Adelaide University Internship Experience - Grace Baek
Welcome Grace!
Grace Baek has joined our Data Analytics Team for her Adelaide University ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Internship as part of her Bachelor of Computer Science, Semester 1, 2026, from 24 February 2026 to 26 April 2026.
She is completing a 150-hour onsite internship with SAcommunity at the Connecting Up Office, Infoxchange, working 2 days per week over 10 weeks.
Total Hours: 30 Joined: 24 February 2026 Last Check-in: 4th March 2026
Personal Biography
Grace is in her final year of a Bachelor of Computer Science (Cybersecurity) at Adelaide University. She initially studied a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) at the University of South Australia before discovering a strong interest in technology and cybersecurity, leading her to transition to Computer Science. This decision reflects her willingness to pursue growth and align her studies with her evolving professional goals.
Her background in Allied Health provides her with a unique interdisciplinary perspective, particularly in understanding healthcare systems, patient data sensitivity, and the importance of secure information management.
Currently, Grace works as a Student Library Assistant at Adelaide University, supporting students, staff, alumni, and community users as a frontline team member.
At Connecting Up, Infoxchange, she has joined the Data Analytics Team, where she is expanding her technical skill set in tools such as Power BI while strengthening her analytical and professional capabilities.
Grace aspires to build a career as a Cybersecurity or Data Analyst within the technology industry, with a long-term goal of contributing to secure, data-driven solutions within health and community-focused sectors.
Community Services in Councils Project
Grace has selected Adelaide Hills Council for her Power BI council reports, a database of approximately () community services operaing in the area for the financial years (). Her reports followed previous visualisation report work by Stathis Avramis, and his completed reports can be found >>here.
Infoxchange (IX) All Staff Town Hall Meeting 25 February 2026
Updates from the Infoxchange CEO, Operations, Finance, People & Culture, Lightning Talks from IX Teams, and IXCEL Awards.
This meeting began with CEO David Spriggs providing organisational updates, acknowledging the team's contributions and welcoming new staff members. Key topics discussed included the Digital Futures Initiative, the Customer Charter, Great Place to Work results, the hybrid way of working, business systems replacement, CCM process improvement, and overall financial performance. The session concluded with announcements of upcoming organisational events.
The meeting provided valuable insight into how the organisation operates at a strategic level. It highlighted how leadership communicates prorities and organisational goals across different departments. Observing updates from different teams helped demonstrate how diverse roles and teams work together to support the organisation's mission. This strengthened understanding of the importance of collaboration and communication across multidisciplinary teams in ensuring organisational success.
IX Community & Cultural Events & Activities
IX Stakeholder Events
Data Catalyst Network (DCN): A collaborative network for NFP organisations that work together to improve how data is used to support children, families, and communities. It brings together organisations, academics, government bodies, and people with lived experience to share knowledge and strengthen data capability. Through initiative such as monthly webinars, members learn how to use data more effectively to improve services and outcomes.
DCN March Webinar: ABS Lifecourse Data Catalyst Network 3 March 2026
This webinar was an excellent opportunity to hear from The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Life Course Data Initiative (LCDI) Community Team about how they assist NFPs, and to learn about the LCDI.
The LCDI community team is helping communities find and access data, and build capability in using and interpreting data for local decision making.
We also got to hear some case studies that show how the LCDI community team has engaged with and helped communities. The presentation also included a demonstration of the new user-friendly interactive map and dashboard for community access-to-services data which has now been released.
Digital Training & Development
Volunteers and interns have access to the Connecting Up Digital Learning Platform, which offers live and recorded webinars, workshops, and web conferences delivered by subject-matter experts across a range of technology topics relavant to the Not-for-Profit (NFP) sector.
Grace actively selected and participated in relevant sessions, summarising key learnings and critically reflecting on how these insights could enhance her internship experience. The sessions attended included:
How to Organise People and Data to Build a Thriving Community
This webinar introduced the fundamentals of digital organising and emphasised that influence comes from trust, and trust is built through strong relationships. The presenters explained that in order to deepen relationships with supporters, organisations must "save" their relationships by storing supporter information in one central system rather than relying solely on social media platforms.
Key concepts included how and where to store data, how to organise supporter information effectively, and how to use the Ladder of Engagement to move individuals from one action to another. It was useful to see how the webinar highlighted the importance of converting followers into supporters through clear calls to action and dedicated sign-up pages.
A significant focus was placed on the use of tags as "digital sticky notes" to record how supporters have interacted with an organisation, such as event attendance or membership status. This allows organisations to communicate more personally and strategically, helping supporters feel recognised and valued.
Overall, the webinar reinforced how structured data practices and intentional engagement strategies can strengthen community relationships and support long-term engagement with the NFP sector.
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