The Georgetown University Baratta Center for Global Business completed its six-week inaugural Global Experience Fellowship Short Co-Curricular Internship Program.
The Georgetown University Baratta Center for Global Business completed on March 10th its inaugural Global Experience Fellowship Short Co-Curricular Internship Program, a new initiative designed to provide hands-on experience to juniors and seniors in the Global Business Fellows (GBF) program, a cohort-based initiative for students to explore international business and public policy.
The McDonough School of Business (MSB) runs the program, which connects fellows with leading global organizations and offers six-week, part-time, paid internships in strategy, marketing and supply chain analysis. Participants developed skills in market research, strategic planning, benchmarking and content evaluation, delivering a final presentation of their research findings to their respective companies and Baratta Center leadership.
Arul Nigam (MSB ’25), a fellow who worked as a student product experience intern at Ascend Now, a global education business based in Singapore, said the Baratta Center provided invaluable support during her internship.
“The staff and faculty at the Baratta Center offered outstanding support,” Nigam wrote to The Hoya. “They consistently checked in to ensure I was thriving, coordinated with the Ascend Now team to align expectations and provided constructive feedback on my deliverables. Their dedicated support gave me the confidence to take initiative, transforming the internship into both a meaningful learning experience and an opportunity to contribute tangible value.”
As part of the program, students participated in virtual mentorship, weekly check-ins and final deliverables to ensure meaningful engagement with their host organizations. Participants also attended a virtual session with Joseph Baratta (MSB ’93), global head of private equity strategies at investment company Blackstone, and Anil Khurana, executive director of the Baratta Center and research professor in the MSB.
Khurana said providing students with direct exposure to global business issues is essential.
“Students often supplement their experiences outside the classroom in the form of co-curricular activities,” Khurana told The Hoya. “We wanted to design something in the junior year for global business fellows to give them direct experience and interaction in the context of a global business question or topic — whether that be product launching in a global market, supply chains globally or issues around tariffs or investing.”
Stephen Weymouth, a provost’s distinguished associate professor and director of the GBF program, said the program prepares students for the complexities of the international business landscape.
“It is really important for students in business to recognize that international affairs shape their ability to succeed in reaching new markets in other countries,” Weymouth told The Hoya. “So the program is designed to build up those strategic insights for our students into the economic and geopolitical forces that shape trade and financial systems.”
Weymouth added that the internships contribute to the experiential learning opportunities the GBF program emphasizes.
“The internships are a part of the broader set of co-curricular and experiential activities fundamental to the Global Business Fellows program,” Weymouth said. “Each of them had a global perspective. So what we are trying to do with these internships is give students an understanding of how firms engage in the global economy, not just in the United States.”
Estée Ashraf Dabbous (MSB ’26), who worked as a promotion and outreach coordinator at Ascend Now, said the experience provided valuable insights beyond the classroom.
“It was nice to be exposed to something different than what I’m looking at in my classes,” Dabbous told The Hoya. “It helped me to learn soft skills like how to communicate and network with senior team members.”
Nigam said the internship experience helped him gain practical skills and engage with the real world.
“The experience was both dynamic and fulfilling. It offered me valuable insight into the intersection of education, technology and behavioral psychology in creating impactful learning tools,” Nigam wrote. “I gained practical skills in product development and a heightened appreciation for designing inclusive, scalable educational solutions.”
While this semester’s internship was open only to GBF fellows, future cohorts will expand to include a broader range of students and partner organizations.
Dabbous said students should take advantage of the program’s opportunities, highlighting its practical benefits.
“Commit to it,” Dabbous said. “It’s a great way to use some of the skills you learn in the classroom in real life.”