Since 2019, HumRRO has proudly partnered with Urban Alliance (UA), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for young people through skills training, mentorship, and meaningful paid work experiences. As a fellow nonprofit organization, HumRRO focuses on contributing to society through our work and by supporting initiatives such as the UA Internship Program.
Each year, Urban Alliance places nearly 500 high school students into nine-month paid internships at partner organizations in the Greater Washington, D.C., area, as well as in Baltimore, Detroit and Chicago. Students complete six weeks of pre-employment job skills training before starting their internships in January, working 12 hours per week after school until graduation and then 32 hours per week through July.
Ulemjin “Uji” Tsolmonbaatar, a senior at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Virginia, expressed interest in honing her marketing and graphic design skills at her internship and matched with Adrienne Fox Luscombe, manager of HumRRO’s Creative Services Group, who served as this year’s UA mentor.
Fox Luscombe, drawing from her experience as the UA mentor in 2022, emphasized the quality of Urban Alliance’s training and support. “I couldn’t be more impressed with how prepared they are on day one to contribute meaningfully to our work at HumRRO,” said Fox Luscombe. “Urban Alliance does a tremendous job preparing the students and also providing mentors with resources and support.”
Hot off the press! HumRRO’s Urban Alliance intern, Uji Tsolmonbaatar (left), and Senior Graphic Designer, Rae Powell, hold up copies of the 2023-2024 Biennial Report.
During her internship at HumRRO, Tsolmonbaatar quickly became a valuable asset to the Creative Services team. Using her keen artistic eye, she helped research and suggest design ideas for our 2023-2024 Biennial Report, selected photos and created social media posts, designed and formatted PowerPoint presentations, and created branded artifacts using InDesign.
“Uji took on every task with such enthusiasm and willingness to learn that we were able to give her increasingly complex projects that stretched her skills,” said Fox Luscombe. “Everyone on the Creative Services team and all those who worked with her at HumRRO commented on Uji’s positive attitude and the quality of her work. We are all sad to see her internship come to an end!”
For Tsolmonbaatar, the experience at HumRRO was equally rewarding. “I got the opportunity to work with so many great people and with so many great mentors,” she said. “They gave me various tasks to kind of challenge myself. And the feedback I have received has been very positive, which I’m very proud of and very grateful for.”
Looking ahead, Tsolmonbaatar wants to build on what she learned during the internship program at college.
“I plan to further my education with a marketing degree and implement and utilize all the skills that I’ve learned here at HumRRO,” she said.
