This summer, I was fortunate enough to intern for the iCivics Marketing team, and I’m even luckier to continue my position this fall. I was offered this opportunity through the Second Day Impact Fellowship.

I’m a second-year Advertising Master’s student at The University of Texas at Austin. My interests lie at the intersection of immersive technology and experiences, advertising, and media analytics. In simple terms, I enjoy researching and problem-solving in order to tell genuine, authentic stories. In many ways, this is what I do as the Marketing Intern for iCivics.

In my role at iCivics, I support the marketing team on a variety of projects, including social media engagement and analytics, market and user research, and paid media. My favorite project that I’ve worked on during my internship is a monthly social media report where I track metrics on our social platforms to ultimately strategize how to engage more with our audience and vice versa. At first glance, the report looks like a bunch of numbers—and it kind of is. But there’s a story behind the metrics that is important to the goals of our team and the mission of iCivics.

Social media, much like how we use it for our personal lives, allows for two-way communication between iCivics and the teachers we support. These platforms allow us to share our story, including the history of iCivics, resources, stories and events, and then educators engage with us through likes, reactions, comments and even messages. At the end of each month, when we analyze the social media report, it’s another way for us to listen to the needs of our teachers. We gather insights, based on metrics, that inform us what aspects of the iCivics story are most useful for teachers throughout the school year; ultimately, this allows us to better serve the teachers and the iCivics mission altogether.

One of my favorite things about my time at iCivics and working with the amazing marketing team is the freedom to gain knowledge and skills outside of my ongoing projects. For example, before joining iCivics, I didn’t have experience managing Facebook groups. Now, I post in the iCivics Educators Facebook Group—a digital community for teachers to ask questions, give advice, and collaborate—multiple times a week to encourage two-way conversations between the organization and the educators we support. The mentorship and encouragement I’ve received to grow my knowledge truly speaks to the mission of iCivics as a whole.

I look forward to continuing to be a part of such an impactful, flourishing organization. I’m excited to meet and collaborate with new interns starting in the fall. I’m even brainstorming what I’ll share at the next Intern Talent Show!

Written by Maria Owens

Maria Owens is a second year master’s student in Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. She joined iCivics in summer 2022 as the Marketing Intern. She recently got a new bike and loves exploring new trails around Austin and just being outside. She has two pets– a one year old pup and a geriatric cat who both keep her busy.