By Intern Jonathan Ahn

My summer internship at PBUCC has been an enriching experience. The Human Resources team made the internship memorable with several engaging events for the interns to get to know each other better, including a Meet and Greet, Sip and Paint, various pop-up challenges, and a BBQ at Morningside Park, N.Y.

Each week I looked forward to our weekly leadership roundtable sessions, where I was able to better understand the different PBUCC departments and its operations. A recurring praise about PBUCC that I heard from staff is that they all love their job and what they do at PBUCC. Their energy and passion are unmatched. I particularly enjoyed learning about PBUCC’s faith and finance framework for socially responsible investing and understanding the Investment team’s goals to improve the betterment of the world through ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). One leader that I found particularly inspiring was Judith Santiago, as her experience and story of resiliency showed me that God always has a plan for us.

I would like to thank Paul Ramsey and Evan Rathjen for continuously giving me their support and teaching me about Philanthropy. In working with the Philanthropy team, I learned the importance of having standards for data entry. There are many ways that individuals organize and enter data, so having conformity in data entry ensures that no confusion arises. Being able to help the team with data entry and monitoring donations made my experience worthwhile, as I know that I was able to help those who serve in their communities. I also enjoyed working with Anna Ng and my department during an internal audit which helped me to understand the donation process.

I am so proud of our intern group, as we worked through a challenging Capstone Project regarding inactive TSA (tax-sheltered annuity) members. Paul Bomba’s guidance and feedback helped our team improve our work and the quality of our presentation. Having a diverse team allowed us to play on our strengths and weaknesses, as there was someone who understood a concept that is unknown to others. It was a pleasure to work with amazing people during this 10-week internship. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my summer. I encourage all to apply for an internship at PBUCC in the future! I’m looking forward to seeing how PBUCC continues to support members of the United Church of Christ to ensure a peace of mind through financial security and better health.