Internship Program
Supporting emerging practitioners is a priority for us, and a way of working. Our internship program provides opportunities for students engaged in advanced university study to develop their skills in research, training and technical support.
We’ve built strategic linkages with the University of Melbourne and accepted interns from other universities including Monash University, La Trobe University, RMIT, Swedish Defence University, and Western Sydney University.
Find out more about how we support emerging practitioners, and how to apply for our internship program, here.
Important update: Our internship schedule is currently full and we will not be accepting interns until late 2021. We encourage you to apply again next year.
Current interns

Sarah Nduu
Sarah is currently in her final year studying a Master of International Development at RMIT University. Sarah was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya where she completed a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management at the United States International University Africa. After completing her Bachelor studies, Sarah volunteered with the Kenya Red Cross during the flood crisis; where she developed an interest in the humanitarian sector. Sarah is passionate about working with vulnerable communities, with a focus on human rights, gender, project monitoring and evaluation, women leadership, disaster risk management and preparedness. As an intern with HAG, Sarah is enthusiastic about working on women leadership and the aid sector. Sarah hopes to develop a better understanding on how humanitarian organisations deliver sufficient support and best practices to vulnerable communities by enhancing her knowledge and skills, as well as being exposed to practical issues in the humanitarian and development sectors.

Anna Finter
Anna is in her final semester of the Masters of Development Studies at The University of Melbourne, with her internship at HAG her final component of her degree. She grew up in the Blue Mountains, NSW, and completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney in 2019, after transferring from a Bachelor of Social Work, before moving to Melbourne to begin her Masters studies. Anna has always had an enthusiasm for the humanities, and her studies in Social Work led her to realise her passion for working on a global level, and interest in the role of humanitarian work in both disaster relief and long term-development projects.
Anna is particularly interested in climate change and sustainable development, food security, and refugee protection and rights. She is excited about taking part in research projects and gaining a deeper understanding of project implementation and evaluation. Anna looks forward to learning about the politics and realities of aid through her internship, and being challenged to think critically about humanitarian work.
Past interns

Ippei Kato
Ippei is currently completing his final year of his Master of International Relation at the University of Queensland. Ippei moved to Australia after teaching high school English for four years in Japan, with a Bachelor of Linguistics and Education. Through his career in Japan, Ippei was dedicated to raising students’ awareness of existing global issues as well as motivating them to analyse those matters critically. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Ippei has been volunteering at Red Cross and engaging in the Queensland Emergency Services that provide psychological first aid and updated information for those in quarantine.
Ippei’s areas of interests include humanitarian aid such as implementation of International Humanitarian Law regarding refugee protection and access to education in underdeveloped countries. Ippei’s strong passion lies in building a society where underprivileged populations have access to necessities such as food, shelter, and education. He firmly believes that development of education plays a key role to establish a sustainable society. As a HAG intern, Ippei hoped to gain practical and professional knowledge around humanitarian issues and develop his research skills.

Emma Doherty
Emma is a European at heart: born and raised in Brussels, the capital city of the EU to Dutch and Irish parents. With a Bachelor of Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics from the University of Amsterdam in her pocket, and on track of completing a Master of International Relations at the University of Melbourne, Emma has plentiful experience of working on global issues such as climate change and diversity in the academic sphere. With a passion for understanding the humanitarian sector and how to achieve best practice and efficiency, she is interning at HAG to deepen her knowledge on the varying challenges that the humanitarian sector faces. From a young age, she has volunteered for NGO’s. In 2018, she completed an internship in strategy consulting with a focus on the public sector. Working at HAG combined her two passions: consulting and working in the humanitarian sector.

Gabriel Scomazzon-Ward
Gabriel Scomazzon-Ward (Gabe) has explored his passion for humanitarian involvement through a variety of volunteering and professional roles. He convened Amnesty International’s Individuals at Risk Network that worked to directly address the incarceration of human rights defenders in Turkey and Iran. He also worked on behalf of both the Cancer Council and the Australian Conservation Fundraising for a variety of national campaigns, during his time as a fundraiser and team leader. At present, he is concluding a research and study semester based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where he focused his efforts on women’s rights, as well as the intersection between Indonesian communities and climate change mitigation. Now back in Australia, he is looking to resume his volunteering at St. Vincent’s Crisis Accommodation Centre and complete his Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) at RMIT’s Melbourne campus.
Gabe is conducting his internship with the Humanitarian Advisory Group until July, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East. He hopes to immerse himself in policy analysis, research, advocacy, and humanitarian intervention (specifically in regions such as Israel/Palestine, Syria, and Yemen).

Lauren Blanch
Lauren is about to finish her final semester of her Master of International Development with RMIT University. She draws upon cross-cultural experience that she has primarily gained working with women in the Asia-Pacific Region and hopes to contribute to bettering humanitarian practice for the people she has worked alongside. Lauren has been involved with a number of development programmes and these include projects orchestrated upon Human Trafficking, Gender-Based Violence, the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Sustainable Development within a Post-Disaster context.
With a keen interest in Women, Peace and Security and gendered dimensions to peace-building, Lauren hopes to understand how HAG supports localised efforts in the safeguarding of women, especially with regards to conflict settings. Lauren thinks both critically and innovatively and has no problem challenging both international norms and practice as she works her way through complex humanitarian conundrums.

Robel Tesfamichael
Robel is currently in his final year of studying a Master of International Development at RMIT University, having graduated with a Bachelor in Engineering degree at RMIT in 2014 and gained professional experience as an engineer in materials technology, including work in research & design, infrastructure and CAD programming. Robel’s internship with HAG comprises part of his International Development Research Project. As an engineer entering the aid sector, he values the importance of embracing different perspectives shaped by diverse academic backgrounds in order to improve humanitarian action globally. From his internship, Robel hopes to enhance his theoretical knowledge and learn how to best use his technical and interpersonal skills in real-world situations that will help him to develop an in-depth understanding of today’s aid system, their main drivers and resulting needs and priorities that define local and international humanitarian responses.
Robel’s decision to move into the humanitarian sector stems from his background as an Eritrean and his parents’ story as refugees. He’s always had an interest in aid, politics and international relations, and over time developed the perspective of a Global Citizen, someone who is aware of and understands the wider world and their place in it. Robel cares deeply about solving the most difficult problems society faces today and has a strong drive to help vulnerable communities. As an engineer, Robel is interested in becoming involved in the post-disaster or post conflict recovery and reconstruction of communities, as well as aiming to be involved in community preparedness programmes.

Iñigo is a Filipino currently completing the final component of his Masters of International Relations Degree at La Trobe University. Iñigo has finished his undergraduate degree in International Relations majoring in European Affairs, which he completed in the Philippines. He has worked in the International Development sector as a programme assistant in the Labour Migration and Migration Development Unit (LMMDU) of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – Philippines Mission for four years. He developed a keen interest in the humanitarian sector ever since he started his career assisting in the relief operations during typhoon Haiyan in central Philippines. While in the IOM, he promoted human rights and advocated for the protection of migrant workers and internally displaced persons in countries deep in crises. He also assisted in organising several IOM workshops, round-table discussions, national and international conferences throughout the Philippines and the ASEAN region. Iñigo is a supporter and advocate for peace in Southern Philippines. During his internship with the HAG, he hopes to further develop his research and writing skills as well as project implementation and development in the humanitarian sector.


Ivy Ziqian Wang is completing her final year in her Masters of Public Policy and Management degree at the University of Melbourne. She is originally from China and did her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing in the State University of New York-Buffalo. Ivy moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after completing her Bachelor’s degree and worked in foreign aid mobilisation in the development sector. She has extensive business development experience working with a variety of organisations in Ethiopia and other East African countries in infrastructure development and policy interpretation. Ivy believes in the importance of private sectors’ involvement in the foreign aid and humanitarian aid sector. Ivy’s main humanitarian interests include the private sector’s participation in humanitarian aid and more innovative collaboration among government donors, private businesses, and recipients. As a HAG intern, Ivy hopes to gain more practical industry experience and further develop her research, report writing and project development skills.



Henry Storey is completing his final year in his Masters of Internationals degree at the University of Melbourne. Henry has experience volunteering, interning and working with a variety of organisations in Melbourne including Oaktree, Seven Women and First Nations Legal and Research Services. Henry is currently an Analyst at Foreign Brief and an Editor at Young Australians in International Affairs. Henry’s main humanitarian interests include the politics of humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians in conflict zones. As a HAG intern, Henry hopes to gain practical industry experience and further develop his research, writing and project development skills.

Agnieszka, originally from Vancouver, Canada, joins HAG for her final capstone for the Master of Environment at the University of Melbourne. She completed her BA with Honours in Political Science mainly studying politics and ethics, power and resistance, environmental policy, and globalization, with the intention of pursuing law school. After a month in Hawaii, completing her yoga teacher training, she realized her passion lies in environmental protection and working directly with communities which led her to discovering the Master of Environment. Since moving to Australia, Agnieszka has been volunteering with Climates, a local organization working on climate resilience in the Pacific. She has assisted in preparation of panel discussions and is currently supporting in the development of climate specific training modules for volunteers. While pursing her masters, she has studied adaptation to climate change; looking into the underlying causes of vulnerabilities and the ongoing process of determining the most effective options for adapting to climate change; as well as the political ecology of development, examining western normative assumptions about gender and gender empowerment. She is passionate about the localization of aid, and working directly with communities to elevate voices.










When she is not stuck in Jakarta’s traffic, Tissa enjoys reading non fiction books and watching documentary films to fulfil her curiosity for knowledge.



Ayla Black has recently accepted a policy graduate position at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ayla has also studied Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po in Paris, and has field experiences in India and Timor-Leste, where she worked on the development of gender policy and the implementation of human rights and sexual and gender-based violence programs.


Zoe interned with HAG while completing the Master of International Development degree and worked with the team to conduct research, report findings and coordinate professional development events on behalf of the University of Melbourne. Learn more at linkedin.com/in/ZoeEnticott.



A Canadian national, after two years in Australia Catherine returned to Canada taking up a position as a Policy Advisor in the International Operations department of the Canadian Red Cross. Catherine is currently a Project Manager with Precio Fishbone, providing project and grant management software solutions for international development and humanitarian NGOs. Catherine has a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography, a Master of Arts in International Affairs and has varied experience across the sector having worked in a multilateral funding agency, government, NGOs and in the field.
Humanitarian Advisory Group
info@humanitarianadvisorygroup.org
ABN: 17 164 772 936
17/31 Queen Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia