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I just want to first thank
everybody for being here.

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Thank you for being with us.

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We know this is the last
presentation of today.

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So thank you so much
for your support.

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I'm here really to talk about
my work with an organization

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this summer, where
I was basically

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focusing on
international industry

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today and tomorrow, monitoring
advancement to ensure

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global sustainable development.

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So first, let's
start with the fact

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I was abroad last semester,
which really influenced

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my idea that I really
wanted to stay abroad, study

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abroad, and continue in
international experience.

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So I was in Freiberg,
[INAUDIBLE],

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which is in Germany, in
the southwest corner.

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And I was really studying the
inner workings of the European

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Union, looking at a
variety of different issues

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that were intersecting
with human rights,

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environmental concerns across
a whole variety of sectors,

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as well as history, because
I'm a double major in history

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and politics.

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And so I really wanted
to keep with the language

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and international connections
that I was starting to make.

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And I came across
Covalence EthicalQuote,

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which is based in Geneva,
Switzerland, which provided

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lots of language
opportunities, as Geneva

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is within the French
region of Switzerland.

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Additionally, it was
an international ethics

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organization, so a
non-government organization

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that really dealt with
investigating whether or not

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companies were complying
with international law,

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whether or not they were
responsibly really treating

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employees, or really
involved with the communities

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that they were serving,
or whether or not they

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were serving them.

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And additionally, it also
provided research and network

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capabilities.

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So I got a lot of practical
work experience out of this

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and got the chance
to really hone

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my skills in reading
and writing that I

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think that they afforded me.

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So I made the move really
quickly and soon found myself

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in the office.

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The office itself was
very small and personal,

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which I found really enjoyable,
because I felt like there was

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a lack of barriers
between authority

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figures in the office,
which I really appreciated.

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If I had a question, I could
lean over and say, Antwon,

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what do you want me to do
here, or what specifically

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are you asking for?

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And having that kind of open
dialogue and communication

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was something that I
found was really, really

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helpful to getting
the most out of

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not only the resources they had
available, but additionally,

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their expectations for me.

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So data, and analysis, and
independent research projects,

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those were the two main
things that I focused on.

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So for the most part, I looked
through news, white papers,

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CSR reports, which stands
for Corporate Social

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Responsibility, and
online resources.

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And many of them came
to us voluntarily.

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A lot of companies will
produce these sorts of reports

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and analysis, whether to
show how well they're doing,

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or when it was news,
it was generally

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showing how well
they were not doing.

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We got a lot of
information, for example,

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on issues with cars and
compliance of emissions,

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for example.

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I'm sure we all remember that--
and additionally, the news

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of local and political issues.

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For example, a lot
of the information

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following The Panama Papers.

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So that was an interesting
thing, as well.

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It also gave me the
opportunity to read in English

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and German, which was
very exciting, because I

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got to continue what I
was doing in working on

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throughout the four months
where I was in Germany, and now,

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could bring that to France,
where I was on the day

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to day basis, speaking French.

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So this is mostly what I looked
at most of my days, which

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was a database system that
would start to track and store

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information relevant to
topics, mostly environmental

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and corporate compliance,
and additionally,

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development of a variety
of economic issues,

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and things like that.

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So one thing that
I found that was

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really interesting
and really cool

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was that they really
encouraged interns

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to be doing their own personal
investigative research.

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There was this element
of working there

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that the authorities
said, we want

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you to be able to
do independent work.

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We want you to be able
to take your interests

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and apply it to
something meaningful

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that we can show to other people
to say, why is it important,

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for example, that we divest
from the use of water bottles?

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Why is it important that we
prioritize green building

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techniques and sponsorship of
those, either through state

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or private individuals?

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Additionally, through my
research and through my work,

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I was also able to see the
more practical applications

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of the work that I was doing.

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I went to this conference,
for example, the Measuring

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and Monitoring
Implementation of SDGs.

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Fit For Purpose?

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SDGs are the sustainable
development goals, as put forth

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two years ago by the UN.

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And those are building on a
lot of current discussions

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about how we can equally really
be distributing resources

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and technologies
to help everyone

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in the world on a global
context improve their situation,

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and things like that.

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So this was a conference.

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There was a mix of
policymakers, journalists,

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and private individuals
from corporations

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that were saying, how do
we move forward with this?

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How do we ensure that
sustainable development goals

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are really something
that are prioritized

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and that are something
that we can attain?

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So this was very interesting,
because Geneva's position

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really puts them in
conversation with a lot

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of international
organizations, as well.

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So that was very, very cool.

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Additionally-- oh, darn.

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The photo is really blurry.

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But this is a photo from
the UN Working Group

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on Environmental Monitoring
and Assessment, or WGEMA.

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They met in the
beginning of July,

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and I was fortunate enough
to be able to work with them.

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They invited me in, which
was really wonderful.

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They saw me as a
great participant,

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because they are really
working towards trying

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to understand public and
private partnerships in emerging

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economies, like economies in
Eastern Europe and Central

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Asia, mostly.

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And so there was this
discussion of how

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these kind of emerging economies
can be producing things

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within the sustainable
development goal model.

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And I actually had a chance
to discuss the policy

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role, and how corporations
fit within that,

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and what needs to be done
on a regulatory level

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to ensure that things
were going well.

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So it was really
amazing, actually,

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as a young adult who was really
interested in all these issues,

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to get to do this hands on.

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So just to conclude,
the internship

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that I had really expanded
on interests that I already

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hold near and dear, issues
of economic inequality,

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sustainable development,
environmental degradation,

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and consumer protections.

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So all these things
were really building

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on what I've been able
to do at Mount Holyoke,

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and actually, what I'm
continuing to do in classes

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that I'm currently taking.

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And so it's really
amazing, to be

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able to not only have course
work feeding into the interest

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and feeding into the
work that I'm doing,

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but also, to see how coming
out of the internship,

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it's still something that
I want to continue with

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and something that I
feel on track with.

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So in moving forward, I've
really put an emphasis

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on getting involved with NGOs,
following the UN's sustainable

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development goals more
closely, and clearly,

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and seeing how environmental
issues are followed

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in that regard, and other
international organizations

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for work, post-graduation.

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And I'm actually hoping with
the connections I've made,

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and the progress of
research that I've

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been able to undertake,
that this will lead me

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into some really
wonderful fields.

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So thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]

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