Editor’s note: This summer, we’re charting Kogod students’ internship experiences in this special spotlight series. Here, we’re documenting students’ growth by exploring where they’re interning and why—and how their experiences feed into their longer-term goals post-Kogod.
Growing up in Hyperbad, India, sustainability was a way of life for Sanjana Goel. The now STEM-MBA student practiced it both at home and in business, helping manage eco-centered operations for her family’s construction company.
This summer, Goel is pursuing her passion for sustainability by interning at The Conservation Fund, a DC-based nonprofit that protects America’s lands while strengthening local economies.
As a conservation investment intern, Goel is helping the organization further its mission by optimizing its financial models and identifying metrics that effectively communicate its impact.
“I joined the Fund because of its dual mission: achieving environmental conservation and economic development,” she said. “I’m also very drawn to entrepreneurship and innovation, which the company promotes.”
Working with senior leadership, Goel has the chance to design projects’ processes from scratch—an entrepreneurial approach she hopes to apply to her MBA studies. Eventually, she envisions becoming an entrepreneur who advances sustainability in her community.
Read on for more about Sanjana’s internship experience and her sustainability-focused ambitions for the future.
Sanjana Goel: I’m attracted to the innovative financial tools they use to conserve land. I'm inclined toward an entrepreneurial mindset and the innovation that comes with it. It was also their impact: They’ve protected around 9 million acres of land valued at $8 billion. This return on investment cannot be easily matched.
I’m constantly surrounded by expertise. I'm working with people from the United Nations, the World Wildlife Fund, and the World Bank. We are also having conversations with Goldman Sachs and other major firms. My manager and CFO make sure I’m involved in these conversations. I’m super excited about the level of exposure I’m getting to high-level discussions and business decisions.
I'm working on two major projects: a financial modeling project and a metrics-focused assignment to optimize their impact investing. I’ve never done financial modeling before. Basically, we need to ensure we have a very good financial grasp of how we're going to buy land and give it away. To do that, we need a proper tool that can help us chart different scenarios.
For impact investing, I'm working with the Senior Vice President of the capital investments team and the Senior Vice President of Development to explore different metrics to help us better communicate our impact and how we’re making a difference in society.