Seeing what's possible: Cherosa's Story

Cherosa Phiri tells us about her time as an intern in Co-op's Property team

This summer, Geography student Cherosa Phiri joined Co-op's Property team through the 10,000 Black Interns programme. During her internship, she worked on sustainability and climate resilience projects, explored the wide range of careers within Property and gained valuable experience ahead of her final year at university.

We caught up with Cherosa to hear more about her experience.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I'm studying Geography at the University of Leeds. I've always had a passion for geography and environmental justice, and I find the relationship between people and the environment really interesting.

I study physical geography, but I also learn about human-environment interactions, so I get a well-rounded understanding of both the environmental and social aspects of the subject.

How did you come to join Co-op through the 10,000 Black Interns programme?

Through the programme, you choose the areas you're interested in, and I selected sustainability-related streams. Co-op were offering a sustainability internship, and I was really happy to be matched with the opportunity.

I was excited to apply because Co-op is a company with a strong sense of corporate social responsibility, and its member-owned ethos really appealed to me.

What were you hoping to gain from the internship?

I wanted to understand what sustainability looks like in a corporate environment.

Before joining Co-op, my understanding was mainly scientific and focused on climate resilience and climate science. I wanted to see how that translated into the commercial world, and I can definitely say I've gained a much better understanding of that now.

Has your perception of Property changed since joining Co-op?

Definitely. Before starting, I had a fairly vague understanding of Property and mostly associated it with location planning and demographic data.

What surprised me was how many different teams are involved. You've got Estates, Construction, Sustainability and other specialist teams all working together. Seeing how many stakeholders are involved from the early planning stages through to a store opening has been really interesting.

What kind of work have you been involved in?

My projects have all been centred around climate hazards and climate resilience.

I've created a communications presentation explaining climate risks such as flooding, overheating and storms, researched how organisations are protecting their estates from climate-related risks, and mapped climate hazards across the UK to identify which stores could be most affected in the future.

The overall aim was to help understand how Co-op can protect its estate from our changing climate.

What's been your favourite part of the experience?

I've really enjoyed the site visits. I visited One Angel Square, several stores, the depot and even went to Kendal Calling to see how Co-op operates at the festival.

One of the moments I'm most proud of was receiving a shout-out during a Property Huddle for my problem-solving attitude and willingness to take initiative when working through challenges.

That experience helped me realise I'm more resilient than I give myself credit for and it's definitely given me more confidence.

Why are programmes like 10,000 Black Interns so important?

I think it's incredibly important for companies to not only focus on diversity, but on inclusion too.

Having people that look like me, or come from different backgrounds, in these spaces is important because it shows that I can do it too. Seeing inspirational women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds can be a huge source of motivation.

Programmes like this open spaces that weren't open before, and that's why they're so valuable.

If you could sum up your internship in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, challenging and valuable.

I've had fun, I've challenged myself and there's so much I've learned from the experience. It's added value to both my professional and personal life, and I've had a really well-rounded experience.