Episode 6: Disney Programs – Disney College Program and Disney Internships
ON THIS EPISODE OF LIFE AT DISNEY
Discover a unique living and working environment with participants from all over the world. The Disney College Program and Disney Internships can be the start of your career with The Walt Disney Company. Hear from two Disney College Program alumni, including a recently converted Disney Intern, Karla Quintanilla, Programs Experience Associate, and Kevin Boutte, Walt Disney Imagineering Inclusive Strategy Development Designer about their experiences, their roles with the company today, and how you can get started in one on a Disney Program.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
MEET YOUR HOSTS
Ashley Siegel, Outreach & Engagement Director
An intersectional diversity, equity, and inclusion champion, Ashley Siegel leads the Walt Disney Company’s Outreach and Engagement global strategy development and implementation. Working at the intersection of Talent Acquisition, DEI, and Corporate Social Responsibility, their organization’s cross-functional responsibilities span relationship formation and management of nonprofit and community partnerships, full event lifecycle creation and execution, community building and connection facilitation, and elevation of Disney’s beloved brands and businesses.
Tony Williams, Senior Manager, Diversity Recruiting Programs
Tony joined the Disney family via Hulu in 2020 to stand up for Hulu’s Community Program to expand how we think about talent and where it comes from. He’s guided by the idea that “talent is distributed equally, opportunity is not.” In his role as Sr. Manager, Diversity Recruiting Programs, Tony Williams leads our efforts to build a workforce that reflects the beautifully diverse audiences we serve. Currently, Tony helps leaders across The Walt Disney Company think differently about inclusion and hiring.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Karla Quintanilla
Karla Quintanilla began her Disney career as a Disney College Program participant at Walt Disney World® Resort. After obtaining a marketing degree from DeSales University, Karla returned to Disney as a Disney Intern supporting Disney Programs communication. She recently transitioned to a full-time role as a Program Experience Associate for Disney Programs. On this episode, she discusses the value of pursuing a Disney internship and the skills she gained during her time working at the parks.
SHOW NOTES
- Disney Programs is a unique living and working experience for participants from all over the world. Every role at Disney helps bring the magic to life, and participants can take part in four different Disney Programs: Disney College Program, Disney Culinary Program, Disney Internships, and Disney International Programs.
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- Disney College Program is a program that allows you to gain on-the-job experience with a world-renowned company, providing uniquely Disney learning experiences, all while preparing for your future and building transferable skills, including networking, problem-solving, teamwork, and effective communication.
- Disney Culinary Program is a program that will expand your culinary horizons through access to best-in-class training from Disney executive chefs. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to be placed in one of many different areas from catering to quick service and baking to fine dining, even the beloved annual festivals at EPCOT.
- Disney International Programs is an international internship program at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. These programs recruit participants and college students (18 years and older) from outside the United States and its territories for year-long cultural exchanges with paid positions and summer-long paid internships.
- Disney Internships is where you will work side-by-side with industry leaders in your field of study. As a Disney intern, you’ll build upon the skills you’ve learned in the classroom within a family of legendary brands passionate about creating world-class experiences on a global scale.
- Disney on the Yard is dedicated to building a community for HBCU alumni working across The Walt Disney Company and providing meaningful opportunities for students. In partnership with HBCUs around the country, we have strengthened our commitment to the development of internships, mentorship programs, and career growth opportunities for HBCU graduates and Black talent at all levels
Kevin Boutte
Kevin Boutte began his career as part of the Disney College Program in 2010 and 2011. From there, he began his professional career with Walt Disney Imagineering as an Architectural Design Intern. He received his bachelor of science in architecture and civil engineering at Texas Tech University.
Post internship, Kevin was hired as a Project Engineer, assisting in developing Star Wars: Galaxies Edge. After completing the Star Wars Land project, he transitioned to Architecture Design to work mainly on the Blue Sky initiatives. After several years in the Architecture studio, following his passion for inclusion and diversity in experiential design, Kevin moved to the Inclusive Strategy team at Walt Disney Imagineering.
Currently, Kevin is using his expertise to lead the design and development strategy for several new initiatives and experiences that look to expand the relevancy of our Disney Parks. One of the most recent projects he was involved with is the “Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure” exhibit.
SHOW NOTES
- Celebrate Soulfully is where guests can celebrate the vibrant songs, powerful stories, and rich history of Black culture with a variety of soul-stirring experiences the whole family can enjoy.
- Disney College Program is a program that allows you to gain on-the-job experience with a world-renowned company, providing uniquely Disney learning experiences, all while preparing for your future and building transferable skills, including networking, problem-solving, teamwork, and effective communication.
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the largest theme park in the world, covering 580 acres. The park opened on Earth Day, April 22, 1998, and was the fourth theme park built at the resort. The park is dedicated and themed around the natural environment and animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney himself.
- Joe Rohde is the Experience Architect for Virgin Galactic. Rohde was previously a veteran executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of The Walt Disney Company that designs and builds Disney’s theme parks and resort hotels. Rohde’s formal title was Executive Designer and Vice President, Creative.
- Pandora – The World of Avatar is a themed area inspired by James Cameron‘s Avatar, located within Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Set a generation after the events of the Avatar films, the area is based upon the fictional exoplanetary moon, Pandora, and features Pandora’s floating mountains, alien wildlife, and bioluminescent plants. Spanning 12 acres, Pandora – The World of Avatar includes two major attractions, Avatar Flight of Passage and Na’vi River Journey, as well as retail and dining outlets.
- Soul is a 2020 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It follows a pianist, Joe Gardner (Foxx), who is involved in an accident before his big break as a jazz musician and seeks to reunite his separated soul and body.
- Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a themed area inspired by the Star Wars franchise, located in Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It encompasses 14 acres at each park and is set in the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the remote frontier planet of Batuu, featuring attractions, shops, restaurants, and entertainment.
- The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure is where Joe Gardner, the musician, mentor, and teacher from Disney and Pixar’s “Soul,” takes visitors on a tour as they discover the rich and surprising history of jazz. The exhibit was first introduced at The American Adventure inside EPCOT – a celebration of the magic that happens when we create together – as a tribute to a musical art form that originated by African Americans and fuses influences from many different cultures. Today, we are thrilled to bring this once-exclusive EPCOT experience beyond the parks and into the cities where jazz took root and grew into the genre, we know today.
- Walt Disney Imagineering is the creative engine that designs and builds all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, and cruise ships worldwide and oversees the creative aspects of Disney games, merchandise product development, and publishing businesses.
- Walt Disney Imagineering’s Imaginations Design Competition seeks out and nurtures the next generation of diverse Imagineers—the dreamers and doers who combine storytelling with the latest technologies to create immersive experiences for all Disney theme parks, resorts, attractions, and cruise ships worldwide. The competition was started in 1991 by Disney Legend and Imagineering executive the late Marty Sklar, with hundreds of students from universities across the United States participating over the last 27 years.
Learn more about Disney Programs and apply today: