internship opportunity : social media

Are you a change-maker with an internet habit? A do-good tweeter with a penchant for handbags? One Mango Tree is on the hunt - we're looking for a Social Media Intern. You can be based absolutely anywhere (even Timbuktu!) - as long as you have reliable internet and a love for fair trade, organic, and economic empowerment, you're eligible.

Here's what we're looking for:

• A really good Tweeter - we need some help in growing our following on Twitter. It's an excellent tool to help grow our retail customer base, but we also want to be THE source for interesting and exciting news in fair trade, organic cotton, eco-fashion, and market-based poverty alleviation.
  
• A Facebook Group Grower - just like on Twitter, we need some help growing our Facebook group, and coming up with creative and fun ways to use this tool.
• A blog-o-rific writer - do you like to write? We need someone that can add content to our blog on a regular basis, related to the topics mentioned above (fair trade, organic cotton, etc.)
• Get others to write about us - there are tons of people out there writing about the above topics - help us get recognized by connecting One Mango Tree with bloggers and journalists to increase our presence online and in print

The point? You'll get to make a difference without leaving the comfort of your computer. Every additional sale means more jobs for women in Northern Uganda, more kids in school, and micro-level changes in the household that add up to big changes in the social fabric here (read: PEACE).

You'll work very closely with moi (OMT Founder and Director, Halle Butvin - based in Uganda) - via email and Skype - first to assess our current social media, and then to make suggestions and move forward. This is a results-oriented internship, so you must be able to plan and deliver results, in the form of large increases in followers (we're talking thousands) on Twitter and FB, and resulting increase in retail sales and web hits.

Sound like something you'd like to do? The One Mango Tree Social Media Intern is an unpaid position, but you will enjoy 50% off retail price on all One Mango Tree products, all the time.

Send me an email (halle@onemangotree.com) explaining your interest, plus your CV and some proof - let's see your blog, Twitter stream, writing samples, etc. Show us what you've got - and come be a part of One Mango Tree. Apps reviewed on a rolling basis.

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a message from summer intern: sejal shah

submitted by Sejal Shah, who interned for One Mango Tree during summer 2009

One Mango Tree Readers! My name is Sejal Shah and I am a senior in high school. I participate in school activities, but still keep my grades at an above average level. I enjoy going to the beach with my friends, and exploring new things to do every day. When I was given the opportunity to intern for One Mango Tree, I took full advantage of it. I worked with Halle, an amazing organizer, and flew out to Uganda only months after making my decision. Spending four weeks in Gulu has to be the most fun I have ever had in my life. I met people that I will never forget and enjoyed experiences that I only could in Gulu. I worked with the tailors of One Mango Tree every day, seeing them at work, learning about their lives and hardships, teaching them basic inventory and computer skills, and even going to their homes for traditional lunches and watching dances. I got to hang out with the women and form relationships with them. Throughout my trip, we would call each other on weekends to see how we were doing. Watching these women at work was inspiring for me, and a life changing experience. After living a month in Gulu, I learned the most valuable lesson; life should not be taken for granted. I admire these women, and all the people of Gulu, with all my heart. I know for a fact that I will be back working with One Mango Tree soon in my future, because of the amazing experience I had the first time.

Interested in volunteering opportunities with One Mango Tree? Send an email to info@onemangotree.com.

a message from summer intern: josh engel

submitted by Josh Engel, who interned for One Mango Tree during summer 2009

I'm currently an MBA candidate studying Social Enterprise at Kellogg School of Management. Before starting school, I came to One Mango Tree to engage in the growth of a business which was designed to maximize on social impact. I examined OMT's Uganda operations, from production processes to the flow of management tasks. I worked with Halle to design solutions to bottlenecks and inefficiencies, eventually supporting the launch of One Mango Tree's fully functional training and production site. I also worked to weave One Mango Tree's core social objectives, focused on improving the quality of life of the people of Northern Uganda, into demand-driven growth strategies. Prior to One Mango Tree, I worked in Refugee Resettlement and for an innovative private-public partnership in Chicago workforce development.

I really miss One Mango Tree and thinks of Gulu often! I've attached a photo of me eating lunch with a friend in front of Lucy's market stall.

Interested in interning with One Mango Tree? Send an email to info@onemangotree.com.

Intern: Josh Engel

picking mangoes outside the new one mango tree compound in gulu

Josh Engel. Not your ordinary intern.

Josh is heading off to business school in the fall at Kellogg. After resigning from his position at the City of Chicago working with refugee resettlement and training, he headed over to Southern Sudan to help assess community needs for some Sudanese refugees back home who want to rebuild. Our paths crossed in Kampala, when a mutual friend suggested we have coffee.

A few days later, we agreed that Josh would stick around Uganda for a few months, interning with One Mango Tree. His task? Intel. Or that's what Lucy thinks. "Josh, are you a spy?"

No, not really. But Josh is studying our production process. After getting to know the ins and outs of how One Mango Tree operates, he's taking the process step-by-step and looking for where we can improve quality, timeliness and costs. He's writing it all down, laying it all out, and making suggestions for how we can create better products faster and with little waste - all while adhering strictly to our fair trade framework. In many ways, the work he's doing is re-shaping the way One Mango Tree operates - and I couldn't be happier with the results.

In the meantime, he's getting to know the ladies - sharing market lunches, experimenting with more manly laptop bag designs, and meeting one-on-one over sodas at Jojo's. One of these days we'll have him actually climbing the trees to pick the mangoes.