My name is Chris Rosales and I am a fifth year finance major at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. In my five years as a finance student it was easy to get wrapped up in campus life and wait to develop any hands-on finance skills such as budgeting or forecasting. When my school schedule finally opened up, I began my search for an internship. My primary goal was to find an organization that would help me develop my finance and accounting skills.
Once I identified an operations intern position at GRID Alternatives, I was immediately pleased to see that I would be working on specific financial projects. My additional research revealed a high degree of positive impact that GRID makes on local communities. The influence GRID Alternatives has on income-qualified families, veterans seeking employment/training, and community education set it apart from other available intern opportunities. GRID seemed like such a unique organization, I simply had to apply for the three-month operations position.
In my first week I was given projects that I had envisioned when accepting the position. I began working on budget templates for department managers, guided by Regional Director Bambi Tran. While my accounting responsibilities were mostly budget spreadsheet development and analysis, interns also participate in staff meetings and are informed about organization-wide goals. This welcoming culture has made it an amazing place to learn from team members with years of experience in various fields from design and construction to marketing and accounting.
GRID’s organizational culture is very open and inclusive. All staff members are recommended to go on at least one on-site installation to see how teamwork comes together, ultimately making a lasting impact on families. My first install experience with the construction team was awesome because I enjoy working with my hands. I particularly enjoyed learning from the Solar Installation Supervisor (SIS) German Coreas. I am looking forward to more installs with such a talented team to learn even more, while continuing to develop real-world financial skills this summer.
I take pride in working with such a dynamic and welcoming team striving to make a difference in terms of people, the planet and employment. I can tell you now if you have any interest at all in solar, GRID Alternatives is an outstanding place to develop operations skills. As a business student I was fortunate to pair accounting with learning about solar systems from design to construction. At GRID you can learn about a variety of careers in solar while making a real difference for others, whether it is in the office or on the roof. If you are interested in joining GRID as an intern or want to volunteer your time visit gridalternatives.org/ie.