What’s it like to step inside one of the world’s biggest newsrooms and learn directly from the people shaping global stories? For Chevening scholar Isabella Maake, the BBC internship was a chance to find out, and it’s an experience that continues to shape her career today.
‘I came to the BBC from a journalism background, and the internship completely changed the way I think about visual storytelling. I saw how design and presentation don’t just make content look good, they change how people understand it, and even how they feel about it. That lesson stays with me every time I create something new.’
The BBC’s commitment to inclusion was particularly meaningful for Isabella, who brought her own lived experience as a deaf professional to the internship.
‘The BBC’s Rethink Disability festival really inspired me. It showed how the media industry can become more inclusive and accessible. It pushed me to make sure my own work and the spaces I create are open to everyone.’
The internship also brought personal growth. Isabella describes how mentorship from senior leaders, like BBC News Executive Producer Miriam Quansah, gave her the confidence to advocate for herself and step into new opportunities.
‘She taught me to actively seek opportunities and ask to be part of projects that will further my growth. This mentorship from someone who has built teams and driven innovation across geographies gave me insights that have been crucial in my artistic career, helping me approach high-level contacts and stakeholders.’
Beyond these mentorship relationships, the connections she fostered with senior figures at the BBC have been just as important.
‘Colleagues from the BBC Monitoring’s Data Hub team were so generous in teaching me new tools and ways of thinking. Those relationships are still a source of guidance and support.’
Now working full-time as an artist, Isabella says the internship gave her new skills and the confidence to achieve greater impact with her work.
‘I push creative boundaries while carrying forward the design sensibilities, inclusive storytelling, and audience awareness I developed at the BBC. The Chevening BBC internship gave me not only skills but also a global perspective, showing me that creativity and communication can drive change across borders.’
When Chevening alumnus Josiah Kalala applied for a Chevening Scholarship, he was not, as he put it ‘fresh out of undergrad’. With seven years’ experience as a lawyer under his belt, he was ready to deepen his expertise in constitutional law in a country known for its world-class education, practical research, and leading professors: the UK.
In 2018, Anelize Lenzi Ruas de Almeida was an attorney with more than a decade of public service experience in Brazil’s National Treasury. But she knew there was more she could contribute. At nearly 40 years old, she was worried that age might exclude her from scholarship opportunities abroad until she discovered that Chevening has no upper age limit.
Irma Matoshvili describes herself as ‘a people person.’ Growing up in rural Georgia, she learned that ‘hospitality is valued more than bravery, this is how we were raised.’ That belief in people shaped her ambitions to study in the UK, not only to strengthen her own career in business management, but to help other women to succeed too.