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Abby Williams ’15 connected classroom learning with real-world experience during a 10-week internship at the William E. Simon & Sons investment firm in Morristown, N.J., and the William E. Simon Foundation in New York City.
Peter Simon ’75 and Abby Williams ’15 at the William E. Simon & Sons’ office in New Jersey
Williams, a dual major in policy studies and neuroscience, shadowed Peter Simon ’75, CEO of William E. Simon & Sons and a Lafayette trustee.
“Mr. Simon taught me a lot about what it means to be a leader,” says Williams, who hails from Sacramento, California.
She went to New Jersey State Board of Education meetings with Simon, attended Manhattan Institute lectures and receptions, visited various nonprofits that the foundation supports, and sat in on daily meetings led by him or foundation staff. The foundation’s main mission is to help inner-city youth and families gain access to education and community-based services.
Her tasks included restructuring the layout and content of the foundation’s website as well as researching the history of federal financing of education standards and assessments, the history of Common Core and Race to the Top, and using evidence from the standards and critical analysis to address Common Core’s future impact.
She also visited Brilla College Prep, a charter school in the South Bronx supported by the foundation. Williams, who serves as president for Alternative School Break (ASB), has arranged for Brilla to be ASB’s community partner for a trip focused on inequities in urban education and potential solutions.
Williams’ internship was supported by Lafayette’s Caine Scholars Award for Global Leadership, Business, and Policy. The award, which is the first specifically created for policy studies majors, provides a $5,000 stipend to support a summer internship.