Internship Spotlight: Isabella Solano - Maison des Amériques

I am deeply grateful to the Arts Student Employment Fund (ASEF) for supporting my internship with La Maison des Amériques this summer. This opportunity allowed me to immerse myself in meaningful community work without the added pressure of balancing another paid position. Thanks to ASEF’s support, I was able to dedicate myself fully to the projects and responsibilities entrusted to me, making my time at La Maison both productive and personally enriching.

I am currently completing a Bachelor of Arts at McGill University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Social Entrepreneurship. As a Latina immigrant myself, I have a strong personal and academic interest in immigrant communities, especially in the context of Latin American migration. My long-term goal is to pursue a career in immigration law, where I hope to combine legal expertise with community-based engagement to empower newcomers.

I had already been volunteering with La Maison des Amériques before applying for this internship and wanted to continue my involvement in a more impactful way. As a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Latin American immigrants in Quebec through financial, cultural, and entrepreneurial literacy, La Maison’s mission aligns closely with both my personal background and academic studies. I saw this role as a chance to strengthen my skills in intercultural communication, ethical and inclusive approach to social development, and collaboration with diverse economic actors. I was particularly motivated by the opportunity to contribute to programs that help immigrants navigate the economic landscape in a new country, as it reflected a personal experience I had to go through as an immigrant myself.

La Maison des Amériques is a nonprofit organization that acts as a hub for the Latin American community in Montreal. Its mission is to foster integration, cultural exchange, and socio-economic development for immigrants, particularly those from Latin America. The organization offers networking opportunities, cultural events, training workshops, and business support through initiatives like the “Llave Empresarial” membership, which provides entrepreneurs with visibility, promotional opportunities, and access to a supportive network for their ventures.

As the Community Engagement and Membership Development Intern, my work involved developing and delivering bilingual (Spanish and French) sales pitches to Latin American entrepreneurs to promote the “Llave Empresarial” membership. I engaged in street-level outreach along St-Hubert Street to establish direct connections with business owners, conducted market research, and maintained Excel databases to track membership outreach and follow-ups. I assisted with communications and graphic design tasks for promotional materials, supported event planning for major community activities such as the Feria Latina, and collaborated with colleagues to refine messaging and develop strategies for increasing membership visibility and engagement. This required me to wear multiple hats, taking on responsibilities outside my original focus on social entrepreneurship, such as communications, basic graphic design, and administrative support.

My Social Entrepreneurship minor provided me with foundational knowledge in sales strategies, marketing, and client relations, while my Political Science major gave me a broader understanding of migration and community integration. Although these skills were largely theoretical before this internship, I was able to apply them in real-life situations, from crafting persuasive bilingual pitches to conducting market research. My ongoing French studies at McGill also proved valuable in developing my ability to communicate confidently with French-speaking clients.

One of the most memorable aspects of this internship was preparing and delivering bilingual pitches to promote the “Llave Empresarial” membership. Engaging face-to-face with entrepreneurs along St-Hubert Street challenged me to adapt my messaging to different audiences and respond in real-time to questions and hesitations. Another highlight was collaborating on the Feria Latina preparations, where I saw firsthand how cultural events can strengthen community ties and visibility; and preparing and organizing for such an important event for the Latin American community in Montreal was, although stressful, extremely impactful.

Nevertheless, this role came with its share of challenges. Navigating the language barrier in professional French settings was both daunting and rewarding, as it required me to use the language daily, often in situations where my classroom knowledge hadn’t fully prepared me, forcing me to adapt and improvise on the spot. Moreover, managing multiple roles in a small nonprofit environment meant working outside my core expertise (such as graphic design, web design, and detailed Excel tracking) often without constant guidance. This required me to quickly learn new tools, adapt my approach to unfamiliar work, and persist through trial and error until I delivered results. Finally, following up persistently with clients who were sometimes unresponsive also tested my organizational skills and patience. In this sense, I felt that certain tasks were less significant to my long-term goals but reframing them within the broader mission of La Maison des Amériques helped me stay motivated.

This internship was my first professional connection to a tangible immigrant community in Montreal, and more specifically, my first direct experience with my own Latino community here. Although I did have to work through certain tasks that seemed outside of the internship scope, the experience has overall solidified my desire to pursue immigration law and reinforced the importance of community-based approaches to integration. I now feel more confident in my ability to engage with immigrant entrepreneurs, navigate multicultural spaces, and adapt theoretical knowledge to practical, real-world contexts.