Measuring Impact

January 2021

Family, Home and Social Sciences

Photo credit: JonnyJim / Getty Images

Recent economics graduate Gregory Glass Hutchins interned in Malawi in 2019 with Fountain of Hope, a not-for-profit organization that provides relief to vulnerable people and communities through education, empowerment, and encouragement. Hutchins’s wife had worked in a refugee camp and introduced him to Fountain of Hope.

“As an intern, I created an impact measurement survey and assisted in business training courses to teach key principles for starting and growing micro enterprises,” says Hutchins. “I also acted as a photographer and videographer for the organization. I learned that poverty isn’t solved by giving but by investing in individuals to help them understand that they can manage their challenges.”

The internship solidified Hutchins’s plans. “I want my career and life to be focused on solving social problems—poverty, disease, and lack of access to clean water are just a few that refugees face daily,” he says. “I learned that there is a sustainable way to approach even the world’s most difficult issues.” Hutchins plans to pursue an MBA degree and then work in the social sector.

To those who helped provide funding, he says, “Thank you for your generous support that made this internship possible. By letting me serve others, you changed my life and theirs.”