As a summer intern with the Distinguished Young Women of Mississippi program, Mississippi State University master’s degree student Laken Laird is building marketing and communications skills she will need to help land her a job after graduation, all thanks to The Riley Foundation.

Laird is one of 17 college students working at Meridian nonprofit organizations this summer through The Riley Foundation’s summer intern program, which is marking its 20th anniversary.

“I’ve learned how to be responsible, handle money, work and network with other individuals in the community and it’s been wonderful,” she said.

The Meridian native, who has already earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations and communications from MSU, is expected to graduate in December with her master’s in communications.

Up until this summer, most of her job experience has come from working in a student-run public relations firm for Mississippi State.

“I was an account executive for the Magnolia Independent Film Festival there, and that’s where I have the majority of my experience,” Laird said. “This is my first time to have an internship in Meridian, so it’s exciting. It’s been wonderful. They definitely keep me on my toes in the very best way.”

She said DYW organizers have given her a lot of liberty to do other tasks the intern normally doesn’t undertake.

“I’ve gotten to do the ad sales for the program book, the news pages for the program book. I’ve done social media. I’ve gone and sold ads to sponsors in Meridian,” she said. “It has just been a really fun summer.”

The Riley Foundation began its summer intern program 20 years ago as a way for nonprofit organizations in Meridian to apply for a grant to hire a college student for the summer to help the organization complete a specific project while exposing the students to the role of nonprofits in the community, said Becky Farley, executive director of the foundation. The paid internships are funded through grants from The Riley Foundation awarded to the nonprofit organizations.

“We started this program 20 years ago, and since then we have had 312 college students come through the program,” Farley said, “and we have spent $1.2 million on this program.”

This summer, the 17 students are spread out at various nonprofits in town, such as the Meridian Museum of Art, the Jimmie Rodgers Foundation, Meridian Restorations Foundation, Aldersgate, Meridian Community College’s Arts and Letters Series and the Mississippi Arts+Entertainment Experience. On Thursday, The Riley Foundation hosted a luncheon at the Mississippi Arts+Entertainment Experience to recognize those students.

Farley said the internships benefit both the college students and the nonprofit organizations.

For the nonprofits, she said, “it gives them young, fresh, intelligent minds to work with and an extra pair of hands to work for eight weeks during the summer. The student benefits because a lot of times it’s their first job, so they are gaining job experience, and a lot of times it pertains to their major. They also get the chance to learn about nonprofits.”

Most of the internships start in May or June and run for eight weeks. Job listings for summer internships are usually posted to The Riley Foundation website the first or second week of March. Applications are sent to the different nonprofits which are responsible for interviewing the candidates and hiring their intern, Farley said.

Hampton Thames, treasurer for Distinguished Young Women, said this is the organization’s 14th year to request a summer intern.

“It helps us tremendously,” he said of all of the work that is required before the pageant, as well as the week of the event. “It allows us to impact the student by giving them a work situation for the summer and, in turn, they help us by bringing youthful ideas to our organization. This year we have a really super one.”

Jamire Clayton is spending his summer interning with the Meridian Housing Authority. He said a lot of the work he is doing is more clerical, providing residents with applications and paperwork for different programs and services and creating folders to organize the documents, then file them away. He also assists with events and programs, such as a recent home buyers workshop.

Clayton was one of two high school seniors chosen to receive a Jeanell E. Kidd HOPE VI Endowment Scholarship Award in 2023 through the housing authority’s scholarship program. That experience led him to apply for this summer’s internship.

Elaine DuBose, coordinator of the MHA’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, said Clayton is learning a lot about the housing authority and the different programs it offers its residents.

Alexa Shirley, a sophomore at Meridian Community College majoring in business and marketing, has spent the summer as lead intern for State Games of Mississippi.

“I’ve really enjoyed the experience. I grew up playing State Games, but I really had no idea what went into it until I got behind the scenes,” said Shirley, who participated in the games for years as a member of Alliance Futbol Club.

Besides working registration at the different sporting events, she has helped set up and take down from the State Games opening ceremony and parade, assisted with the younger athletes, worked to get ready for out-of-town teams and helped sports directors and volunteers. As lead intern, she also was in charge of three other summer interns.

“She has been a wonderful help in the office and out at each sport. She’s done registration and everything we have asked her to do, and she’s kept three boys in line,” State Games Executive Director Missye Dozier said of the other three State Games interns. “We have had a really good year.”