By : Iseo Choi, KGGTF 2025 Youth Intern
Being part of the KGGTF Youth Internship Program at the World Bank was much more valuable than only an internship. This experience changed the way I think about global development, sustainability and what part I play in it. Through several months of learning, I combined taking lectures, visiting sites, teaming up on research and working on communications. Every time I worked, I gained new knowledge and felt more sure about making future career decisions.
At the beginning of our kick-off session, on December 20, Dr. Sameer Akbar gave an opening address and stated that youth should play a leading role in advancing the green revolution, instead of merely observing it. I was reminded of this advice constantly, from visiting the Sudokwon Landfill to exploring topics with World Bank experts and going on a tour of NAVER’s GAK Data Center in Chuncheon.
Our FAO Seoul office lecture especially caught my attention because we examined the “Four Betters” and heard about the Digital Villages initiative. Being passionate about both sustainable cities and inclusive urban policies, I was captivated by how much food systems, climate change and giving youth opportunities are all related. The Green Society lecture, held by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, also argued for applying the findings of research to real life. The motto "Lab to Society" is fully aligned with KGGTF’s mission of making an impact with its knowledge.
During my internship, I joined two teams. In my role on the Urban Team, I helped produce the KGGTF Urban Sector Portfolio Book. I studied more than 60 grants, turned key information into visuals and looked for patterns in spatial planning, resilience and the relationship between Korea and the World Bank. As a result of this work, I sharpened my ability to analyze topics, improved my writing skills and better understood the way global ideas, local situations and funding work together. It stands out to me how many large World Bank projects started with KGGTF grants, proving that focused cooperation really works.
At the same time, I was the Communicator on the Communications & Outreach (C&O) Team. I worked on posting content to LinkedIn, making plans from a strategic standpoint and supervising the content calendar, while the Team focused on content strategy, LinkedIn posts, newsletters and filming internship videos. At the end of the program, I spoke about how we worked to maintain and carry on KGGTF’s legacy. My experience led me to find that communication includes providing information, but it also focuses on building trust, proving impacts and documenting what happens in the organization.
Yet, what made the deepest impression on me were the people. I worked closely with some of the smartest, thoughtful and most inspiring people I’ve ever encountered. Because of their questions, I had to think more carefully. Working together and being modest made me see why collaboration matters. Each of us participated in different assignments, comments on them and motivated the others to improve.
I also discovered opportunities I hadn’t thought about before. Because of this, I found out about two more youth organizations, the FAO National Committee and the OnDream Global Academy. I began working for FAO in 2025 and expect to join the field visit to Laos soon. In addition, I served as a delegate at the 2025 ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop. Because of these experiences, I changed the way I solve global problems, not only added qualifications to my resume.
I realized in every project that youth can use global policy to perform community actions. We received knowledge as well as shared ideas to help the World Bank’s and KGGTF’s purpose of fostering green growth. We were involved fully, meaningfully and together.
While reflecting on our time in this program, I realized that feeling connected—to the participants, the cause and the wider environmental movement—slowly developed with every single thing we did together. As an intern, I found that I could think of myself as a professional and add real value.
My time at KGGTF taught me not only technical skills but also what it means to grow as a person. It taught me what leadership looks like in writing, in practice and in my own daily life. Having mentors, teammates and a better vision, I gained comfort with the challenges ahead. Most of what I learned was this: our work doesn’t only plan for the future—we also do it together in the present. The idea will keep with me, regardless of what comes after.