You look up The Rainmaker Network on Google search and what comes up is a career website looking to connect motivated students with visionary employers. There is much more to this organization however, than meets the eye. While the Rainmaker Network is only 3 years old from conception until the present, they are attracting an interest from progressive companies that have established and expansive global markets.

Five months ago when I first secured an internship position with The Rainmaker Network, I never imagined the journey it would take me on. At first I was apprehensive to fully give myself over to a company so young and that I had never heard about. Luckily, I was willing to hang on to see where the experience took me, and boy am I glad I did. I can now say that I have helped a company grow to be a great investment for both students and companies alike.

Today, the Rainmaker’s days are filled with teleconferences, presentations, meetings, as well as attending fundraising events. The Rainmaker Network has networked itself into a circle of well respected partnerships which have provided opportunities to give back. Included in these is Up ‘til Dawn, Action: Darfur, International Green Shield, Visionary Boutique, and Twestival.

The first of these, Up ‘til Dawn is both a student organization and event at Cal State Long Beach that raises money for the children at St. Jude’s Research Hospital. Since September of 2008 the Rainmaker Network has been involved with Up ‘til Dawn. For the annual event in March, Rainmakers were seen not only attending the event, but created a movie that was shown highlighting the student’s connections to St. Jude’s to educate others about the work they are doing right on the Long Beach campus. The Rainmaker Network also provided student scholarships to help their St. Jude’s drive.

Visionary Boutique has been another partnership that has provided opportunity to give back. Visionary’s mission is to inspire others to think about their wish for the world that ultimately results in positive action and change. Our own CEO, Lance Stacy helped make this vision possible by aiding in the transformation of a 1966 airstream trailer into an eco-friendly mobile store that allows others to explore fashionable and earth friendly products found both in the store and online.

Twestival brought together the rapidly growing Twitter community to raise awareness and money for charity: water. Although new to this community, The Rainmaker Network helped promote action through online marketing as well as volunteering at Twestival in LA.

The last two I have been fortunate enough to be a part of. For International Green Shield, The Rainmaker Network has not only volunteered their time at events, but have also created a documentary of the organization as well as generated awareness through promotional efforts leading up to events. For Action: Darfur, a fundraiser put on by Aisle 7 Events to raise money for Relief International’s ongoing work in Darfur, The Rainmaker Network contributed by setting up a media campaign, found eco-friendly & free-trade based donors for the silent auction, and as always, volunteered their time for a night full of great entertainment.

While I have learned a lot from the people involved with The Rainmaker Network through my five months with them, one of the most important lessons is that you don’t have to be well established to make powerful impacts on those around you. They have shown me that by generating relationships with forward thinking global or local companies, forces can combine for the greater good of humanity.