Our Fall Interns
We're excited to welcome our fall interns to the Make-A-Wish team! We look forward to seeing all they accomplish over the next several months. They are excited to support various departments while ultimately helping us grant more wishes.
Haley Stults
This fall, Haley is working as a volunteer services department intern. In this role, she assists with processing wish assignments, communicating with volunteers and executing large community projects and events. She is a grad student at the University of Minnesota.
Haley’s favorite place in the world is her grandmother’s house because it reminds her of her favorite childhood memories with her family. Her parents, grandparents, and siblings inspire her to do what she’s passionate about every day. One of the things Haley is most passionate about is helping others, and following her passion led her to Make-A-Wish.
Audrey Balch
Audrey is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University and currently pursuing a master’s degree in Child Life at Texas Woman’s University. In her free time, Audrey writes and records her own music. She lives in Burleson, Texas and is working as a wish discovery intern this fall. In this role, Audrey works with Make-A-Wish families to brainstorm potential wish ideas.
Audrey is also a former wish kid! In 2016 when Audrey’s wish was granted, she and her family were able to go on the trip of a lifetime. Now as an intern, she is able to experience the other side of wish granting. Audrey loves having the opportunity to give families the same kind of life-long memories she has from her wish.
“The feeling you get when you make a child's wish come true is indescribable. I am so grateful to get to be a part of this journey with the families. Every time I discover a child's wish, I feel accomplished, kind of like a superhero!” she said.
Caroline Wilkerson
Caroline is a Cum Laude graduate of Vanderbilt University. This fall, Caroline is working on the Medical Intake and Coordination team. In this role, she will support Make-A-Wish by helping to ensure all wishes are medically safe and appropriate through the medical approval process.
Caroline’s favorite place in the world is the Minnesota Boundary Waters because of her fond memories of canoe camping there. She is always willing to try new things, which is one of the reasons she wants to learn more about beekeeping. Her goal is to eventually keep bees on her own!
Camila Gonzalez
Camila is a program team intern. In this role, she works with wish families to help plan their wishes, complete paperwork, and ensure the wish-granting process runs smoothly. Camila is a student at El Paso Community College.
Camila’s favorite place is Puerto Vallarta, Mexico because she loves spending time with her family. When she’s there with them she feels incredibly peaceful. If Camila could switch places with anyone, she would choose Checo Perez, the Formula 1 racer, because she is obsessed with watching Formula 1 races and he’s her favorite racer of all time.
Anna Blackwell
Anna is a Southern Methodist University junior from Prosper studying business analytics and nonprofit practices. She has previously worked on the Development and Events team, but is currently transitioning into the Volunteer Services Department. There, Anna will be working on revamping the Make-A-Wish website and creating surveys to optimize volunteer experiences.
Anna is also a former wish kid! In 2017 Anna’s wish to play H-O-R-S-E with Dirk Nowitzki was granted!
“As a former wish kid, Make-A-Wish gave me the hope I needed to get off the couch and finish my fight with cancer. It's an honor to be a part of the team and to help grant life-changing wishes like mine,” she said.
Jessica Galaz
Jessica is a welcome and onboarding intern this semester. In this role, she welcomes wish families to Make-A-Wish and serves as the first point of contact with the Foundation. This is Jessica’s second semester interning at Make-A-Wish North Texas. She is currently a senior at the University of North Texas, studying Human Development and Family Sciences. Jessica has always been passionate about working with children, but it wasn’t until after her experience of being hospitalized that she realized she wanted to work as a Child Life Specialist. She knew she wanted to impact children’s lives in the same way her Child Life Specialist had impacted hers.
Jessica is from a small town called Mineola, Texas. She has lived there her whole life and loves being home with family and friends. A fun fact about Jessica is that she loves Marvel movies. She has watched every Marvel movie in order and is now working on watching all of the Marvel shows in order.
“Interning for Make-A-Wish allowed me to connect with families, and witness heartwarming moments. I am very excited to continue my internship experience this fall hoping to make many more memories and continue to grow my professional skills,” she said.
Pendeza Mulibea
Pendeza is a Mission Integration intern at Make-A-Wish North Texas. In this role, she has the opportunity to support a variety of different departments by interviewing wish families, entering data, and collecting photos from wish experiences. Pendeza is a student at Texas Christian University.
Pendeza is inspired most by her family and is passionate about mentorship and community. If she could switch places with anyone for a day, she would choose professional marathoner and Olympian Eliud Kipchoge.
Emma Bernshausen
Emma is a junior at Texas Christian University double majoring in Political Science and Strategic Communications. This semester she is the Marketing and Communications intern. She is responsible for developing content for the Make-A-Wish North Texas website and social media, as well as writing news releases and wish stories.
At TCU, Emma is a member of several on-campus organizations including Chi Omega and the TCU pre-law society. Throughout her experience with Chi Omega, she was able to learn about Make-A-Wish and decided she wanted to get more involved.
“I’m so excited to be interning with an incredible organization like Make-A-Wish. I’m looking forward to getting to know the Make-A-Wish team and help with all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating magical experiences for the most deserving families,” she said.
Click here if you are interested in learning more about interning with Make-A-Wish!