Intern’s Own Experiences Shape Commitment to Education Access to Digital Tools

Growing up in rural Maine, Shawn Jiminez didn’t have reliable access to digital tools. Wifi connection was spotty, and high-speed internet was rare until grant funding expanded educational options and changed the trajectory of his life.

Now Jiminez is working to assist others in gaining access to the type of learning that has made a difference for him. The fall 2025 Every Learner Everywhere intern says the reason for his commitment to providing this opportunity is simple: “Education is the biggest driver of mobility,” he explains. “The mission of my journey is to break down barriers, to increase accessibility in the sphere of education, and to drive home the point that learning is for everyone.”

Jiminez is a junior majoring in sociology and government at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. His activities outside of class include tutoring for Teach For America through the Ignite Fellowship and reviewing coursework as part of College Guild’s educational program for people who are incarcerated. He is a Campus Compact Rural Youth Voice Initiative fellow and Harvard Kennedy School Public Policy Leadership scholar as well as an organizer advancing education access through the nonprofit organization Class Action.

After he completes his bachelor’s degree work, Jiminez hopes to pursue a career with a nonprofit that connects people involved in the criminal justice system with educational opportunities. He also wants to pursue a master’s degree in education policy.

Navigating educational challenges

To get to these endeavors and goals advancing learning opportunities for everyone, Jiminez has had to overcome his own barriers to education. When he found out about the Every Learner Everywhere internship, he recognized it as a way to expand on his work to help people like him connect with educational opportunities. Jiminez discovered the internship when, as his Teach For America tutoring sessions rely on digital tools, he wanted to learn more about that subject and searched for organizations working on AI in higher education.

Jiminez pursued the internship seeking not only to learn about digital education tools but also to add to the conversation about their use. “Every Learner Everywhere really works to take on a lot of students from diverse programs of study and backgrounds, so I thought this would be a really good fit,” he says.

Finding common ground

Jiminez and the other four fall 2025 interns are reviewing materials in the Every Learner resource library and weighing in with their suggestions for updates. They’re also reviewing the AI toolkit that previous Every Learner interns created, adding their input before its release.

During this work and in discussions of digital learning issues, Jiminez says he’s drawing on his own studies, which focus on how diverse populations and ways of thinking interact. He says he appreciates hearing perspectives on AI from other interns who major in STEM subjects like computer science and engineering.

“It’s really interesting to hear how others are experiencing the rise of AI and how they’re using it in their own learning,” he says. “From there, I’m able to better inform my own decisions in relation to digital learning. I can also be an advocate for safe and responsible use of digital learning. The one thing that really unites us is this yearning to make education more accessible through digital learning.”

Elevating student perspectives

The opportunity to be part of a diverse group of voices helping to shape the future of digital education is the aspect of the internship that Jiminez enjoys most — and the one he believes will make the greatest impact.

“The goal of this internship, at least for me, is to be able to contribute to the resources and the conversations Every Learner Everywhere is having in the broader space of education and to advocate for increased accessibility,” he says.

“I’m taking advantage of this platform that I don’t think we see too often in education,” says Jiminez. “It’s something I’ve personally been working toward in my own community and encouraging organizations, policymakers, and structures of governance to do — and that is to take into account the student perspective.”