Internship Spotlight: Nataliia Nevinchana ’27, EY Consulting
Nataliia Nevinchana, a joint-degree student at Yale SOM and the Yale School of the Environment, explored implementation consulting and West Coast living through a summer internship in Los Angeles.
Internship: EY Consulting, Los Angeles
Hometown: Kyiv, Ukraine
Pronouns: she/her/hers
The SOM class you’re using on the job: Competitor, Managing Groups & Teams
Go-to work lunch: I am big on bringing my lunch from home, so usually whatever I had for dinner the previous day
After-work routine: Make dinner, get a fun summer drink from TJs, read an exciting novel, and maybe go for a walk
Favorite thing about internship city: Constant warm and sunny weather, proximity to beautiful nature and other cities
As a summer MBA consultant at EY’s consulting customer practice (now called Studio+), I was assigned to a strategic transformation project with a client in the auto sector. I was excited to supplement my previous strategy consulting and internal consulting experience with implementation consulting.
The highlight of my summer was managing a team of three undergraduate interns and producing a series of competitive benchmarking PowerPoint decks with them. It was fascinating to see how my existing team leadership skills—I previously founded a nonprofit startup back home in Ukraine—translated into more formal corporate settings. I especially loved how the SOM core courses Managing Groups & Teams and The Workforce helped me connect my experiential learnings with academic findings on management best practices. This allowed me to give better feedback, build trust with the team, and create lasting relationships that extended beyond the internship.
Another interesting discovery this summer was how helpful industry experience is in making you a better consultant. Having received consulting decks as a client in the past, I understood the challenges so much better and evaluated my output against what I would find useful as a client. As a result, I exceeded performance expectations this summer and felt proud of the work I produced.
Of the many firms that hire interns each summer, EY stood out with its strong focus on wellness and welcoming team culture. Every summer, EY takes a weeklong break ahead of Independence Day, which allowed me to explore Los Angeles and travel to Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach, and Channel Islands National Park. I was consistently impressed by how supportive everyone I met throughout the internship was. Countless warm introductions allowed me to expand my EY network, make friends in LA, and build great relationships with students from other MBA programs.
I also used this summer strategically to learn more about EY's sustainability projects and build out my network in the firm’s utilities and climate change and sustainability practices. Being able to meet with leaders across EY and learn about exciting projects and internal initiatives beyond my direct team was invaluable for growing my business and sustainability knowledge while helping me evaluate my next career steps.
This internship was also a fun, low-risk opportunity to explore a new city and experience West Coast living. As an international student who spent almost eight years in Pennsylvania, New York City, and New Haven, I had always wondered what living in California would feel like. I definitely loved Los Angeles’s weather, though I was surprised to discover how cold the Pacific Ocean stays even in summer. While I was initially taken aback by the minimal public transportation options—especially after three years in NYC—by summer's end I could genuinely see myself living here at some point in the future.
Overall, this summer provided exactly what I hoped for: hands-on implementation experience, meaningful leadership opportunities, strategic career exploration, and a chance to test life in a completely different place. The combination of challenging work, supportive culture, and geographic exploration made it an ideal internship experience that will influence both my post-graduation plans and longer-term career trajectory.
