Artistic Beginnings to College to County: Lynn’s internship
By: Shanthia Espinosa, College to County Intern
As we eagerly anticipate the arrival of the next cohort of College to County interns in June 2024, let us take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary internship experience shared by Lynn Nguyen and her mentor, Tsultrim Yehshopa, in the summer of 2023. Their story showcases the transformative power of mentorship, collaboration, and professional growth within Multnomah County's Finance department.
In this interview-style conversation, we explore the vibrant interaction between a mentor Tsultrim Yehshopa and their intern Lynn Nguyen. Join us as we learn about their perspectives, difficulties, and shared experiences.
Lynn Nguyen (she/her) participated in the College to County Mentorship (C2C) Program with Central Account Payable during the summer of 2023. She is currently a junior at the University of Portland studying accounting, with a potential interest in forensic accounting. Tsultrim Yehshopa (he/him), is the accounts payable manager, has worked for the County for more than 23 years. He holds a master's degree in business administration in addition to a bachelor's degree in economics.Tsultrim has been such an impactful mentor and leader at the County and we are thrilled to share the successful mentorship and experience! Lynn: “Tsultrim was everything I could ask for! He ensured I grasped the County values and finance operations at Central Account Payable, encouraged networking among our team, and connected me with various experiences across county departments...”Tsultrim: “One of the goals we had for Lynn was to understand the County’s finance dynamics. I appreciate the time some of my colleagues in the office of Treasury, General Ledger, ERP Finance Support, Budget Office and the CFO were able to spend with Lynn, creating meaningful connections and collaboration.”
Lynn: “A project that Tsultrim and I worked on was to understand the core functions of auditing invoices at Central Accounts Payable. I would also communicate with other departments if errors occurred to sort them out and acquire more information with Tsultrim.”
Tsultrim: “Lynn’s calm, thoughtful, professional and at times funny demeanor was well liked by her co-workers and very quickly integrated into the rhythm of our daily and weekly payments tasks. She played a huge role in this short time to understand the processes of getting the rapid rent assistance checks out to the most vulnerable members of our community correctly and on time. She also assisted with updating some of our internal procedural documents on Commons and left with several review notes on the ones we could not finish, which were extremely helpful.”
Lynn: “I appreciated my daily check-ins with Tsultrim. We would monitor my progress and provide feedback on how the internship is going, which I found really productive and reassuring.”
Tsultrim: “I am so glad Lynn chose Multnomah County for her summer internship! We appreciate the opportunity hosting Lynn with C2C and the impact she has made at Central Accounts Payable.”
Visit the College to County to learn more and for questions/need help please contact Cole Whitehurst, College to County Mentorship Coordinator at cole.whitehurst@multco.us.