World’s Coolest Internship: Sharing How State Supports Global Enterprise
World’s Coolest Internship: Sharing How State Supports Global Enterprise
Excerpt from: DipNote | By: Kidd Duhe Solomon | April 1, 2016
![State Department Intern Kidd Duhe Solomon poses for a photo. [ Courtesy of K.D. Solomon]](https://thescarbroughgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Capture-4.png)
State Department Intern Kidd Duhe Solomon poses for a photo. [ Courtesy of K.D. Solomon]
The website I presented on at the State Department’s Global Chief of Mission Conference, the Global Enterprise Registration portal (GER.co), seeks to promote simple online business registration procedures to promote entrepreneurship, reduce corruption, and help businesses around the world join the formal economy. In my first college international development course, we learned about how people who live in systems without formal procedures are often not able to accomplish everything they would like to achieve. We also discussed the importance of working with local populations when trying to solve a development problem. GER.co combines these ideas by capturing the natural entrepreneurial spirit and inspiring governments to create an easy route for businesses to formalize. It is a rare internship where students can directly work on combatting the key development challenges they studied in an academic environment, but that is exactly what I am doing at the Department of State.
![The homepage of the Global Entreprise Registration Portal (GER.co), a joint initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), and the U.S. Department of State (DOS). [GER.co website]](https://thescarbroughgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Capture-5.png)
The homepage of the Global Entreprise Registration Portal (GER.co), a joint initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), and the U.S. Department of State (DOS). [GER.co website]
So you can only imagine that the prospect of briefing a room full of ambassadors was a nerve-wracking experience. To me, GER.co is a tool to promote global prosperity and one I thought our U.S. embassies could benefit from being better informed about. However, following Vice President Biden with my power-point presentation was not an easy feat. Imagine my surprise when the Ambassadors laughed at my jokes, nodded in agreement, and thunderously applauded at the end of my presentation. When I finished I was overwhelmed with a sense of pride. Not pride for myself, but pride for the people who make up the Department of State. These individuals care about the fate of the globe and seek to discover any way they can help, whether that means listening to the Vice President or an intern.
![Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the 2016 Chief of Missions Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2016. [State Department Photo]](https://thescarbroughgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Capture-6.png)
Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the 2016 Chief of Missions Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2016. [State Department Photo]
About the Author: Kidd Duhe Solomon currently serves in the Office of Investment Affairs and is a student at Tulane University studying International Relations. Kidd Duhe hopes to pursue a career in the Foreign Service to assist in the promotion of the capabilities of persons across the globe.
For more information:
• Visit Global Enterprise Registation for more information on this initative.
• Read other DipNote blogs on economic diplomacy.
• Follow the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs on Twitter at @EconEngage and on Facebook to learn more about the State Department’s efforts to advance economic diplomacy.