SLU PIC Alums Then and Now

Oscar Castillo ’19 discovered a passion for community organizing while interning with North Country Children’s Museum a year before it opened its bright yellow doors. Today, Castillo is the executive director of the New York State Assembly and Senate Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, but his internship inspired him to pursue a post-graduate degree in museum studies from New York University.

“SLU PIC provided me with a summer experience that boosted my personal and professional trajectories,” he says. “I developed skills such as grant writing, community relations, museum education, and curation. Today I work in politics, but SLU PIC allowed me to develop a passion for community engagement.”

SLUPIC Alums

Like Castillo, many of the 72 total SLU PIC alums chose to continue pursuing mission-driven work after graduation and have found rewarding careers in public policy, healthcare, and education. Here’s a glimpse of what a few of them have gone on to do.

Xiomalys Crespo ’16

SLU PIC Internship: SLC Chamber of Commerce
Current Role: Community Engagement Manager at San Diego Community Power

Chloe McElligott ’16

SLU PIC Internship: Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY) Center
Current Role: Director of Outreach and Engagement, Massachusetts, Afterschool Partnership

Margaret McKernan ’16

SLU PIC Internship: SLC Planning Office
Current Role: Patient Advocate, Samaritan Medical

Zach Larkin ’21

SLU PIC Internship: Renewal House
Current Role: Development Associate at RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) in D.C.

Charles Shaw ’22

SLU PIC Internship: SLC Chamber of Commerce
Current Role: Law Student at University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law

Amanda Barreto Salgueiro ’23

SLU PIC Internship: Cornell Cooperative Extension Garden to Table
Current Role: Project Specialist, World Resources Institute