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Program Spotlight: East Tennessee State University 14-Day Internship in Lisbon, Portugal 2025

Writer's picture: GCCGCC

East Tennessee State University (ETSU) collaborated with Global Career Center (GCC) on a 2-week J-Term internship program in Lisbon, Portugal. Below is a short recap of the program. We will add a longer case study to this blog post in the near future.


Of 50 ETSU applicants from the Honors college, 13 students across multiple disciplines were chosen by the university to participate in this intensive, project-based internship*. GCC received resumes and essays from each student and conducted a placement meeting with each individual student. This information helped GCC to identify students’ interest and group them into small working teams.


In Lisbon, GCC partnered with The Lakhani Group (TLG) and the Portugal Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (PHKCC) to host the students with projects ranging from event planning, HR and Business Development, to Interior Design/Architecture, Data Analytics, and Marketing. TLG hosted 10 talented students broken up into teams of 2-3 students, and PHKCC hosted an equally talented team of 3 students. Each project was designed specifically for each group, and had key milestones and final deliverables for the students to meet.

Both undergraduate and graduate students were able to work in various departments within each organization, contributing to impactful projects and gaining valuable insights into the organization's operations.


The 14-day program emphasized skill building, teamwork, and hands-on experience with real-world challenges, offering students a transformative multicultural learning experience. Each team delivered a final presentation highlighting their work and recommendations. At least 3 groups’ recommendations were going to be implemented immediately. One student was asked if she would be willing to return during the summer and continue working on the project she started.





ETSU Assistant Dean, Dr. Karla Leybold, and GCC Co-Founder, Chris McKenzie, traveled to Lisbon during the second week of the program to meet with the organizations and students, to observe and gain feedback as to how the program was going. Kendall, an International Affairs major, shared feedback about her experience: 


"The experience I had with The Lakhani Group in Lisbon, Portugal was lifechanging. 


On a team with two fellow business development interns, we explored the Golden Visa and Venture Capital market in Portugal. During my short time with the company, I gained essential business and corporate experience in a unique environment. 


I’m incredibly thankful to TLG Global (The Lakhani Group) for being welcomed into their community, as well as the Global Career Center (GCC) and ETSU Honors college for this opportunity!"


Chris also had a series of meetings with future host organizations in the Fintech space, renewable and sustainable energy start-ups, public health and social responsibility organizations, and one law firm. The present and future are bright for Lisbon internships!


An experience in Portugal, and Lisbon specifically, would not be complete without history, food, Fado, tiles, and pastries. The students had the opportunity to experience as much or as little of Lisbon's culture as they desired. Our on-site Program Coordinator, Filipa, seemed to have a genuine connection with the students and they packed as much into the two weeks as they possibly could.  This particular group took full advantage and epitomized the saying “work hard, play hard”.


A new program is never without its challenges. During the placement process, we learned true medical and healthcare policy placements are difficult because of the need for conversational Portuguese language skills, in order to connect closely with patients and policy makers and government. Our pivot in this instance was to find similar placements and projects in other fields, knowing that the students would gain transferable skills to their chosen field. We also took some time to further define/refine expectations of our host organizations in an effort to find a balance between work, education, and free time. Other challenges were common to international travel; weather delays, language barriers, adapting to a new culture and pace of day-to-day life. Both the ETSU and GCC staff provided students with many different channels for support and communication.


Group shot of students and staff in Lisbon

Kudos to Dean Teller and Assistant Dean Leybold for making this dream a reality for their students. Their ideas lead to an affordable, repeatable, and scalable program that meets the needs of their students, while aligning with the broader international strategic goals of the Honors College and University. BUT, all the credit in the world should go to the 13 amazing students. Portugal had a profound impact on them, yet Chris was able to witness first-hand the impact they had on Portugal.



* A project-based internships differs from a traditional internship in that the student(s) focus on a specific task and deliverable over a short time period (usually 2-4 weeks). Whereas a traditional internship would expose a student to many areas within the field of study over a longer period of time (8 weeks or more).


Editor's Note: Check back periodically for updates to this blog post, with more in-depth case studies to come!




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