Week two of the fellowship is already in the books, and the pace hasn’t slowed down. Between volunteer shifts, meetings, and a development session at the Columbus Foundation, it was another full and rewarding week.

A highlight was sitting in on several meetings where I got to observe how Besa approaches bringing on new nonprofit partners. There’s a real intentionality to how they build those relationships, and seeing that process up close gave me a better appreciation for the infrastructure behind what looks, from the outside, like a simple volunteer sign-up.

On the ground, I was back out volunteering at three different sites. At the Gantz location of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, I had genuinely eye-opening conversations with immigrants and refugees from all over the world. I’ll leave it at that for the sake of keeping this post under control, but those conversations gave me a lot to think about. At Dress for Success Columbus, I helped sort a large donation of clothes alongside Bath and Body Works employees and learned about how their mission supporting women’s economic empowerment has grown into a global movement. And back at Ro’s Kitchen for the second week in a row, I put my baking skills to the test and made more banana bread than I thought was physically possible in a single kitchen.

In between all of that, I started digging into the research side of my project, exploring contemporary and evidence-based strategies for increasing volunteer engagement and fill rates on the Besa platform. I’m enjoying this part of the work and looking forward to developing those findings into a concrete proposal.

Lastly, the development session at The Columbus Foundation with my fellow cohort members on Wednesday has truly stayed with me. We have been exploring our “why” and how it influences everything we do. It is so refreshing to discuss these ideas not only with an engaged and bright group of peers, but especially with Dr. Lomax himself. I think this is an incredibly valuable concept to reflect on, not only now but throughout our entire careers. It will shape what we do as future leaders and be reflected in the impact we have on others. I am still working through my own answer, but I am eager to continue exploring it and move closer to a conclusion.