Zaida Jenkins

The Ohio Education Research Center — a collaborative of the John Glenn College and the Center for Human Resource Research — offers the Public Sector Data Internship Program for students interested in exploring careers in policy research and evaluation. This year, we were very excited to host three interns at state agencies across Columbus. Continue reading to learn more about the work they accomplished this summer.

Our first intern of the week is Zaida Jenkins. Ms. Jenkins is a Master of Public Administration Student at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. This summer, Ms. Jenkins interned with the Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Program Team within the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, analyzing program enrollment data. Her reflections on the internship are shared below:

My name is Zaida Jenkins and I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Management, Leadership, and Policy in May 2023 through the combined BA/MPA Program at the Glenn College. I am currently in my second year of pursuing a Masters of Public Administration. I was drawn to this internship because I wanted more technical and data related experience. I didn’t have any experience with programs besides Microsoft Excel and wanted to add an additional program to my toolkit.

This summer, I am interning with Job and Family Services (JFS) analyzing their data on individuals who are enrolled in the Comprehensive Case Management and Employment Program (CCMEP). CCMEP is a fairly new program, starting in 2016, so my team was interested in enrollment trends. I tracked participant demographics, program funding source, and job placement outcomes and displayed the trends in a Tableau dashboard.

My favorite thing about this internship is the opportunity to fail. The staff at the OERC and JFS are so supportive, encouraging me to try to learn new things – even if it may take me a while. I would never have broken out of my Excel-centered comfort zone if not for this acceptance of the learning process. I also really enjoyed hearing from speakers every Friday. It was a great way to wrap up the week and refresh with the company of others. We heard from people in varying positions, and I have made connections that I will carry beyond this internship.

I definitely recommend this internship to anyone remotely interested in data, even if you have never considered yourself to be a “numbers person.” It’s so important to have people that understand both sides of the equation, and refining data analysis skills could unlock so many doors.