Hello! My name is Victoria Alesi and I am a new Columbus Foundation Summer Fellow. I am going into my fifth year at The Ohio State University, studying Dance, International Studies and Spanish. I am from Arlington Heights, IL a northwest suburb of Chicago.

This summer I was chosen to work as a marketing and communications intern with the Jazz Arts Group Columbus (JAG). The Jazz Arts Group is dedicated to producing, performing and promoting jazz. JAG is a three-tiered umbrella organization which encompasses both education and performing. The Columbus Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz Educational camps, youth orchestras, and classes, and the Affiliate Musician Program are all run under the JAG. This 43 year-old, renowned, not-for-profit has a lot to teach me, and I am very enthusiastic about what I can learn from them.

My main project over the summer is to work on marketing for the JazZoo! Summer Series. JazZoo! is going on its 11th year and has four performances over the summer that take place at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. There are a wide-range of guest artists from Broadway stars to world-renowned pianists. And of course there will be animals there as well. It is sure to be a wild show that will “jazz up” your summer!

This week so far I met with all the other fellows at The Columbus Foundation and learned about what other non-profit organizations are part of the Summer Fellowship program. I look forward to our bi-weekly meetings to learn about how the other fellows are growing and learning about the inner-workings of Columbus not-for-profits.

As for my work thus far at JAG this week, I have been able to meet all of the other employees and interns, tour the office and practice spaces, walk-through the Columbus Zoo and write tweets, Facebook posts and review the new Jazz Arts Group website (shh..it is yet to launch). Overall, it has been a week full of learning, meeting new people, creating new skill sets and fine-toothing old ones.

I look forward to sharing my experiences and getting to be able to learn more and more about how I can contribute to the Arts in the Columbus community.