Empowering Students for Global Impact

by Maryellen Morgan, Director of Recruiting, HQ

What do a 20-year-old college student, a 37-year-old engineer and a 53-year-old college professor have in common? This may sound like the start of a joke, but for me, as REI’s director of recruiting, it’s a question that holds deep significance.

It’s part of my job to know facts, statistics and characteristics about generations from Gen Z (1997-2012) to Millennials (1981-1996) to Gen X (1965-1980) and Boomers (1946-1964), in terms of those who are considering serving overseas. What draws them to global work? What concerns them about it? How do they prefer to hear about opportunities? When are they most likely to make a decision to relocate overseas? And most importantly, what does this information mean for REI?

Summer 2022 Interns in Indonesia - REI strategically designs internships with an eye to developing future staff members through opportunities that mirror real-life overseas work.

Across generations, one truth stands out: the undergraduate years are a defining season. This is a most significant stage in life, especially in making a decision to serve overseas. To obtain long-term staff members, we need to invest in undergraduate students. This comes in the form of summer internship opportunities.

Summer 2025 Interns in Kazakhstan - Internships have a holistic focus of professional development and relational investment.

To help recruit for long-term needs in our countries, REI sends teams of student interns (one to three teams each summer) for four to eight week stints working alongside our staff in country. These experiences are designed to be immersive and show students a real-life picture of what global service looks like. Language learning, cultural study, relationship building and a professional contribution are all components of an REI internship. Our desire is to see more long-term staff members coming through our internship program. We have seen success in this in the last year, recounted in this article by our Indonesia country leader, who saw two interns from his 2023 team return as apprentices last fall.

Looking ahead to summer 2026, we’re preparing to send four student teams to Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – the most we’ve ever sent in one summer. Each location offers a unique opportunity.

• Indonesia: Students engage in agricultural and community development service and carry out a project related to their field of study.

• Kazakhstan: Students participate in a Servant Leadership Academy at university, learning principles of servant leadership and collaborating with local businesses and organizations.

• Uzbekistan: With six professional tracks, students apply and develop their professional skills by working alongside local university peers and faculty.

• Vietnam: A new opportunity this year, tailored to students wanting a first overseas experience, laying the foundation to help guide them to their next step in overseas service.

Summer 2025 Interns in Uzbekistan - Many new relationships are formed - not only with people you meet in country but with other teammates as well.

Students on every team come together for training pre-departure and a debrief after returning to the U.S. Our recruiting team provides individual guidance through the application process, and our director of training equips the teams for their time in country.

By investing in students during their most formative years, we’re not just building summer teams, we’re cultivating the next generation of global workers who will carry REI’s mission forward.