Hi, my name is Alison Leung, and I am interning at Luminalt this summer. I grew up in Noe Valley, San Francisco and will be entering my second year as a business student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo this fall.
I discovered this internship with Luminalt through Summer Jobs +, a nationwide call to connect youth with employment opportunities. San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee joined the employment initiative and partnered with MatchBridge, a San Francisco youth employment program by United Way, to provide 5000 San Francisco youth with jobs. In addition to onsite work, MatchBridge holds weekly seminars to teach about different job industries and to develop career-related skills. With the guidance of my internship supervisor, Claire Hill, Director of Marketing, I have learned different aspects of marketing such as press releases, website design, and boosting company visibility.
On Tuesday, July 10, I participated in the fifth annual Intersolar conference, North America’s premier exhibition and conference for the solar industry. For four days, over 75,000 professionals from the solar industry congregate in San Francisco to display their latest technology and share information. Before the conference opening, I was lucky to meet Mayor Lee, and share a bit of my experience at Luminalt with him. During his speech, Lee spoke about the importance of clean technology and mentioned Luminalt as one of The City’s premier clean tech businesses. Following Luminalt’s introduction, Mayor Lee gave a shout out to me, “the intern [he] met before the conference, who is participating in the Summer Jobs + program.” This shout out was very surprising and I was delighted not only to be mentioned, but to be mentioned in association with Luminalt.
At Intersolar, I learned international industry trends and of goals to make solar installation as easy and accessible as installing a television. Following the mayor’s conference opening, I explored the exhibition floors packed with booths marketing everything under the sun: photo voltaic manufacturers, energy monitoring programs, panel mounting equipment, and even solar powered carousel toys. Three completely filled exhibition floors of Moscone Center showed me what a massive industry solar technology is and I am glad to be involved in this rapidly advancing field.
Working at Luminalt has given me insight into the solar industry and has provided me with critical skills that I can carry with me to other work sectors. I am confident that my experience at Luminalt has brightened my horizon and I plan to continue working hard toward my future.