Career Corner: Global Interests Are All in the Family
The Ginsburg family: Sue (second from left) and her children, Nathaniel, Melanie and Jeremy.
Her work, first with 3M and then with a commercial law firm affiliation, drew Sue Ginsburg into the international marketplace.
“I love meeting people from other cultures, learning about their cultures, connecting the dots, helping expand business internationally, and figuring out how to successfully do business together,” says Ginsburg, who now heads GrowthLynx, a Minneapolis marketing firm. As her global affinity grew, she didn’t leave it at the office. She has carried her international interests home, into her children’s classrooms, and now to UW–Madison.
“I always spoke to my children about where I was going, and what it was like, always emphasizing there were as many similarities as there were differences,” she says.
She brought her international friends and colleagues home and into her children’s classrooms. She also traveled with her children — Nathaniel, Jeremy, and Melanie — to Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and the family has hosted exchange students from Australia, Brazil, and Ecuador.
“I believe this exposure helped expand their horizons beyond the United States,” Ginsburg explains.
In turn, the Ginsburg children brought along their global interests as each enrolled at UW–Madison. The oldest, Nathaniel, was attracted to the UW by the academic opportunities only a few hours’ drive from his Minnesota home. During his junior year, he studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic. After graduating with a degree in economics and philosophy, he taught English for a year in South Korea. He is now focused on starting an internet-based business and is moving to New York City.
Jeremy, a junior majoring in economics, plans to study in Ghana, where New Seed International, a student organization that he leads, helped to fund an orphanage. “I also chose Ghana because I love drumming and dancing, and I wanted to experience the Western African culture,” he says.
Melanie, a freshman who has yet to declare her major, joined the Wisconsin International Scholars (WISc) Program, an internationally focused enrichCareer Corner Global Interests Are All in the Family The Ginsburg Family: Sue, Nathaniel, Jeremy, and Melanie 7 ment program for a select group of undergraduates.
“It was important to me that my children know they are global citizens,” Sue Ginsburg says, “and it makes me very proud to see how they have each incorporated international experiences into their learning both within and outside the classroom.”
Meanwhile, she continues to pursue her own international interests. For the past five years, she has been involved with First Step Initiative, a nonprofit that provides microfinance loans to women entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“When learning about the WISc Program that Melanie is in, I was struck by the global opportunities available for UW–Madison students,” she says. She decided to add to those by working with the International Internship Program (IIP) in the Division of International Studies to create internships that enable students to learn about microfinance in the real world. IIP was launched in 2010 with a mission to “identify, cultivate and promote high-quality internship opportunities that advance the professional training of UW–Madison undergraduate students; foster global competency; and reinforce academic learning through practical application.”
Internships can be overseas or U.S.-based, but internationally focused, as the one Ginsburg helped create with First Step Initiative.
Parents who have ideas for internships for undergraduate students and are interested in creating opportunities may contact IIP Director Maj Fischer at iip@international.wisc.edu.
—Kerry G. Hill, Division of International Studies