Two years after USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) launched its collaboration with USAID’s University Scholarship Program (USP) to provide students from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU) with internships, CSP has expanded the program to include hundreds of undergraduate students and graduate fellows from nine additional Lebanese universities, partners of USAID’s Higher Education Capacity Development Project (HECD). By the end of 2022, CSP had placed 120 interns across seven USAID implementing partners in Lebanon, twenty-eight of whom had secured full-time jobs as a result. Nael Nasr, a recent graphic design graduate from the American University of Science and Technology (AUST) was the first intern from the nine additional universities to be engaged by CSP as a graphic designer within CSP’s communications team. After successfully completing his six-month internship, on January 1, 2023, Nael will start his work as a short-term graphic design consultant, providing him with his first full-time job opportunity since his graduation from university.
“I wouldn’t have grown and learned as much as I have without the constant feedback, support, guidance, and mentorship of the CSP team. I am very grateful for this experience that allowed me to continue this journey with USAID/CSP as a short-term consultant,” said Nael Nasr, AUST graphic design graduate.