing the OSC community assessment, which is an evidence-based approach to eliminating youth gun violence in Tarrant County. She also assists with grant allocations. Anika is incredibly grateful for the chance to "gain knowledge and hands-on experience about the development, implementation, and evaluation of a program geared towards addressing youth gun violence.”
Meet Christopher
Christopher Kee, a Master of Social Work student at The University of Texas at Arlington, worked with UWTC’s AAA as part of his master’s curriculum, with a focus on supporting the Aging & Disability Resource Center to help improve the home health guide for older adults in the community. “I love seeing the different proficiencies in each program,” he said. “It is extremely enlightening.” Christopher left UWTC at the end of August to complete his final semester of graduate school.
Meet Jaelynn
Jaelynn Smith, our Bank of America Student Leader and rising senior at Lake Ridge High School, assisted the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program’s Community Outreach Action Tracker. She was also involved with our One Second Collaborative (OSC) youth gun violence prevention and intervention initiative, providing support and sharing her insights with the newly formed Youth Steering Committee. In her intern role, Jaelynn was able to “learn the ways of a nonprofit from an inside view.”
Now in its 20th year, the Bank of America Student Leaders program places high school juniors and seniors with strong leadership qualities and a demonstrated commitment to their communities in local nonprofits for hands-on experience.
Meet Ryan
A rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Ryan Vyas served as our communications and marketing intern. With one year left in his undergraduate education, he was excited to spend his summer in Texas. He demonstrated he could brave the extreme heat and was instrumental in marketing our Beat the Heat A/C program. “Through my internship experience, I’ve gained fresh insights into how nonprofit organizations market their programs to a broad audience,” Vyas said.
At UWTC, we believe in the power of education and hands-on experience to propel professional careers. Our internship opportunities provide students with real-world applications of their knowledge and the ability to develop new skills while gaining a deeper understanding of the nonprofit sector.
We are incredibly proud of our interns and excited to see how their contributions will continue to shape our organization and the Tarrant County community. Together, we are building a stronger community today and preparing the leaders of tomorrow.
To learn more about future UWTC internship opportunities, check out our Careers and Internships webpage.