Some of the best learning happens outside the classroom. At the Daniels College of Business, students are pushed toward hands-on experiences, whether it’s case competitions, consulting projects, immersive travel or career opportunities.
The supportive teams at Daniels Career Services and the Student Success Center plus a robust network of alumni and corporate partners create The Daniels Effect—a promise of preparation for the future, courtesy of the most industry-integrated business school in the country.
Meet some of the Daniels students who completed valuable internships this summer.
Amity Christie
Amity Christie
Year: Graduate Student
Program: Denver MBA (Marketing Concentration)
Internship: Partnership Marketing and Media Sales Intern, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
How did you land the internship?
I have always been interested in the sports and entertainment industry. During fall quarter, I met with Daniels Career Services, and they provided me with a list of Daniels alumni working in sports and entertainment. After a few weeks of blind applications, I revisited the list and found a Daniels alum working at Kroenke in the partnerships department. I reached out to him to set up an informational interview to learn about his role and about working in sports. I stayed in touch with him, and when I found a role in the department that appealed to me, I let him know I had applied. After a few rounds of interviews, I was selected for the role and have been here since April.
What are your responsibilities in your role?
I support the Partnership Marketing & Media Sales team by assisting with sponsorship execution across broadcast and digital platforms. Responsibilities include entering advertising orders in WideOrbit, compiling proof-of-performance clips for corporate partners, analyzing Nielsen ratings and Denver DMA programming performance for the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, and supporting media planning and sponsorship package development through research, reporting, and cross-functional collaboration.
What have you learned about your industry or the business world as a whole?
This internship has given me a much deeper understanding of the business side of professional sports. I’ve learned how media sales and partnership marketing work together to create value for sponsors through strategic planning, activation and performance measurement. Beyond the day-to-day work, I’ve enjoyed learning about the diverse career paths within the sports industry by connecting with leaders across Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. I’ve also gained hands-on experience with industry tools and analytics, while seeing firsthand how streaming and evolving media consumption are shaping the future of sports broadcasting and sponsorship.
What has made this a valuable experience?
This internship has been incredibly valuable because it has given me the opportunity to explore multiple facets of media sales and partnership marketing while gaining firsthand experience in the day-to-day realities of the industry. It has reinforced my passion for the business side of sports and helped me identify a career path that genuinely excites me. Beyond developing new technical and analytical skills, I’ve built meaningful relationships with professionals across the organization and gained a much clearer understanding of where my strengths and interests align. Most importantly, this experience has given me the confidence that this is the industry I want to build my career in.
Sana Khayat Kholghy
Sana Khayat Kholghy
Year: Senior
Major: International Business
Internship: Program Management Intern, Center of Equity and Excellence (CEEA), Denver International Airport (DEN)
How did you land the internship?
DU 2026 All-Majors Winter Quarter Career Fair
What are your responsibilities in your role?
As a yearlong intern, my role focuses on helping DEN’s CEEA run programs that support aviation workforce development and help youth and employees build community. As part of the youth career pathways team, I help facilitate airport-wide engagement by organizing DEN intern program activities and tours, coordinating intern introductions with executive leadership, supporting youth initiatives like DEN Academy and Project Takeoff, and co-creating and leading interactive workshop experiences.
Another highlight of my role is collaborating with fellow interns to research an aviation megatrend. I’m currently researching “Demographic Disruption,” which focuses on identifying the pain points that multigenerational travelers experience throughout their airport journey. We’ll be presenting our insights to DEN’s executive leadership at our cohort-wide showcase event in August!
Starting in the fall, I’ll begin judging the annual CEEA Sock Design Challenge, a competition where youth design socks and the winning submission is made into a real sock. I’ll continue to support my team by managing logistics for employee professional development events, representing CEEA at youth, employee, and community outreach events, and refreshing presentations and communications.
What have you learned about your industry or the business world as a whole?
In just two months at DEN, I’ve discovered a much wider range of career pathways in aviation than I ever expected. With over 43,000 people working across different roles, the airport truly operates as a hub of opportunity. My time at CEEA has shown me how my interests in community engagement and global impact fit naturally within this field. Aviation connects communities, drives economies and enriches cultures, and supporting it requires education, outreach, workforce development, equity and public service. Seeing students light up as they explore new possibilities has shown me how powerful exposure and access can be. These experiences highlight how strongly the aviation industry and the broader business world rely on diverse communities and how essential it is to invest in people and build pathways that support long‑term growth.
What has made this a valuable experience?
The DEN community has been central to what I’ve gained from this internship. I’ve found supportive mentors within CEEA and built connections with aviation professionals across many DEN departments. The airport truly operates like a mini city, and I appreciate how intentionally my supervisor encourages networking and urges interns to shadow different teams as a way to gain exposure and explore potential career paths. The cohort experiences, including tours, professional development sessions and the megatrends research, have been a highlight of my time here. I’ve already built friendships that make this early career experience feel supported and meaningful. The airport and my team both put a big emphasis on hands‑on learning and innovation. I’m already on track to earn my Green Belt certification, a globally recognized professional credential for process and quality improvement. Most importantly, my office trusts me. Having a space where learning is encouraged and opportunities to contribute are readily available has made this internship genuinely valuable.
Gavin Jump
Gavin Jump
Year: Junior
Major: Real Estate (Real Estate Finance Concentration)
Internship: Multifamily Capital Markets Summer Analyst, JLL
How did you land the internship?
My (previous) internship at Wood Partners gave me multifamily experience, and a recommendation from my manager there helped me get my first interview at JLL. From there I went through the standard interview process. Networking is what gets your resume pulled out of the stack.
What are your responsibilities in your role?
Underwriting properties for client Broker Opinions of Value (BOVs) as well as live deals in the pre-marketing stage, along with market research, and creating marketing packages.
What have you learned about your industry or the business world as a whole?
Commercial real estate is a relationship business as much as an analytical one. Deals get won through trust and repeat clients, but the underwriting has to hold up. The same goes for getting an internship: Networking is a must. I’ve also learned about the difference in perspective between a brokers, private equity (acquisitions) and developers when it comes to transactions. That contrast was clearest watching brokers navigate the bid-ask spread between buyers and sellers in the current rate environment.
What has made this a valuable experience?
The team gave me real responsibility from day one. I underwrote live deals, sat in on client calls and got direct feedback from brokers on my work. Seeing a transaction move from BOV to marketing package to buyer outreach gave me a practical understanding of the deal process to build on what I have learned in the classroom. It also confirmed I want to pursue my career in real estate finance.
Jackson Karlitz
Jackson Karlitz
Year: Graduate Student
Major: Real Estate Finance and Development
Internship: Estimating Design and Development Graduate Intern, Walmart Realty
How did you land the internship?
I applied on LinkedIn and followed up with cold emails to hiring managers, associates and executives. I then met someone during the 2025 Global Immersion trip who said he would reach out to his contacts at Walmart.
What are your responsibilities in your role?
I created estimates for potential Walmart assets. I was also assigned a capstone project to create an interactive dashboard for the estimating team that compares previous team estimates with actual costs at a PO-level for all types of projects. It Included a live commodity tracker with month-over-month changes. I streamlined the manual reporting process by including live feeds from various software used by Walmart Realty.
What have you learned about your industry or the business world as a whole?
I learned how the process of estimating a project and proposing a new site is partially shaped by world events. Real estate decisions for large companies, such as Walmart, must consider not only events that directly affect the project but also how those events will impact the overall business. Some of the real world events include labor costs, commodity price changes and geopolitical events.
What has made this a valuable experience?
In past internships, I was assigned busy work that did not feel connected to anything important at the company. Walmart made sure I worked on meaningful projects that benefited both the company and me. This project will be a long-lasting tool that the estimating team can use as a daily resource to create more consistent and accurate estimates. Being able to see the real estate process for many different types of projects at a company of this size gave me exposure to all the work that goes into building Walmart assets. My team also encouraged me to grow my network by meeting with directors and vice presidents across various teams to better understand what each team brings to the table.
Nathanial Harrison
Nathanial Harrison
Year: Senior
Major: Real Estate and the Built Environment (Construction Project Management Concentration)
Internship: Project Engineer Intern, Rudolph and Sletten
How did you land the internship?
I first met the Rudolph and Sletten team at the ASC Student Competition in 2025. I liked the people, the company culture and the size of the projects they work on, so I stayed in touch and pursued an internship with them for the following summer.
What are your responsibilities in your role?
I am working on Kaiser Permanente’s new San Jose hospital, a project valued at more than $1.4 billion. I help manage submittals and RFIs, review drawings and specifications, coordinate with architects and subcontractors, attend field walks and meetings, and help work through design and construction issues as they come up.
What have you learned about your industry or the business world as a whole?
I have learned how much coordination goes into a project this large. A small issue on a drawing can affect several trades, so communication and attention to detail matter a lot. I have also seen how important it is to build good working relationships with the people involved in the project.
What has made this a valuable experience?
The most valuable part has been getting real responsibility while learning from some of the best people in the business. R&S does a great job of teaching, mentoring and giving meaningful work early. I’ve enjoyed taking ownership of issues, coordinating directly with architects, subcontractors, and the field team, and seeing how a $1.4+ billion project comes together. Having that responsibility while being surrounded by experienced people who are willing to teach has helped me learn and grow quickly.