Week 10 at the Women’s Fund was spent wrapping up video editing and saying goodbyes. I am so grateful for the work I was able to contribute to this amazing organization, and I am eternally grateful for the care of the community around me. I learned so much from the Women’s Fund team, and on my last day, they said goodbye to me with cookies and well-wishes for the future.

At the end of this eventful and exciting summer, I have two key takeaways: people and process. So many people shaped my summer experience: my coworkers at the Women’s Fund, Dr. Lomax, Matt Martin, Chelsea Kiene, my fellow fellows at The Columbus Foundation, and the changemaking women I had the privilege of interviewing for the Women in the Social Sector Project.

Yesterday, the summer fellows presented on their experiences and takeaways after 10 weeks of working at their host sites and participating in the fellowship program. Although I heard about what each fellow was working on during fellowship learning sessions, seeing all their work compiled into a single slideshow made me fully appreciate just how much each person accomplished this summer. I feel so lucky to have been a part of an amazing group of people working towards change in Columbus. The presentation format was a PechaKucha, which gives each speaker 6 minutes and 40 seconds to talk about their entire summer experience. Each slide lasts 20 seconds, and the transitions are automated.
My slideshow outlined my projects and learning experiences from the summer, but my speech was completely different. As the slides clicked through behind me, I talked about storytelling.

Since I spent most of my fellowship creating content for the Women’s Fund, I thought about storytelling almost every day. I remembered how at the beginning of the fellowship, I told everyone it was my favorite thing. Specifically, the end product of storytelling. This is still true, but now I find the most value in a different aspect of storytelling: the process and the people behind it. I see storytelling as a collaborative conversation between the author, people in the present, and people in the past. There is a through line, I believe, between this process-driven storytelling and the core of nonprofit work: both recognize the people behind every story, every bit of change, and honor the past while looking to a future of change and understanding. Taking time for process like nonprofits do shows a rare commitment to doing the work with care for people, conversation, and collaboration.

I have loved being a part of The Columbus Foundation’s summer fellowship program these past 10 weeks, and I can’t wait for the next cohort of fellows to experience this transformative program.

Goodbye!
Eva