Check out Laguna Canyon Foundation Interns Esmée and Jayden’s reflections, photos in action, and interesting finds from their time as interns! Esmée and Jayden are students at Fullerton College and were part of our spring 2026 Internship cohort, helping young environmentalists along their journey to becoming professionals in the field.
Reflections from Esmée
Reflections from Jayden
What’s up! My name is Jayden Martinez, and I’m a biology major from Fullerton College. My work here at Laguna Canyon Foundation has been my first interning experience, and it’s been far from the coffee runs and busy work that Devil Wears Prada may lead you to believe. I distinctly recall the first morning of my internship, and being a little late because I got turned around trying to find the office for the first time (Phillips street, not road). I was mortified, but everyone was extremely kind and understanding, and I think that speaks to the awesome culture here at Laguna Canyon Foundation.
It’s been such an exciting learning experience, and a huge opportunity for young people such as myself that are trying to figure out where they fit into this field. Being able to learn about every facet of the on-goings of an environmentally focused nonprofit has opened my eyes to all the roles that go into the pursuit of this mission from advocacy and development, to trail work and hand-weeding. I used to picture entry level roles in native habitat conservation as distinctly field work-based, like the hand-weeding we did with the Conservation team, or the trail maintenance we did with the Trails team. Since my time with Laguna Canyon Foundation, however, I’ve also gotten to learn about the advocacy and development aspects of running a nonprofit, as well as the communications and financials. So so so much more goes into keeping this dream alive than I could have anticipated, and the interconnected nature of these roles is really cool to observe and learn about.
The people here and even the partners we got the chance to meet have all been extremely welcoming and incredibly knowledgeable individuals. The opportunity to be around and learn from passionate, like-minded people has been undeniably cool and valuable. I’ve had a blast, and I’m very grateful to the Laguna Canyon Foundation team for having me and Esmée!
