Meet the IGP Student Scholars: Avalon Zborovsky-Fenster ’24BC

Barnard College senior Avalon Zborovsky-Fenster has interned and supported global policy and government teams at Intel, Verizon, and Google doing research at the intersection of tech, business, and human and civil rights. Her legislative internship experience spans both houses of Congress. She’s also left her mark as an organizer for history-making nonprofits like March For Our Lives and Pay Our Interns. 

Through her social media platform (as @internshipgirl on Instagram), Avalon educates a nearly 300,000-person audience (90 percent of whom are young women from 80+ countries) on how to succeed in their early careers to advance women’s status globally. Through this work, she’s collaborated with companies like Notion HQ and Join Handshake to bring digital tools and resources to thousands of students.

Avalon has been incredibly involved at Columbia University, founding two organizations (the Columbia Journal of Science, Tech, Ethics, and Policy and the 116th Initiative), served as class president and on the Columbia University Senate, was appointed as the vice chair of the Columbia Undergraduate Committee on Global Thought as a Bartsch Fellow, and was selected as an Athena Center for Leadership Fellow.

“Every room I walk into at IGP is a privilege that almost takes my breath away,” Avalon says. “And throughout my time with the Institute over the last three months, it’s become clear to me that IGP is indeed an unparalleled opportunity that no other students in the country have. 

As an IGP Student Scholar, Avalon has had access to IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellows like Michelle Bachelet, Hon. Henrietta Fore, and Sir Stephen Lovegrove through policy roundtables, but she is also impressed with her fellow student scholars. 

“Being in a community with other students who understand my somewhat sky-high aspirations for global impact has made my dreams even bigger,” she says. “In and out of IGP, I’ve been strongly and enthusiastically supported in my endeavors by IGP staff, and with their support, so many new and significant doors have opened for me in my professional and academic life. I’m so grateful and proud to have the opportunity to be part of the inaugural year of the institute!

“In and out of the Institute, I’ve been strongly and enthusiastically supported in my endeavors by IGP staff, and with their support, so many new and significant doors have opened for me in my professional and academic life. I’m so grateful and proud to have the opportunity to be part of the inaugural year of IGP.”