Building Skills, Building Community: Student Leaders at Habitat

Building Skills, Building Community: Student Leaders at Habitat

This summer, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity welcomed two high school interns, Vaidehi Ramachandrula and Jake Zheng, through the Bank of America Student Leaders program. They spent the summer contributing to important projects while bringing new ideas to our organization.

Vaidehi, a junior at Brookfield Central High School, shared: 

“Coming into the program, my main goal was to apply my technical skills to make MHFH’s systems more efficient. I was fortunate to contribute to that vision by creating an IT asset inventory, automating the Fixed Asset System, and revamping processes in the ReStores. I also designed and led a company-wide AI workshop, developed an AI-powered onboarding video, and built a machine learning-based scoring model to evaluate thousands of potential lots.”

But for Vaidehi, the summer was about more than technology. 

“Working with Habitat gave me a firsthand look at the urgency of Milwaukee’s housing crisis,” Vaidehi said. “At Habitat, I realized that wealth means having a tangible home—an investment that creates stability, breaks cycles of inequality, and paves the way for a brighter future.”

Jake, a senior at Brookfield East High School, focused on strengthening corporate partnerships. 

“I developed new sponsorship documents, built an empirical donor scoring model to analyze giving trends, and designed a 25-step strategic workflow to help streamline and automate future donation campaigns,” Jake said.

The internship also gave Jake a unique window into leadership.

“The experience offered an incredibly immersive look into nonprofit operations,” Jake said. “My favorite highlight was attending the Board of Directors Finance Committee meeting!”

Both students traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Bank of America Student Leaders Summit, where they joined more than 300 peers from across the country. 

“I was able to directly advocate for affordable housing in individual meetings with Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin,” Jake said.

Looking back at the summer, Vaidehi said:

“This internship has truly shaped my perspective… I not only gained technical and leadership skills… but also learned empathy and the importance of building authentic connections. ”

Like Vaidehi, Jake is grateful for his experience with Milwaukee Habitat.

“Overall, this internship has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had the privilege of being part of… I’m extremely excited to continue building on this experience and giving back to the Milwaukee community!”

We are grateful for their hard work this summer, and can’t wait to see the many ways they will continue to make a difference.

Connect with them!

Vaidehi: www.linkedin.com/in/vaidehiramachandrula

Jake: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-zheng/