This summer the Northeast Maglev Marketing & Communications team welcomed Kali FitzGibbon as their Graphic Design Intern. Kali is a recent graduate of Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), where she holds an associate degree in Visual Arts. Beginning Spring 2020, she will pursue her bachelor’s degree in the same field, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).
Kali has participated in a variety of art shows and competitions, where her creative works have been nominated for numerous awards. In 2018 she was chosen to represent The Visual Arts School of Anne Arundel Community College in their Annual Graduating Art Show. In March of this year, her artwork was nominated into the Art of Women Invitational for their Women’s History Month exhibition. Also this year, Kali was selected by Anne Arundel Community College to complete nationally in the League for Innovation Student Art Competition.
Most recently Kali competed in the Juried Student Art show, where 3 of her artworks were nominated and selected for display. You can view some of Kali’s artwork here.
Kali has had the privilege of designing branding and promotional materials for organizations such as Kent Island Federation of Arts, World Giving Market and Anne Arundel County Food Bank. During her Spring semester at AACC, Kali and her classmates designed marketing materials for the Anna V. Waters Memorial Scholarship. The Scholarship honors the legacy of Anna V. Waters, a nurse in Baltimore in City, who was a distinguished leader within her community.
The Scholarship is awarded every year to an African American student who is pursuing a postsecondary education. Kali, alongside her peers, was responsible for creative works, including designing the company’s website, promotional and branding materials.
Kali worked this summer as Northeast Maglev’s graphic design intern, taking on creative projects that will help the company communicate about the SCMAGLEV project. Combining art and technology, she used her skills to assist the marketing team in designing social media content and print and digital advertisements. Kali explains her position as challenging, but fun. “My job as a graphic designer means being a problem solver. I find it fun and challenging, though, because the answer is always in the form of something that looks cool.”
To date, Kali has collaborated with the Marketing & Communications team to create numerous materials for press conferences, social media, and marketing initiatives. Between creating original artwork, promotional graphics, and social media posts, Kali is still somehow managing to find time to enjoy her internship. “I absolutely love it. I work Monday, Thursday, and Friday, so I get to start and end my week here. It’s the first job I have ever had where I couldn’t wait to come back the next day.”
The thirty-something creative believes internships are not just meant for the traditional, just out of high school, college students, but for anyone who is seeking to expand their knowledge and skills in specific fields. “My biggest accomplishment is school,” she states, “I never had a connection with my work or environment throughout grade school. I was really uninterested and bored.” It wasn’t until 12 years later that Kali really discovered her creative talents and decided to step foot back into the classroom. Her determination and eagerness to learn about visual arts helped her get back into college and earn her associate degree.
Kali is looking forward to the development of the SCMAGLEV. “When I was offered an internship at Northeast Maglev, I right away starting Googling and researching and I found myself very excited about what they were doing.”
Kali believes that the SCMAGLEV is the perfect opportunity to alleviate the burdensome commute between D.C. and Baltimore. She goes on to state “I know there are concerns about the project, and they’re very understandable. There will be sacrifices – as with any major infrastructure project – but it’s a fact that what we have now isn’t working, and will only get worse over the next 10, 15, 20 years… So, we need to look at the bigger picture, and catch up with the rest of the world in high speed transportation.”
Kali’s work has been so exemplary that we’ve asked her to stay on full time as part of the Northeast Maglev team until the Spring semester begins and she again heads back to school!