Meet Marissa Acevedo! Marissa is a senior at Grand Valley State University, graduating this month with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Communications with a minor in Psychology. 

Marissa Acevedo, Kennari Spring Intern, 2022

My time with Kennari Consulting has enlightened me with valuable skills and experiences in the consulting world while allowing me to create connections with professionals in my desired areas of work. The Kennari Consulting team was caring and welcoming throughout my time with them; I learned something new from each person I had the opportunity to talk with and work alongside.

As a Health Communication major, I was looking for an internship opportunity that helped me gain professional experience with healthcare organizations, while also allowing me to explore what I could do with my skills and experiences after graduation. I learned valuable skills in event planning, campaigns, communications, research & data tracking, and had the opportunity to shadow client meetings and attend monthly roundtables. I learned a lot about the hard work it takes to run and fund a nonprofit organization along with the extensive planning it takes to reach desired goals from an internal to an external perspective. 

I had the opportunity to work on many different projects simultaneously which allowed me to gain exposure to different projects and work with different clients. My favorite project I worked on was creating a sponsor tracking method for Cherry Health; they tasked me with creating a streamlined approach to tracking their sponsors and their benefits for each comprehensive sponsor level. This project allowed me to gain experience with participating in professional meetings and using my creativity to meet client needs.

What I loved most about my time with Kennari Consulting was that every week was different. I had the opportunity to work with many projects and clients that I was looking to gain experience with.

I am so thankful for Kennari Consulting for allowing me to learn about the philanthropic industry and giving me the opportunity to grow within their organization. I will use the skills and experiences I gained from this internship in my future endeavors and beyond.

Thank you, Kennari Consulting for being a major influence on my work ethic and inspiring my career path ahead.

Marissa was an absolute asset on our team this semester! She was willing to take on any project, big or small, directions or not, and make it into something even greater than expected. One of her many gifts is excellent communication skills, and she certainly put those to good use during her time with us (see her blog below). We can’t wait to see what Marissa does next.

To learn more about Kennari Consulting’s internship program, check out our careers page.