For months, Jordan Matranga, Bianca Ibarra, and Autumn Johnson interned at the Citizens Environmental Coalition (CEC), a non-profit organization which partners with more than 100 organizations to support environmental advocacy. Through their various roles, these Valenti students have collaborated with local organizations – such as Keep Houston Beautiful, Houston Public Works and the Houston Film Commission – supporting events, advertising campaigns and other programs focused on building an environmentally friendly future.
Due to the pandemic, they were given access to software or equipment to produce content at home. They worked as marketing or media interns under the mentorship of Alicia Johnson, environmental educational specialist at CEC.
Jordan Matranga, a senior majoring in interpersonal communications and minoring in human development and family studies, began interning at CEC in early August. She was an event marketing intern and created social media and video content based on themes across all of their platforms.
For example, she worked with the Houston Public Works to increase awareness about water conservation as well as the Houston Audubon conservation to educate about different bird species and the different aspects of the environment,
Matranga was compelled by CEC’s mission, and this opportunity opened many doors for her to meet new professionals, expand her communication skills and learn about marketing in depth.
“I’ve learned a lot about marketing within my major, and this internship gave me more hands-on learning. I can confidently show employers our social media, and I continue to learn new things everyday,” she said.
Still, as with other sectors of the economy, internships were hit hard by the pandemic. For many students, finding an internship that sharped their communication skills proved an uphill battle. Still, for media and production intern Bianca Ibarra, a senior double majoring in media production and marketing, to land a position at CEC that paired her passion for her community with her love for filmmaking was especially exciting.
“Non-profit organizations don’t receive enough credit, and it opened my eyes to help them as much as I can,” said Ibarra, a junior double majoring in media production and marketing.
Her journey with the CEC began last summer after learning about the organization during her senior year of high school.
“My teacher for my media class notified me about a scholarship offered by the CEC, and she said they were doing a segment on air pollution. I made a video to highlight the air pollution in my community, and I submitted it,” she said.
To her surprise, she won the segment and received a scholarship from the CEC, and her position has inspired her to bring awareness to environmentalism and climate change.
“All of a sudden, I won and my film was screened at Rice University for their film festival,” she said.
Ibarra spent a majority of the internship in Galveston with her partner Betsy Acosta, a senior broadcast journalism major, creating promotional videos for various organizations and nearby parks. With access to Final Cut Pro and camera equipment, Ibarra was able to successfully create videos outdoors and at home.
“Knowing that my videos were made for awareness and also shown at film festivals was possibly the greatest thing, and I cherish this experience for leading me to who I am today. It really showed me that my work was on the right track and that I was doing a good job, even when I was being hard on myself,” she said.
Autumn Johnson, a sophomore media production major, got to experience many “firsts” as a media production intern. However, her experiences at CoogTV and as an Resident Assistant (RA) helped establishthe editing and public speaking skills needed to excel at the CEC.
“It almost feels as if I was really meant to be doing film and production, and that's the best feeling because that's what I love!” said Johnson.
She produced a variety of digital content, from motion graphics to video style infographics for different organizations and campaigns across Houston.
“I worked on a video for Keep Houston Beautiful for their Recycle Right campaign. It feels really good to know the content I created will help educate others in the Houston community about their environment,” said Johnson.
Johnson’s Keep Houston Beautiful campaign and Matranga’s campaign were featured at the Wild About Houston film festival, organized by the CEC. This event was held virtually on Oct. 21 and Nov. 18.
While the semester has ended, Johnson will be returning next semester through March 2021 on a paid-contract.