InteRDom Intern Expands Program Horizons with Partner Organization

Monday, February 6, 2012 is an historic day for the InteRDom program, as spring intern Anna Groesser begins her internship with the InteRDom-certified organization Grupo Punta Cana in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. 

Groesser, who is participating in the 32-week Graduate and Gap Year Program will
be working on two community development projects with Punta Cana Foundation, a subset of Grupo Punta Cana, which was certified by InteRDom through the Internship Certification Seminar in December 2010, and has subsequently established its own in-house internship program.

“I’m very excited to get involved in these projects,” Groesser said. “Both of these projects are definitely important for the development of that area [Punta
Cana].  That area has a lot of money coming in, so it’s nice to see a company that is focusing on developing the community and the people and the manpower there.”

Grupo Punta Cana is a leader in the tourism and real estate industries in the Dominican Republic.  The Punta Cana Foundation was created as a way to contribute to community and environmental development and sustainability by creating programs to improve the health and
wellbeing of the local communities of Punta Cana in basic areas of human development.

This is the first time in program history that a partner organization has offered the necessary facilities, accommodations and resources for InteRDom to be able to place interns outside of the greater Santo Domingo area.  Grupo Punta Cana sets an example for other certified organizations to structure and implement successful internship programs for both national and
international interns, which is the goal of the Internship Certification Seminar.

Groesser will be blogging regularly about her experience in the Dominican Republic as an intern for Grupo Punta Cana on the InteRDom program blog.

The internship program, InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), is the premier internship, research and academic study
program in the Dominican Republic. It offers international students the opportunity to research important topics at the forefront of the United Nations agenda, obtain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their fields of study and/or earn academic credits by taking courses and seminars at a local university.

Intern Anna Groesser and María del Carmen Desangles, Internship Coordinator at Grupo Punta Cana.

Intern Anna Groesser in
Restaurant de Empleados in Hotel Punta Cana Resort and Club, where she is staying.