For weeks, Adelaide Howard’s work as a media intern at Weber Shandwick had been mostly invisible: media lists, researching creators, public relations (PR) packages, and tracking coverage. Then she stood in Toronto Pearson Airport and watched Breakfast Television film live, interviewing travellers, at an Air Canada event she had helped prepare.
“After spending so much time of my internship researching, planning, preparing all these behind-the-scenes, it was really exciting to see everything come to real life,” she said.
Howard, an HBA '27 candidate, was one of four HBA students who shared what they learned from their summer internship experiences. Arissa Nanji worked on health innovation projects in Alberta. Isaac Cayen helped build an artificial intelligence (AI) scheduling tool for Canadian Tire dealers. And Emma Zhang used coffee chats and conversations with colleagues to learn more about finance.
Adapting quickly
Howard’s days at Weber Shandwick could shift from research to logistics to follow-up, depending on what a client needed. She worked across accounts including Air Canada, Chevrolet, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola, helping source bloggers, media outlets, and influencers for campaigns, send PR packages to creators, and track coverage once events were over.
She said the biggest adjustment was learning to shift quickly when priorities changed.
“Sometimes you need to put down one task you're working on and start up a new task based on the client's ask,” she said.
As the agency’s only intern, Howard also made a point of getting to know people across teams.
“Ivey's emphasis on participation and collaboration really helped me to collaborate and speak up during meetings, and also learn about the business beyond just the accounts I was on, and ask those really important questions,” she said.
An Ivey and MIT dual-degree student, Howard said the summer gave her a clearer sense of where she may want to build a career: where business and communications meet, and likely in-house rather than at an agency.
"I'd love to build and grow within a company, whether it's corporate communications or marketing or corporate affairs or even sales," she said. "I think every internship comes with so many lessons and learning opportunities, and I'm really grateful for the one that I had."
Building from the ground up
At Health Cities, Arissa Nanji worked across several areas of health innovation. As a business development intern, Nanji researched emerging health-care companies, mapped the organization’s reach across Alberta, helped with grant proposals, and built criteria for evaluating submissions.
One of her biggest projects was reorganizing Health Cities’ digital environment, strengthening document management practices, and training colleagues on the new structure so the system would actually be used.
“A big part of this work was preparing the organization for future AI integration by creating a stronger digital foundation, because AI is only as useful as the information it can access,” she said.
Another highlight was the unveiling of the Health Innovation Network (HIN), which brings together people working to improve health care across Alberta. Nanji saw that event from the planning stages to the final details on the day itself.
"It was exciting to watch the room fill with people from across Alberta's health ecosystem and see them exchanging ideas and perspectives," she said. "As someone who came into the summer eager to learn more about the health-care space, those conversations gave me an early glimpse into just how many different people and perspectives contribute to improving the system."
She said the experience also changed how she thinks about problem-solving.
“I learned that the best solution is not always the most complicated one,” she said. “Especially when introducing a new process or system, something only creates value if people can understand it, use it, and realistically incorporate it into how they work.”
By the end of the summer, Nanji said she had a clearer picture of what it can look like to bring business and health care together. She credits Ivey’s case method and classroom participation with helping her feel comfortable forming a point of view and explaining her reasoning, particularly in team meetings and presentations.
“I already knew I was interested in both health care and business, but working at Health Cities showed me what it can actually look like to bring those two interests together,” she said. “It confirmed that I want to continue exploring roles where I can help turn ideas into action and contribute to improving health care.”
(Photo above) Arissa Nanji, front left, with the Health Cities team
Learning from setbacks
Isaac Cayen joined Canadian Tire Corporation in Toronto as an AI activation student on the Dealer AI Initiatives team, which builds tools for the dealers who own the company’s stores. His work spanned project management, product development, and communication.
Early in his internship, he built Excel models and proofs of concept. As his internship progressed, he began running meetings, coordinating with different teams, presenting updates, and bringing material forward to senior leaders for approval.
One example was a proof of concept for a web app that could help dealers with labour scheduling. Using store data and AI, the tool generated schedules based on dealer operating preferences. After several weeks of development, Cayen presented it to senior dealers for feedback.
“The feedback was positive and accurate, and we had a solid foundation,” he said.
His term ended before the project was fully implemented, but the work is continuing.
Cayen said he particularly appreciated a culture where he could make mistakes and learn from them.
“I often learned more when I was wrong, rather than right,” he said. “Success was always rewarding, but when I made a mistake or a project did not go as planned, I had more opportunities to get feedback and improve.”
Although Cayen had previously worked at Canadian Tire retail locations, he said experiencing the corporate side exposed him to a much wider range of teams and career paths.
“I got to meet so many great people who genuinely care about the company they work for,” he said.
(Photo above) Isaac Cayen at Canadian Tire Corporation
Getting comfortable asking questions
At TD Securities, Emma Zhang spent the summer as a summer analyst on the Sustainable Finance & Advisory team within Corporate & Investment Banking. She focused on sustainability and ESG due diligence while getting exposure to the bank’s broader CIB operations.
For Zhang, some of the most useful learning came from simply asking. She said she cold-emailed several senior-level bankers and traders for coffee chats and was genuinely surprised by how many agreed to it.
“The insights from those conversations aren't something you can find anywhere else,” she said. “Don't be afraid to just ask. People are far more willing to help than you'd expect.”
Those conversations gave her opportunities to learn about both Global Markets and Corporate & Investment Banking.
“There was so much about the industry I hadn't known before starting my term,” she said.
She said her Ivey experience gave her the confidence to approach people and make the most of those conversations.
“Hard skills can be taught anywhere, but the ability to hold a genuine conversation is something I really developed at Ivey, and it carried directly into the workplace,” she said. “Even as early as Ivey O-Week, learning to introduce myself clearly to section mates laid the groundwork for the career conversations I later had at TD.”
Zhang also appreciated meeting Ivey alumni at the bank, who shared their paths from HBA1 recruitment to director-level roles.
A highlight of the summer was more personal – the friendship she built with a fellow intern. They grabbed a sweet treat together each day and even watched Ed Sheeran perform from a box suite through TD.
(Photo above) Emma Zhang
