{"id":16943,"date":"2021-09-02T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-news\/?p=16943"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:36:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:36:51","slug":"exploring-the-startup-ecosystem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2021\/09\/exploring-the-startup-ecosystem\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Startup Ecosystem"},"content":{"rendered":"

MacNest summer interns are leaning in and making things happen at Twin Cities startups. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kashvi Ajitsaria \u201922 (Pune, India) suspected that finding a summer internship was going to be challenging, not only from the student side, but especially for smaller organizations and companies hard hit by the pandemic.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacNest\u2019s summer internship program, she says, offered a great solution. The 10-week summer program, supported by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department, provides each of its 10 interns with $5,500 in funding to undertake unpaid internships with Twin Cities startups.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kashvi Ajitsaria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMacNest provided a community of students who were navigating a similar journey and also gave us support to be part of an organization that could not support us by themselves,\u201d says Ajitsaria. \u201cIt seemed like a really good way to kick-start my first proper internship in the U.S.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has been working remotely 35 hours per week for the Yorth Group. The two-year-old organization, with offices in Minneapolis and Reykjav\u00edk, Iceland, provides expertise in restorative development and circular economy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cMy unofficial title is research and analysis intern,\u201d says Ajitsaria. \u201cI do data collection work, and research about regulations, like finding out a suppliers\u2019 code of conduct and the sustainability frameworks for manufacturers and retailers, so that they can be more generative and restorative overall. Not just sustainable, but giving a net-positive social return to society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacNest offers career-building activities for the cohort. A StrengthsFinder assessment helped Ajitsaria identify her creative mind and propensity for thinking about different visions of the future. \u201cI\u2019m learning how to communicate that better,\u201d she says. \u201c[The Yorth Group] has a complex and defined vision of the future that they are working towards,\u201d she says. \u201cRegenerative cities, inclusive economies\u2014I think each of our lived experiences, especially those of us from low-income countries, can contribute to that vision and make it richer and more diverse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An environmental sciences major with minors in data science and political science, Ajitsaria says MacNest has helped her learn to take ownership of her work. \u201cMy supervisor told me \u2018We don\u2019t see you as an intern,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good introduction to learning how to be in charge. You have the ability to lean in and make things happen and not be afraid to suggest next steps. You don\u2019t just have to listen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Victor Wright \u201923 (Cape Coral, Florida) took an entrepreneurship course as a sophomore he became \u201creally intrigued by the different aspects of entrepreneurship,\u201d he says. \u201cI have always had an interest in creating things and wanting to start my own business. I signed up for MacNest to explore those possibilities and see if this is a viable option for me after I graduate.\u201d The economics and computer science major is a MacNest intern at the Du Nord Foundation in Minneapolis.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foundation, which arose in response to the civil unrest following George Floyd\u2019s murder, has initiatives to build BIPOC wealth through an incubator program, and offers a food pantry, the DuNord Foundation Community Market.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of my tasks over the summer was to find a new online platform for the community market that will allow us to more efficiently take orders and serve our neighbors with free groceries, as well as things like toiletries, women\u2019s menstrual health items, and diapers,\u201d says Wright.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His hybrid internship also has included helping to write the business plan for the foundation\u2019s business incubator program for minority entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry. \u201cI do a lot of work on my laptop researching the business plan, interviewing business owners, or doing networking so that we can establish more relationships with people in the Twin Cities to help us grow the business incubator,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foundation\u2019s co-founder and president, Chris Montana, has helped shaped Wright\u2019s thinking about leadership. \u201cWe were at a board meeting the other day and Chris said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to be the yes or no guy. I want to be someone who is part of the discussion,\u2019\u201d says Wright. \u201cThat helped me understand his philosophy that as a leader it\u2019s not important to be the person who is calling all the shots. It\u2019s important to be someone who can direct the conversation where it needs to go to have a productive outcome. I realized that\u2019s the type of leader I would like to be one day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wright says that perhaps his favorite experience of the summer has been working at the community market. \u201cIt just felt really good to prepare groceries for people and know that they were going to go home and use them,\u201d he says. \u201cWe made someone\u2019s day easier, or we provided a service to someone that helped them pay their light or water bill. Just being a part of something that was actually serving to help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship, says Wright, is something he will continue to pursue after Macalester. \u201cWhether it\u2019s starting my own business, starting my own nonprofit, or something along those lines,\u201d he says. \u201cI have a lot of ideas that I want to bring to life and see how they come to fruition in the world.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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