Geneva Danko - Partner, Have Dreams Academy at Northwestern

Connection to Have Dreams I work for Northwestern University’s Global Marketing Communications Office. We partner with Have Dreams to hire interns from the Have Dreams Academy program.

How has Have Dreams made an impact on your life? I was familiar with Have Dreams, having worked in the President's office, because we helped connect our administrators, and specifically President Schapiro, to the organization. It became something that President Schapiro himself was very supportive of because he knew the impact that Have Dreams achieves. And so, as soon as our new vice president started here in Global Marketing Communications, she said, “Are there any organizations that we might be able to work with to help the greater community?” And I said, “I know just the one!”

Have Dreams has a very specific ability to contribute to us as a university. At the university, we have a very core mission, and that is academic excellence, and improving the world around us for the social good. The task before us in everything we do is to tap everyone's potential in furthering that mission, because we all bring our own backgrounds and our own perspectives. It would be a tragedy if there was someone whose own perspective could lend a solution to the problems that we've identified as a university, and we haven't pulled them into the picture.

It's been a big help to have a Have Dreams intern. I think that it's very much an opportunity for all people involved. It's been very rewarding for all the Northwestern Departments that have taken part, but also very valuable to our own mission everyday. So, if we're doing something valuable in those interns' lives too, it just means it’s mutual.

One of our hopes is to break down any stereotypes other employers might have about bringing on an intern who's on the spectrum. The training that Have Dreams did with our intern Jennifer was really apparent in everything from office place etiquette and attire to workplace formalities such as articulating goals. I thought to myself, if this can be the case for any staff that I ever manage, I'll be lucky. So, my hope is that the opportunities for placement only become more numerous and more diverse to suit all future Have Dreams interns.