Interns Reconvene and Reflect at Annual Conference

Every summer, students conclude their SHECP Summer Internship experience by attending SHECP’s Annual Conference. In addition to hearing research and policy presentations from local experts, the conference provides interns time for reconnection with school peers, encourages reflection on their recent experience, and asks them to consider how they might carry these lessons back to campus and into their future vocations.

This summer, students reconvened on the campus of Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia on August 1st and 2nd. Students traveled directly from their internship sites after spending eight weeks working with community organizations, and they were greeted by familiar faces of peers and mentors from their home institutions. Interns were able to introduce school peers to their new-found SHECP friends from their living cohorts and start to share stories from their summers.

Professor Andy Hogue, Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University and member of the SHECP Governing Board, welcomed students and encouraged them to spend this time reflecting on their experience by saying,

“I hope that [this internship] has changed you. I hope that is something you don’t brush past too quickly, as you transition from the experiences you’ve had this summer and the work you’ve done this summer, into the next rush of Fall semester. That is what we are hopeful about in gathering you here together — that we can think together, that we can process together, that we can learn with and from one another. And in so doing, we might carry [these experiences] with us, inspired to continue the good work that is ours to do — to create a world that is better than the world you’ve been given.”

Friday night’s welcome event was co-hosted by SHECP’s Policy and Nonprofit Leadership (PNPL) Interns. During her welcome remarks, “Reflecting on my SHECP Summers,” PNPL intern, Katie Schadler, encouraged her peers,

“At the [National Alliance to End Homelessness] conference, [NAEH CEO Ann Olivia] talked about the importance of grit and how there is no grittier group of people than the homeless response field at large, and I couldn’t agree more. SHECP has helped me build this grit, and this belief in “the possible” even when so many people have told me how hard and returnless this work will be. But I think more than ever, there needs to be people who are stepping up and showing up at a time the country is at its most vulnerable. You wouldn’t be in this room, working in public defenders offices or free health clinics or community food banks if you didn’t think it was still a little possible, too.”

Over dinner, the six incredible PNPL interns shared lessons learned from their summer working in policy and advocacy in Washington, DC and how that work both differed from and complemented their previous SHECP Summer Internship. Using questions from NetVUE’s Conversation Card decks, students, faculty, and staff engaged in round-table discussions of vocation and what constitutes a life well lived.

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On Saturday afternoon, interns participated in panel discussions. These panels, cited by students and staff as a highlight of the conference, offered interns an opportunity to share brief reflections on their summer experiences and hear from one another. Interns were asked to consider questions such as how their work complemented or challenged conceptions they held prior to summer, how their thinking around the responsibility to address poverty changed, and how their understanding of themselves was affected as a result of their internship. Through these prompts, students wrestled with the complex causes and consequences of poverty and inequality, connected their on-site experiences with classroom learning, and explored how their 9-week internships influenved their thinking about future and vocation. Each intern concluded with the impact this summer made on how they will move forward — on their campus, in their career, in their communities, and beyond.

Each year, the Annual Conference is marked by meaningful connections between students, faculty, and staff, and this year was no different. At the end of the event, coinciding with the end of the Summer Internship program, SHECP welcomed this 28^th intern cohort into the SHECP network, where they joined over 2,000 alumni, practitioners, and supporters engaged in the study of poverty and in anti-poverty action.

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The 2025 SHECP Annual Conference was made possible by the generous support of the Charles A. Frueauff Foundation. Through this funding, SHECP was able to cover the cost of intern travel to the conference and conference attendance for a representative from each member institution. The Foundation’s generosity also keeps the conference free for area stakeholders to attend. Thank you to Jason Duquette-Hoffman for sharing gorgeous conference photos, and to Marymount University for hosting a wonderful weekend of events.

Contact info@shepherdconsortium.org if you have any questions or would like further information.