Throughout the summer, Skandalaris Center Summer Internship Program participants will be writing guest blog posts about their internship experience. Following is one such post.
It’s Like Craigslist, But For Charity!
By April Bagnani (EN ’21)
My name is April Bagnani and I’m a rising Junior at WashU. I’m currently studying Computer Science and Applied Mathematics in the School of Engineering. This summer I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to intern with the new startup Generopolis through the Skandalaris Center Internship program. This has quickly thrown me directly into the St. Louis startup community and I’ve gotten an incredible first-hand look at how a company begins and just how hard entrepreneurs work every day.
Generopolis is a company that strongly believes everyone has the power to give generously to their favorite charities; even without having to empty out their wallet. Generopolis works like a combination of Craigslist and Ebay, where sellers have the opportunity to get creative in making listings, posting anything from personal tutoring to dog-walking to clothes that no longer fit them. Then, users can make purchases directly within the site and the proceeds of each sale go to a nonprofit of the seller’s choosing. In addition, Generopolis provides a platform for local business to participate in this giving opportunity too, allowing them to integrate their listings and overall progress into their social media feed so they can proudly show off their generosity to the world. It makes me very happy that I get to work for a company so committed to their positive mission and that has a direct, effective impact on the St. Louis community. (Go check it out! At: generopolis.com)
My work with Generopolis is mainly on the web development side. Since the site is quickly growing with users and the company is quickly coming up with new ideas, it is my job to add more complex functionality to the website. I have access to all the back-end code and get to edit and test changes that I can see directly affect the website. I can make changes to all aspects of the site: embedding videos, changing background colors, letting users save a listing as a draft, adding buttons, etc. I have full creative control and total power over how the website works (and I’m only an intern!).
My favorite part about working for a startup is that every employee wears many hats. Not only am I learning how to fully engineer a website, I also go to meetings with new nonprofits we’re looking to partner with and I go door-to-door delivering sales pitches to local business about our upcoming big fundraising campaign. I get to directly experience all the moving parts of a company and get a holistic view of what different types of employees do! While a lot of these things push me way outside of my comfort zone, there is no better way to learn than by doing. And, there is definitely no better way to learn how to be a software developer, designer, marketer, saleswoman, and entrepreneur than working for a startup!