Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL) collaborates with businesses and governments across the world to develop leadership and solutions for a sustainable economy. CISL also provides the space, support and networks for small sustainable start-ups to grow. My personal interest in policy formulation, social inequality and the interaction between political decision-making and sociological trends aligned perfectly with this internship. I was lucky enough to be supported by LEAP in gaining this internship and I had multiple online meetings with Emma Cutting (Senior Network Manager at CISL) before the internship to ensure I was suited to the role and so she could understand my interests and development goals and shape the internship accordingly.
As a result, we established that I would join the Network Team at CISL so I could develop my personal network, improve my networking skills and feel more confident speaking with those in senior positions. The Network Team seek to engage the 30,000 (and growing) members of CISL’s Network. Individuals become a member of the network through completing online courses that are run by CISL; by attending events; sharing insights with CISL and by being sustainable ambassadors across the world. I began my internship straight after the end of Easter term at Cambridge. LEAP funded the cost of my accommodation for the full length of my internship (6 weeks) as LEAP recognises that students may be having to use a considerable portion of their wages to pay for the cost of accommodation and students shouldn’t be disadvantaged by accepting an internship.
I arrived on my first day obviously quite nervous and incredibly early. I was welcomed by Emma who gave me a tour of the CISL building, which is known as The Entopia Building, one of the world’s most sustainable retrofitted buildings. I met the other members of the Network Team and learned about some of the upcoming events I would be working on: the Senior Associates and Fellows event; the City Leaders event and the Chief Sustainability Officers event. SAFs, City Leaders and CSOs are crucial to the work of CISL in gaining new insights and for them to engage with our work. We convened these individuals on three separate occasions for some knowledge sharing. My role in all three events was to assist the Network Team in their preparation of the events by organising and scheduling meetings, creating relevant and useful documents, providing context to CISL staff from outside the Networks team, and assisting the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). I prepared their presentations, created agendas for the events and ensured everyone understood their role during the events. I learned a considerable amount about CISL through understanding each SLT’s role and influence, specifically their emphasis upon each pillar: “Foresight, Innovation, Convening and Education”. These first few weeks had a challenging workload and moved at a fast pace, but I adapted and quickly improved my time management skills. These first three weeks were also the most rewarding and insightful, and gave me lots of opportunities to develop skills relevant to event planning and communication. CISL regularly hosted Chief Sustainability Officers of numerous companies including the BBC, Nestlé and IKEA (to name a few!), and this made me feel more confident speaking with individuals in important roles
After the busy event period we were determined to learn from the successes and challenges of our events so I developed surveys for every staff member involved to complete; scheduled post-event meetings; and analysed the results. For each event, there were scribes who would collect notes and ideas from the guests which I collected, summarising the key themes in a detailed overview of each event. CISL used this to make changes for future events, develop their sustainable strategy and inform future collaborations. Collating and presenting all of this information together for the SLT gave me a deeper insight into the work of CISL, and the future direction and priorities of CISL.
During my internship, I enjoyed immersing myself in the working environment, etiquette and the culture of CISL which was incredibly relaxed, but an extremely hard-working environment. Though the dress code was very casual, and the work-life balance very modern, people worked incredibly hard. It was very rare to see anyone working at 5pm on a Friday, and the SLT strongly discouraged working beyond their hours. During lunch people ate communally, played card games and attended weekly ‘lunch and learn events where a member of staff would deliver a presentation on an aspect of sustainability. During one of these Lucy, a Project Manager on the Education team spoke about her four month visit to Antarctica as part of a conservation project. I was thoroughly impressed by CISL’s commitment to encouraging a strong workplace culture which gave held a healthy work-life balance in high esteem, and gave everyone lots of opportunities to learn new things.
Throughout the second half of my internship Marcus, Project Manager in the Network Team, wanted to ensure that CISL was providing me with opportunities for growth and so we met bi-weekly to discuss my goals and learnings. I was very keen to learn more about CISL and Marcus encouraged me to arrange casual meetings with staff members whose roles I found interesting As a result, in the final two weeks of my internship I met with Lucy (Project Manager on the Education Team) about her role; Katherine (Senior Programme Manager for International Policy), Elizabeth (Programme Manager of Investment Leaders Group) and Priya (Business and Social Justice course convenor). These meetings were incredibly nerve-wracking at first but I am highly appreciative to Marcus who encouraged me to arrange this and guided me throughout my internship! After my internship I met with Emma in October to reflect on the work and discuss how I can convey my learnings and skills in a CV and for a job interview. The support I have received has been incredible! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at CISL. I received amazing support whilst developing a lot of skills and learning more about the world of work.
I think my greatest challenge was feeling out of place in such a prestigious, incredible institution. I had internalised the fact that I had been ‘handed’ this internship through LEAP and occasionally felt like I didn’t deserve to be there. However, I was constantly reassured that everyone feels like an impostor as some time in their life, that I fitted well into the team, and deserved to be there. I am incredibly grateful to all of the staff who made me feel welcome, and through attending the staff summer party and post-work socials I felt like a member of the team.
