An initiative of CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County (CLAOC)
An initiative of CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County (CLAOC)
UC Irvine, BA, Informatics
Majoring in Informatics at UC Irvine and looking for an internship, Celine Kim saw flyers for the Make a Difference Opportunity (MADO) while crossing a bridge on campus. She was excited for a hands-on learning work experience with an organization making an impact on the community.
She interned with CLAOC January-May 2024, working on a customer relationship management (CRM) system project that fit her interests in user experience and her project management skills. The goal was to maximize efficiency in CLAOC’s database transition to Monday.com for tracking applications and communications for students participating in work-based learning opportunities. A recent increase in student participants necessitated a larger database with more functionality.
In less than six months, Celine studied and refined the student application process, populated a new database on Monday, analyzed application data to identify trends, and created documentation to assist CLAOC users. Automating administrative steps has freed up the team to spend more time building relationships with students.
Celine says she’s strengthened many capabilities through her internship, including:
According to Laurie Smith, Director, Education Programs & Partnerships, CLAOC, “It would have been nearly impossible for our team to carve out time for this transition, and we are already realizing the positive impact of Celine’s great work.”
Celine plans to be a project manager improving the process of how IT software is made.
Her dream is to guide and support her teams with values and empathy, something she experienced with the CLAOC culture.
Originally from the Bay Area, Celine says living, studying, and working in OC has shown her it’s a great place to build a career.
“Through my internship, I was empowered to think through problems in a bigger picture way using data and creativity,” Celine told us. “The more you dive in–initiate connections, join events, and ask questions–the more you’ll gain.”
