Industry Partner Awards
Finalists and winners of CIEE’s inaugural Global Internship Industry Partner Awards were recognized at the 12th Annual CIEE Global Internship Conference in London, England, on June 20, 2024.
About the Awards
The CIEE Global Internship Industry Partner Awards celebrate the outstanding dedication of internship providers across our global network who go above and beyond to create life-shaping experiences for students. By recognizing those investing in cultural exchange, skill-building, and mentorship, we spotlight models of excellence while strengthening collaboration and impact across our community of global hosts and learners. Award-winning hosts set the gold standard for empowering students' personal and professional growth, and we want to recognize them for this invaluable work.
Award Categories
CIEE recognizes outstanding commitment across three vital areas in service of empowering students and enabling life-changing experiences: cultural exchange, skill development, and global partnership. By spotlighting excellence across these categories through our Global Internship Industry Partner Award, we aim to raise the bar for internship quality, catalyze innovation in experiential learning, and strengthen collaboration across borders.
This year’s awards honor hosts in the following three categories:
Outstanding Commitment to Advancing Global Perspectives at Work
This pioneering award spotlights internship providers leveraging students' on-the-job roles to facilitate cultural immersion with colleagues and local communities. Winners of this award open up worlds of understanding by exemplifying how to unlock perspectives, traditions, and ways of working that transcend borders.
Outstanding Commitment to Student Development
This category recognizes the internship providers who treat talent development as a long-term strategic priority. They empower students to amplify their capabilities and networks, tackle stretch assignments, secure mentorship opportunities with executives, and map fulfilling career pathways for their futures.
Outstanding Commitment to Global Partnership
This category spotlights host organizations that consistently provide exceptional internship experiences, support collaboration with CIEE in diverse ways, and epitomize the value of committed cross-border partnership. Winners welcome many interns year after year with outstanding reported satisfaction, and engage beyond hosting alone by volunteering expertise, enabling academic events, pursuing joint opportunities, and more.
Winners
Finalists and winners of the inaugural Global Internship Industry Partner Awards with Jim Pellow (left) and Linda Liu (right).
Congratulations to the winners and all nominees of the inaugural CIEE Global Internship Industry Partner Awards!
Category: Outstanding Commitment to Student Development
Winner: Lafayette Real Estate LLC, New York, NY, USA.
Nominees in this category stood out for their efforts to provide their interns with personalized support and career growth, skill-building projects, cross-department mentorship, inclusion in critical meetings, skill workshops, and tailored learning goals.
Eytan Rosenblum, former Lafayette intern, shares why he nominated Lafayette for this award.
Category: Outstanding Commitment to Advancing Global Perspectives at Work
Winner: Fundació per l’Esport i L’Educació de Barcelona (FEEB), Barcelona, Spain.
Nominees in this category stood out for their efforts to include interns in collaborative local projects, cross-cultural mentoring, workplace culture, language or cultural exchange, and local projects.
Ysairys Jerez, former FEEB intern, shares why she nominated her host company for this award.
Category: Outstanding Commitment to Global Partnership
Winner: Peregrine Technologies, Berlin, Germany
The 2nd Annual CIEE Global Internship Industry Partner Awards will be held on June 26, 2025 in Singapore at the 13th Annual Global Internship Conference. Questions? Contact us at GIC@ciee.org.
Nominees in this category stood out for hosting multiple interns annually, providing clear and responsive communication, having active CIEE involvement beyond internships, and providing positive impact as new partners or having a long-standing partnership with CIEE.
Nominees
We’re excited to announce we received 127 nominations in the following categories:
Outstanding Commitment to Advancing Global Perspectives at Work
Outstanding Commitment to Student Development
Outstanding Commitment to Global Partnership
Finalists
After an extensive multi-round selection process, we’re delighted to announce that the following nine finalists have been selected as part of CIEE’s inaugural Industry Partner Awards. Read more about the finalists below and join us at the CIEE Global Internship Conference in London this June to celebrate their commitment to providing excellent internship experiences to our program participants. Winners will be announced during a special ceremony on June 20 at the conference.
Outstanding Commitment to Advancing Global Perspectives at Work
Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery
Cozad, NE, USA
“The Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery has a creative and compassionate director paired with a dedicated team of volunteers. They gave me so much in my 3-month internship--it absolutely meant the world for me. I was able to design my own tour, I was introduced to art historian Sally Mills, an expert in frames, and I was also put in contact with many other Robert Henri experts, all of whom will be helpful as I plan to pursue my PhD in Robert Henri's time in Ireland. Most importantly, I was cared for as if I was a family member to the Museum. As the first international intern at the Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery, I am honored to have worked with my supervisor Peter Osborne, and I am proud to be part of the Robert Henri Legacy.”
-Jessica Sharkey, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, 2023 CIEE Internship Program Participant
Lafayette RE LLC
New York, NY, USA
“Lafayette provided me with insightful training with dedicated time from employees at all levels (from analysts to executives). During initial training, this helped me to quickly grasp the requirements for day-to-day operations and understand the company's long-run strategy and positioning within its market. Then, the mentorship provided by Lafayette allowed me to continuously grow and correct course to ensure that I got the most out of the experience. This took the form of regular 1-on-1s with analysts, associates, and leadership team members, including the CEO who regularly took time to ensure my training went well. This exposure has allowed me to develop my business acumen and bolster my strategic understanding of the real estate asset management industry.”
-Eytan Rosenblum, HEC Paris, France, 2023 CIEE Internship Program Participant
YUKKA Lab
Berlin, Germany
“YUKKA Lab provided an exceptional internship experience allowing us to pilot our own projects from start to finish. We were able to gain expertise from company staff in the development of the product, as well as feedback from the users of our product, so we could course-correct as we worked.”
-Nessa Pantfoerder, UC San Diego, CA, USA, 2023 CIEE Internship Program Participant
Outstanding Commitment to Student Development
Le Bread Xpress
Sunnyvale, CA
“While working for my host company, I had the opportunity to work on various projects ranging from research and development, to business development, to manufacturing process. I helped develop the food menu that is now up on our website. I also helped develop the company's project management system by creating templates and project plans. One of my project plans is now used to track the manufacturing stages of the machines we produce overseas in order to communicate ETA to customers. Most importantly, the company deserves an award for the integration and kindness I experienced with my manager, coworkers, and customers. They were always willing to help and explain things when I needed more clarity, and organized gatherings that allowed me to become more familiar with the American culture.”
-Nicolas Gangnant, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, France, 2023 CIEE Internship Program Participant
Homing Homestays
Tokyo, Japan
“Hiroko (founder of Homing) was truly a blessing to my Tokyo experience. She was always extremely helpful, understanding, and kind to me and others. At work, I would help advertise her homestay experience for international students, and we shared many great cultural experiences. I got to travel to different temples, shrines, gardens, and even different cities for work. For example, we visited Kawagoe for a day to experience ancient Japanese culture. I also got to attend events to network and meet local Japanese professionals and learn about their businesses. We were even on the Japanese news as special guests at a Learn from Kids event. We still keep in contact!"
-Logan Jacobson, University of Arkansas, USA, 2023 CIEE Internship Program Participant
Fundació per l'Esport i l'Educació de Barcelona (FEEB)
Barcelona, Spain
“My internship host and the people I worked with made me feel a part of their team every day that I walked into the workplace. Because my internship was during the summer, I was able to be a part of FEEB's yearly event. Though my internship was over a comparatively short amount of time, they showed me the ropes, no matter how big or small the task was. I was able to use my Spanish skills, as well as learn a little bit of Catalan. I oversaw multiple tracking systems and important documentation, made phone calls to the company’s clientele, attended important meetings in person and virtually, and was also able to visit some of the schools FEEB collaborates with.”
-Ysairys Jerez, Rutgers, USA, 2022 CIEE Internship Program Participant
Outstanding Commitment to Global Partnership
Powell Spencer and Partners
Peregrine
Berlin, Germany
“The team at Peregrine is a longstanding partner, who has hosted students from a diversity of programs. They provide great mentorship, a welcoming work culture, and valuable internship opportunities that have contributed to the growth of many CIEE interns over the years.”
-Julia Widdig, Internship Program Manager, CIEE Berlin
London, UK
“Greg Powell and Partners have been hosting interns since 2018. They have hosted 15 interns in total, mentoring students through our summer programs and Open Campus programs.
Greg is a fantastic mentor and the interns always share positive feedback about their experience. The interns have the opportunity to shadow professionals completing casework, transcribing legal documents, etc. Greg ensures the interns have the opportunity to attend court in London. The interns attend hearings in the Magistrates Court and Crown Court, and meet with clients that the firm is representing. Interns also have the opportunity to summarize the evidence presented by the Crown (prosecution). The interns truly benefit from an engaging and well-rounded internship legal experience, providing a glimpse of future work life after law school.”
-Nisha Jassi, Internship Program Manager, CIEE London
Methods for Irrigation and Agriculture (MIRRA)
Transitions
Amman, Jordan
“MIRRA consistently provides an excellent student experience based on qualitative and quantitative feedback from students and center staff. Involved with CIEE in ways other than just hosting interns (guest speakers, site visits, reciprocal use of space for events and educational purposes), they are outstanding new partners who are recent additions to our portfolio, but have already had a positive influence on CIEE’s programs.”
-Zein Nsheiwat, Director, CIEE Amman
Prague, Czech Republic
"During almost a decade of partnership, Transitions has hosted 33 CIEE interns. The organization has consistently provided outstanding learning opportunities, particularly for students aspiring to pursue careers in international reporting. Thanks to Transitions, these students have been afforded the chance to report on a diverse range of political, social, economic, and cultural topics within the Central and Eastern European region. Typically under the guidance of Jeremy Druker, the CEO of Transitions and a professor at CIEE, the interns have had the unique opportunity to step outside their comfort zones and engage with local policymakers, activists, academic experts, musicians, and more.”
-Peter Mistrik, Internship Program Coordinator, CIEE Prague
Nomination and Selection Process
Internship program participants were invited to nominate internship hosts who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to empowering skill growth and cross-cultural exchange, while CIEE staff nominated partners who exemplify overall excellence in partnership.
The nomination period ran from December 6, 2023 through January 30, 2024. Student and staff nominations were evaluated based on criteria including commitment to student development and growth, direct student testimony, and professional community impact. Finalists and winners will be recognized at the CIEE Global Internship Conference in London, England, June 19-21, 2024.
Please stay tuned for updates on category winners.
Questions? Contact GIChostnominations@ciee.org.