UNH Today

Skye Loto is passionate about businesses that focus on environmental and social good. When she was looking for an internship to help her grow her hands-on experience in this area, she discovered the Semester for Impact program.  

Semester for Impact is offered by the College for Social Innovation in Boston, Massachusetts, and pairs UNH undergraduates with Granite State organizations to support projects related to positive environmental and social impact. Semester for Impact is a companion program to Semester in the City, offered through the Changemaker Collaborative.  

“我本来很想参加这个城市的学期, 但我在校园里有一门经济学课必须亲自去上,” Loto says. “‘影响学期’让我得以留在达勒姆, take that course, undertake an internship and receive all 16 credits that I needed for the semester, which I thought was beneficial and very flexible.”    

洛托是纽约大学分析经济学专业的大三学生. Paul College of Business and Economics and political science at the College of Liberal Arts, is one of four students participating in the first Semester for Impact at UNH.  

Loto is doing her internship with 新罕布什尔州企业社会责任协会 (NHBSR), a nonprofit that brings together socially responsible organizations from around the state. She works remotely with NHBSR for 30 hours a week while earning a semester's worth of credits.   

她在整个学期都获得了12个学分, eight from her internship, and four from the College for Social Innovation’s “Becoming a Problem Solver” course. 洛托还选修了另外四个学分的经济学课程, totaling 16 credits for the semester.    

她在实习期间建立的关系也让洛托知道了 UNH B Impact Clinic, a partnership between NHBSR and UNH that allows students to serve as consultants for regional companies working to assess their social and environmental impacts, 她将在2025年秋季学期参加哪些课程.   

As a Social Innovation Fellow for NHBSR, Loto’s major project is preparing the Measure What Matters NH reports for businesses, 需要用微软Excel进行数据分析和制作图表.      

The reports serve as a practical assessment tool that businesses can use to benchmark their sustainability initiatives against industry standards, 了解他们的业务优势和挑战领域, 并获得深入的数字和视觉上引人注目的进展报告.    

“公司无法完成整个B级影响评估, for whatever reason, can take the (Measure What Matters) survey and request an individualized report that shows how they compare to similar businesses in the six different categories of sustainability, along with individualized recommendations about how they can improve their score.”     

Zeina Eyceoz, program manager at NHBSR, has been mentoring Loto during her internship and works with her to analyze and interpret the Measure What Matters survey results. They review the data, identifying key trends and insights that could inform survey takers in making strategic decisions, according to Eyceoz.   

“During her time with us, Skye consistently displayed dedication, insight and skill in presenting, analyzing and interpreting data,” Eyceoz says. “Her unwavering attention to detail and thorough exploration of tools and resources notably elevated the caliber and comprehensiveness of our reports, providing members with valuable insights and actionable recommendations to facilitate informed decision-making progress in their sustainability journey."  

Loto的角色还包括通过Zoom与企业沟通, email outreach and attending NHBSR events.    

洛托说:“我喜欢实习中建立人脉的部分. “我最近参加了一个同伴影响网络会议, and I met sustainability professionals from some of the biggest companies in New Hampshire, and they were incredible.”    

洛托承认，她最初认为“影响学期”是一种简历制作工具, but it has since turned into an experience that has taught her about herself and prepared her for future professional opportunities. 她鼓励其他学生也来看看这个项目.    

“它帮助我获得了我一直在寻找的实习经验. 作为一名大二学生，我很幸运能有一个实习机会. It's been incredible to be so valued by my mentors, even at a young age,” Loto says. “人们绝对应该抓住‘学期影响力’这个机会. UNH has so many opportunities to gain real-world experience, and this is a great option.”   

Loto, a Paul Scholar实习结束后，她不打算放慢脚步. She’ll travel to London during the summer to take a four-credit course at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She plans to study abroad at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and intern at the Washington Center in Washington, D.C., in 2025.    

Loto came to Paul College intending to major in finance but decided on analytical economics because of her interest in economic policy and math. She took on her additional major of political science because she had room in her schedule, 这两个专业代表了政府与经济的交叉, 这两点都符合她在美联储工作的目标.    

“I want to help people,” Loto says. “The economy is what makes the world go around, 我希望能够帮助它尽可能地保持稳定.”