Amanda Bolton ’19 Does Grant Research for The Area Development Foundation
By Matt Mandel '19
The Community Internship Program (CIP) gives Kenyon students the opportunity to engage with and learn from the greater Knox County Community during the academic year. Local organizations provide structured internship for four to 10 hours per week that help students develop professional skills for use at Kenyon and beyond. Community partners benefit from student ideas and creativity while gaining support on key operations.
Amanda Bolton ’19, a senior political science major from Chicago, works at the Area Development Foundation (ADF), a non-profit based in neighboring Mount Vernon, Ohio, that focuses on economic development in Knox County. The foundation is Knox County’s local go-to source for financial incentives, deal-structuring, and available property, according to its website. It facilitates business relationships and spearheads major development projects in downtown Mount Vernon such as filling the recently-vacated Siemens plant.
The foundation needed a Kenyon student to do research for a new grant. They reached out to the Career Development Office (CDO) to find a passionate student to help with this work. Bolton received an email early in the fall promoting the CIP. After working in Senator Duckworth’s (D-IL) office this summer, she wanted additional experience to complement her schoolwork. She researched and applied for available CIP positions on Symplicity.
Bolton decided to work with the ADF after speaking with the two leaders of the organization, President and General Counsel Jeff Harris and Projects Coordinator Cathy Youtkus. According to Bolton, they were so charismatic and passionate about the work that they do, she decided to accept the position. She now volunteers as a research intern working five hours per week in their office and about two to three hours remotely.
“My research abilities have increased a lot, especially because I’m looking for information that isn’t readily available ... my ability to process research has increased because the world doesn’t put things into nice boxes,” she said.
The ADF is writing a grant to fund a career pathways specialist, a position that would develop professional mentorship curriculum and grow internships for high school students who are deciding between entering college or manufacturing. It would also include conducting site visits to manufacturing plants and providing the link between the manufacturing community and students. Bolton is researching similar positions across the country to help the ADF write the grant.
“I’m learning how to formulate information specifically for writing grants, which I think is really interesting because I’ve done grant approval before in a senator’s office, but never writing the grants themselves,” she said.
Bolton, inspired by her parents who are both public servants, wants to dedicate her own life to the same cause. She hopes to work in Washington, D.C. after graduation as a staff assistant to a member of Congress, as she loved her job this summer. Bolton has found that her projects with the ADF works well with what she wants to accomplish in her future.
“I think this job is the perfect pairing to that, because it’s on a smaller scale, so what I really like is that in my cover letters and resumes I can say that if my focus is social change and public service, that can occur on the national level, but it can also occur on the small level in Knox County, by engaging with the community,” she said.
Bolton believes that every Kenyon student should find a way to engage more with the Knox County community. The CIP is a great way to do that.
“This experience has shown me that people in Mount Vernon are not there because that’s just where they’ve grown up. They’re there because it’s a rich center of commerce, of manufacturing, of farming, of culture for Ohio,” she said.
Applications for spring internships via Kenyon’s CIP program are open from Nov. 27 to Dec. 23 on Symplicity. Bolton is staying in her position for the spring. Other available opportunities include social media intern, copywriter intern and marketing intern at Ariel Corporation, flower farm intern at Everyberry Farm & Flora, clerical intern at Knox Community Hospital, office/marketing intern at Main Street Mount Vernon, and legal intern at Murray, Rauzi, Kidwell & Cunningham, Attorneys at Law. Interviews will take place between Jan. 14 through Jan. 25. For questions or inquiries contact Joshua Lisko, Assistant Director for Career Development at lisko1@kenyon.edu.