Meet our 2018 Summer Interns: (from L to R) Medina Bakayeva, Shaden Safieddine Tazi, Demi Moore and Kate Greenberg. Shine is lucky to have two of them returning from the Spring and all four bringing their passion to working with us this summer.

Medina Bakayeva is a rising senior studying Global Liberal Studies, Philosophy, and French at NYU.  She was born in Kazakhstan, grew up in England and spent many childhood summers in Israel. Growing up with a variety of cultural influences, Medina was fascinated by Shine’s global perspective. Working for Shine Global during the spring semester Medina learned a lot about the world of filmmaking, non-profits and herself. She has felt a part of a dedicated team that is passionate about telling empowering stories about children around the world. As she helped kick-start a new social media plan for Shine, she was excited to continue to push forward Shine’s presence online, to grow an audience for the inspiring stories that the organization shines a light on. 

Shaden Safieddine Tazi is a sophomore at Barnard College of Columbia University, majoring in Film and Media Studies. Raised in Casablanca by a Spanish mother and a Lebanese father, she grew up Lost in Translations, speaking French, Spanish, Arabic at home and learning English at school. Then, she integrated United World College Maastricht for her two last high school years and started learning Dutch. During her stay in the Netherlands, she constantly worked with Asylum Seekers and understood that one of the worst things that can be taken away from an individual is its dignity. Shaden believes in the power of Cinema, and that it can it serve as a tool to empower, and raise the voices of the unheard. She was then naturally drawn to Shine Global’s mission and its ability to create social impact through the medium of documentary. She was also excited to work in a small team, enabling her to learn from her colleagues and in which good mood is always au rendez-vous.

Demi Alexis Moore is a Macaulay Honors College rising senior studying Political Science and Creative Writing on the Pre-Law track. With high hopes to use a J.D. with a specialization in Critical Race Studies, Demi plans to empower Black youth through a national engagement model that reassesses the future of socially-salient movement-building. Demi is a founding member of the Macaulay Crew: Hip Hop Dance Team as its Creative Director, a Student Senator in the Hunter College Senate, and responsible for leading and organizing the largest TEDxUniversity event in the country (TEDxCUNY), representing over 530,000 of CUNY’s students. To Demi, being an active citizen requires building (or finding) community across disciplines, across platforms, and across bias. She is happy to continue sharing in the Shine mission this summer which aims to make media literacy for children that often go unheard far more accessible.

Kate Greenberg is an upcoming senior at the University of Southern California where she is studying Journalism and Cinematic Arts. Over the last two years, Kate has been the executive producer of Impact, the student-produced documentary series. She has directed and produced two of her own documentaries, including one on the psychology of prison design and another on children living in the projects of South Los Angeles who are given a rare opportunity to study rocketry. After she graduates, she hopes to continue making films that inspire people to leave the world a better than they found it. Kate is working with Shine Global this summer as a Content Development Intern in order to continue understanding how films can ignite and enable social change, especially as a non-profit organization.

Meet our 2018 Spring Interns: Yasmeen Alkooheji, Medina Bakayeva, and Demi Moore. Shine is lucky to have them bringing their passion and working with us this semester.

Yasmeen Alkooheji, a senior at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, is elated to be interning at Shine Global for a second consecutive semester. She is majoring in Screenwriting and minoring in Spanish and in her free time, enjoys photography and soccer. She was drawn to Shine’s mission of creating social change through film and helping empower at-risk youth on a global scale. After graduating, she hopes to write rom-coms, mystery dramas and the untold stories of the underserved and misrepresented communities around the world.

Medina Bakayeva is a Junior studying Global Liberal Studies, Philosophy, and French at NYU. She was born in Kazakhstan, immigrated to London at a young age and spent many childhood summers in Israel. Growing up with a variety of cultural influences such as Russian, Central Asian and Israeli she is fascinated by what defines a culture, how people interact and how different customs and shared values shape our perception of the world. She is interested in journalism, documentary film, non-profit and philosophy of ethics. Medina was first introduced to Shine Global through The Eagle Huntress and, as the film documents a central aspect of Kazakh custom, was enamored by the way the protagonist, a young girl, partook in ancient traditions and crossed boundaries. She was captured by Shine Global’s mission and believes in the capacity of stories to shape our hearts and minds and is passionate about presenting empowering narratives. 

Demi Alexis Moore is a Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College Junior exploring the nexus of Political Science, Creative Writing, and Human Rights on the Pre-Law track. With high hopes to use a J.D. with a specialization in Critical Race Theory, Demi plans to redesign a national engagement model that empowers Black (natives and immigrant) youth to lead socially salient movements in politics through effective representation. Demi is a founding member of the Macaulay Crew: Hip Hop Dance Team as its Creative Director, a Student Senator in the Hunter College Senate, and is responsible for leading and organizing the largest TEDxUniversity event in the country (TEDxCUNY), representing over 530,000 of CUNY’s students. To Demi, being an active citizen requires building community across disciplines, across platforms, and across bias. She is happy to be interning with Shine to understand how a child’s perception of space and place can help craft a social message that encourages change at all levels of civil society.