Eight COM alums—successful communicators across fields—are giving the next generation a boost. By establishing dedicated funds, they’re helping students pursue internships without having to worry about the financial burdens of housing, commuting or living expenses. COM/365 spoke with three students about their summer 2025 internships and the support that made them possible.

Kyla Foreman-Andrade (’27)

TV and podcast intern at America’s Test Kitchen, supported by the COM Fellows Fund

Kyla Foreman-Andrade’s interest in filmmaking was sparked when she started recording her brother playing football for his highlight reels. Now, she dreams of one day having her own production company—a goal that her summer internship helped solidify.

Foreman-Andrade received funding from the COM Fellows Fund to gain experience in TV and podcast production as an intern at America’s Test Kitchen. The money allowed the North Carolina native to stay in Boston for the summer. “It’s very expensive to live in Boston,” she says. “Getting the fellowship meant that I worried a little bit less about housing and food, and I could actually focus on my internship and doing a good job.”

At America’s Test Kitchen, which produces a 30-minute cooking show that airs on public television, Foreman-Andrade was the only intern on a small team responsible for the program and Proof, the company’s podcast. Her tasks included reviewing edits of the show and helping with its color correcting, doing line and structural edits of the podcast and helping plan the release schedules for those programs. She also helped out on the show’s set for a week—purchasing props, helping with licensing music and liaising with sponsors.

Getting the fellowship meant… I could actually focus on my internship and doing a good job.

—Kyla Foreman-Andrade

“I definitely got more interested in producing,” Foreman-Andrade says. “It was interesting to work on an actual production and realize that it was a great mix of rational thinking and logistics and creativity.”

Saya Ghinea (’26)

Crisis communications and reputation management fellow at Ketchum, supported by the Kotcher-Ketchum Fellowship Fund

Saya Ghinea spent her summer in the New York office of global PR firm Ketchum as a crisis communications and reputation management fellow. She worked with clients including Kellogg and Clorox, helping with research, pitches, client presentations and event planning.

“It was amazing,” she says. “That’s the word I keep using to describe it—it truly was amazing.” She especially enjoyed the opportunity to work with major clients: “I went from working a prior internship with smaller influencers to companies that everyone knows, like Starbucks.”

The internship also fulfilled her dream of working in New York City. “Growing up, I knew that’s something I wanted to do,” she says. “It was a rough commute, but every single day, I was so excited to wake up and go.”

Ghinea was able to commute from her home in New Jersey, thanks to the Kotcher-Ketchum Fellowship Fund, which provided $3,000 to support expenses on top of the paid fellowship. “It’s not cheap to get from Jersey to the city, so it was nice not to have to worry about my bank account.”

I went from working a prior internship with smaller influencers to companies that everyone knows, like Starbucks.

—Saya Ghinea

Ghinea says that each day of the fellowship provided learning opportunities. She was also thrilled to see her work put to use, such as when she prepared talking points and slide decks for a presentation at a symposium hosted by a client. “I made introductions for people to read,” she says. “I wrote out scripts for them. Being able to go to this event space, see everyone looking at the PowerPoint slides that I made—it was very rewarding.”

Andrew DiBiasio (’26)

Multimedia intern at the Boston Globe, supported by the COM Fellows Fund

Andrew DiBiasio spent his summer as a multimedia intern in the Boston Globe’s audience engagement department, thanks to support from the COM Fellows Fund. He was tasked with growing the Globe’s digital readership through social media, search engine optimization and newsletter analytics.

One of the best parts of the internship, he says, was the face time he got with journalists. “In the newsroom, you really can’t push out a story without talking to the audience team,” he says. “They get your story out there and get it heard.”

DiBiasio had wondered what kind of role would allow him to draw on his skills in journalism and advertising. His Globe experience helped him see one way that’s possible. Rather than write and edit stories, he says, “I’m more interested in getting the stories heard.” 

I developed this sense where I could just read the headline and immediately know which one of our platforms the story would go on.

—Andrew DiBiasio

During the internship, he quickly learned what kinds of stories did well on the various social media platforms. “I developed this sense where I could just read the headline [of a story] and immediately know which one of our platforms the story would go on,” he says.

The COM Fellows funding helped DiBiasio live in Boston for the summer. “It was ironic, because I would be posting about stories that discussed how expensive it was to live in Boston, and that was my main worry,” he says. “The stipend also opened opportunities for me to explore connections at the Globe. I had more time to do coffee chats with people and go to networking events.”

None of that would have been possible without the funding, he says. “Hopefully one day, if I’m successful enough, I can return the favor, because it gave me something that is quite invaluable.”

---

PAYING IT FORWARD

Eight COM alumni have used their gifts to make internships more accessible to current students.