FLARE GOVERNANCE

BELGIUM

FLARE GOVERNANCE

Samuel Ajakaiye, Somerville College, First Year Undergraduate, BA History and Modern Languages (French), Remote working

Work Projects

Throughout the internship, I was

involved in a range of the organisation’s work in my role as Community,

Outreach and Dialogue Co-ordinator.

One of the things I did love about the

internship was that I could carve out

the role I wanted and work on aspects

of Flare’s work that appealed most to me. Most of my work revolved around the development of an interesting upcoming dialogue on football culture, but I also joined at

the tail-end of a dialogue on food systems which I was able to help facilitate.

Over the 6 weeks, I took part in various meetings to develop our dialogue approach; I took

part in outreach to bring together policymakers, professionals and fans and I also

researched and identified key sources of funding that would finance the dialogue.

Throughout all of this, I did a combination of independent and collaborative work which

meant that there was a constant process of constructive feedback within the team. Whilst

the dialogue will take place after my internship has ended, I know I have been able to play

an instrumental role in its development and I can’t wait to see how it goes when it does take place.

Daily Life

It was a remote internship and therefore it consisted of a lot of time in front of my

computer as well as on zoom meetings, which did become a bit draining by the end of the

six weeks. However, the flexibility of the internship meant that I was able to take the

necessary breaks and so I enjoyed the internship throughout. For example, if I had plans in

the evening or made plans to go out, I was able to do so with ease.

I chose to start my day around 10 am, a bit later than my colleagues, and then I would tend

to work until 5 pm with breaks during the day as needed. I then made sure to get out of the

house as much as possible in the evenings and on weekends to counteract the amount of

time that I was spending in front of a screen during the day.

On a few occasions, I was even encouraged to end my day earlier and enjoy the day which

just goes to show how my welfare was taken into consideration. Sport proved very useful

for me and also some trips away with friends here and there gave me time to switch off and

focus on simply enjoying my summer.

Lasting Impressions

One of the biggest things that I have taken from this

internship is the importance of good work culture. The 6

weeks felt like they went so quickly and that was largely

because the people I was working with were great to

(virtually) be around.

Another amazing thing was that my internship

experience gave me much greater confidence in my

ability to write competently for a range of audiences,

having written well-received emails, a newsletter, and a

blog post for the website. I was also able to develop my research skills and my use of the

internet to find key pieces of information. I developed this particularly when it came to

funding research, and it was great identifying grants and initiatives which I knew would be

of great use to the organisation both in the present and future.

Finally, the internship also gave me good insight into dialogue techniques and different

approaches to qualitative research. I may not work for a similar organisation in the future

but, from now on, I will always recognise the importance of genuine, open, and diverse

dialogues in the policymaking process. I am interested in international relations and

development, and I would love to work with organisations like Flare in the future to carry

out effective and change-driven research.

What practical advice would you give to future interns?

My main piece of advice to future interns would be to try and get as wide a range of

experience as possible, particularly if you are a student finishing your first year like me. I

know that I will be able to draw on a range of things that I have done in this internship in

future situations and that’s because I was willing to take up whatever tasks were available. I would also say that you shouldn’t be afraid to seek flexibility if an internship is remote. If

flexibility will help you to enjoy your days more, then that will help you work better so there

is no harm in asking and making a case to your employer!

Masters-level student, MSc Migration Studies, Remote working

Work Projects

I worked on a variety of projects for

Flare, from helping create social

media content to researching and

planning future dialogue events. No

day was the same, and I received

regular support and check-ups from

Andreea. The organisation was truly

great at making me feel involved and giving me support when I needed it, whilst also

allowing me the freedom to work independently. Andreea was also very keen to ensure we

had a good work-life balance, which was greatly appreciated.

As for the work, it was truly varied. I participated in events, helping facilitate at the BMW

Foundation's Equity, Diversity and Belonging, and wrote a blog post on my experience of

this. I also researched current literature and debates around gender to help prepare a

concept note for a future dialogue event. Preparing for this event also involved researching

and contacting potential participants, as well as reaching out to other organisations to see if

they would partner with us. I also helped prepare media content for the organisation. For

this, I helped create social media content such as Instagram posts, as well as creating a blog.

Finally, I also helped critique and provide feedback on Flare's website and how it could be

more effective.

Daily Life

Flare was very flexible with how we worked, as long as the tasks we needed to get done

were done. Consequently, my hours were quite varied - though I tended to start earlier and

finish earlier, as this is when I found I worked best. We caught up regularly via Zoom

meetings - often one each day, dedicated to the different projects we were working on at

the time. I tended to split up the day with exercise as to make sure I wasn't sat at a screen

for too long and tended to work in a separate space to my room so that I had separation of

my work from everyday life. As the work was quite varied, no day was the same but typically

involved one meeting, with tasks set to complete over the course of the day.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed my internship - Flare

was truly a special organisation to work

for. The dedication of all their staff, on

a volunteering basis, really highlighted

to me how much everyone cared and

believed in the mission of the think-

tank. It reaffirmed to me that caring

about the mission of the organisation I work for is vital for me in the future. I felt I gained an

insight into how a think-tank can work and enjoyed the variety of work, given that it was a

small organisation and everyone pitched in.

I also really valued Andreea's attempts to make sure I got as much as I could out of the

experience - from asking what I wanted to work on, what skills I wanted to improve, and

urging me to keep in touch after the internship when I was looking for further work. Whilst I

had already, by the time of the internship, secured funding to do a PhD, it did make me

realise that I wanted in the future to combine an academic role with some policy or research

work at a think-tank, as I want to make sure my research has a practical impact too. For the

short duration it was, the internship was enjoyable and really helped me develop key skills

for a future career.