Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

It is finally time for me to present my final video.

As I look back over all of my footage I realize how hard I worked this Summer.  I conducted tons of interviews, attended numerous events, and of course, documented several different build sites.  It was way more fun than I could have expected. Granted, this is my passion in life, but i does involve a lot of hard work.  I played the role of Producer by making the phone calls and setting up interviews as well as coming up with the ideas for the videos themselves.  I played the role of Director as I approached each set as the man in charge by selecting the shots and conducting interviews.  I played the role of Director of Photography as I framed each and every shot on a daily basis.  I played the role of Production Assistant as I dragged around all of the equipment from place to place by myself.  Then I played the role of Editor as I spent the last couple of weeks editing the videos I had shot.

This was a lot of work for any one person to do.  But I could not have enjoyed it more. I learned so much from doing all of this work alone.  They say in film that you learn way more on a film set than you ever do in the classroom, I must say that I agree with that.  I improved on every aspect of filmmaking which was certainly a big goal of mine heading into this project.  I feel prepared to take on the world as this one man crew I have developed.

Thank you to The Columbus Foundation for making all of this possible. The weekly learning sessions, the learning excursions, or even just the emails back and forth: I enjoyed them all.  This Summer has truly been a blessing.  I will continue to spread the message of the Foundation and encourage others to apply for this same role.  It feels great to be a Summer Fellow Graduate!!!

Here is my final presentation video, Enjoy!

The biggest part of my non-profit organization is the volunteers.  If it wasn’t for the volunteers then Habitat for Humanity Mid-Ohio would not be able to function.

My first event coverage was at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.  Although I was a little nervous it was a fun first experience with a camera in my hands.  My boss stood close behind me as I interviewed multiple volunteers about what they do at Habitat.  I quickly realized that these volunteers were more like employees than anything.  The only reason they call them volunteers is  because they are unpaid, but they work just as hard as any employee I’ve ever seen.

I’ve been on location at multiple build sites and numerous events and no matter where I go, there is a large group of volunteers waiting to help in any way they can.  In this video below, you will meet a few of the volunteers who make Habitat run so smoothly.

Yesterday morning I got taken up to fly in an airplane by my CEO. Yes you read that correctly, it is NOT a typo.  The CEO of Habitat For Humanity MidOhio, EJ Thomas, has one of the coolest biplanes in the entire world and he gave me the opportunity to ride shotgun.

This story is not only to brag about the fact that I did loops 4,000 feet in the air, although I am pretty cool… But it is more to show you how quickly you can develop a relationship with your coworkers.  I have only been with Habitat for a couple months and here I am being trusted to co-pilot a million dollar aircraft with my boss’ boss.

When I showed up to the hangar with my friend from Capital, Mike, he took us all around his plane telling us the ins and outs of what made it special.  Of course he could have said anything because I have absolutely no idea what he is talking about.  The point was not the information as much as it was the fact that I was standing with EJ in his own personal hangar.

When he asked me to hop in the back of the plane I was obviously a little bit nervous, but this guy is about as calm and collected as they come.  If you can’t trust him then you can’t trust anybody.  So I hopped in the front seat of the plane, I guess when you are steering solo in this biplane then you do it from the back.  He strapped on my helmet, fully equipped with a speaker and headset so he could talk me through everything he was doing to get the plane up in the air.

I found myself staring through a windshield at what looked to be a football field in front of me as we prepared for take off.  The propellor began to spin faster, the engine roared, and we began racing forward.  It was surprisingly as smooth as any commercial flight I had ever been on.  Before I knew it we were up in the air doing full loops, nose dives, sharp turns, you name it.

No I did not throw up.

Thanks to Ej Thomas for being an awesome boss and friend!

https://vimeo.com/135583221

Everyone is closing up shop at their respective non-profits this week, but I spent a week this summer in Hilton Head, so fortunately I’ve still got one more week to savor at Per Scholas Columbus. But this will be my final blog post about my summer fellowship experience, so I figured I ought to find a way to wrap this all up. As I was putting together my final presentation for the our closing luncheon tomorrow, I came up with three “takeaways” that I’d like to share here.

• People are willing to help; don’t be afraid to ask. I’ve seen this to be true in several capacities. At the beginning of the summer, I really had no idea what to expect and I was not very familiar with Per Scholas. I remember asking on my first day, “Wait, what are middle skills?” And the questions just kept rolling. If my coworkers weren’t so willing to help me and show me the ropes, this would have been a long and painful perspective. I’ve also seen the inherent goodness of people when it comes to donors and employment partners. When employers hear about Per Scholas, they are typically more than willing to help us out with mock interviews or to speak to the classes. Many times businesses are willing to support us financially. I think a lot of times big businesses can get a bad reputation, but Per Scholas really benefits from their help, and all we had to do was ask!
• Community engagement is key. It’s hard to believe that I’ve lived in Westerville almost my whole life and I’m just now discovering the beauty that is Columbus. I was blinded by suburbia but I have seen the light. I loved getting to see this city up close and personal and to work with the people of this city to help improve their circumstances. I think that’s what it’s all about. Investing in your community, making it better, being fully present with those whom you are serving, that is the formula for a rich life.
• Everyone deserves a chance. A lot of times, people come through the doors of Per Scholas and they are awesome job candidates, but because of a gap in their resume or a bad break with a previous employer, they haven’t been able to find work. All they need is for someone to give them a chance and they are guaranteed to succeed. I think working at Per Scholas has made me much more willing to give people a chance, to give people the benefit of the doubt, because there is always more than meets the eye. If you give somebody an opportunity, there’s always a chance that they might waste that opportunity. But there’s an even greater chance that they will do something remarkable because of your willingness to trust them.

So that is what I’m walking away with this summer. It has been an incredible opportunity to serve and to grow. Many thanks to the Columbus Foundation, Per Scholas, Dan Sharpe, Melissa Neely, Rob Guentter, and each and every person who made this experience a possibility. It has been a bigger blessing than I can say, and I know that it has changed me for the better. I’ll be seeing you around, Columbus.

Much love,

Ashley

I am sitting at my desk, here in my third-floor cubicle at the Vineyard Community Center, for my final day as a fellow here. Yesterday, a new intern on our floor was being introduced to the third-floor tenants; it’s hard to believe that it was a full ten weeks ago, June 1st to be exact, that I was given the welcome tour. I have written at length on this blog about the warm, genuinely kind, and welcoming nature of essentially each and every one of my coworkers here. I seriously doubt that a more congenial and gregarious work environment exists in the Columbus area.

I have also used much of my 300 word weekly allotment to illustrate what I learned throughout the experience. To say my fellowship has been educational would be a callous understatement. In many ways it has been eye opening, and will pay dividends to my professional endeavors for years to come.

Thus, I will not divulge into any further redundancy; rather, I will discuss what lays ahead on the horizon for me. After I officially complete my fellowship tomorrow afternoon at the Columbus Foundation, I will have approximately two weeks before my 22 year tenure in Ohio’s Capital City will come to a close. I was born and raised in this city. I have spent the entirety of my formative years here; never leaving its borders for more than two months in my life, but that will all change on August 24th. I will be moving to Philadelphia to attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania. I am absolutely positive that much of what I was able to learn here–both from the nature of my work and from my boss’ earnest lessons–will bear fruit during my time as a law student.

The Columbus Foundation Summer Fellowship was the only program, job, or opportunity I applied to for this summer. There was nothing else that I wanted to do more, and the timeline perfectly corresponded with my own schedule. I am so grateful I was selected and given the chance to embark on this ten week journey. Undoubtedly, the fellowship has created an indelible final memory in Columbus for me, a perfect capstone to my residence in the greatest city in the world. Thank you, Columbus, you will always be home!

Today is my final day with Make A Wish.  After I finish writing this, I’ll be cleaning out my desk.  This week I did a lot of small projects, including running the same cost analysis for 2014-2015 but breaking it down by months.

My favorite part of my week was presenting to the programs team yesterday.  I hope that I helped them  a lot.  My presentation sparked a lot of debate about the best ways to do things, which is exactly what I had hoped for.  I enjoyed hearing their side of things since they knew much more about the wish coordinating side of things than I do.  Sophia said she would like me to do the presentation sometime later this year for the entire programs team because she thinks it is important for everyone to know and understand.

MAW also tried to fatten me up during the last week.  Our Development Officer, John, got a Piada food truck to stop by and hand out free Piada sticks.  Development also had a two day meeting and brought back their leftover food.  Lots of cookies and Pita Pit.  There’s always food in this darn office.  Earlier in the year they had left over City BBq and I’m a vegetarian so two days in a row I had a heaping plate of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese.

I feel especially sad, as this is my second and final summer with Make A Wish.  I have learned so much from them.  I don’t really have many words for what I’m feeling because it mostly just feels unreal. I’ve grown so much from the timid development intern who didn’t know how to copy, use a phone, or leave voicemails that weren’t completely awkward.  I’m so grateful for this amazing experience.  I loved getting to know the fellows and thoroughly enjoyed all the people in the non-profit world we got to meet during our learning sessions.  Sophia was an amazing and supportive boss all summer.  I know I’ll never forget this experience.

Much like all of my past summer jobs, this internship came with the understanding that my salary was already pre-negotiated. I’ve always considered myself a pretty mission-driven rather than money-driven person, so my past work experience has usually involved either a passion of mine or a skill-set that I was interested in mastering. It’s not that I don’t appreciate money. In fact, I would say that as a student of political economics, I am acutely aware of the fact that in many ways, money defines us. However, because I’ve always taken positions in the past with pre-set hourly wages, I’ve considered my value as an employee to be roughly equal to any other person in my position. In other words, I’ve never been put in a position where I’ve had to look at myself and wonder, “What am I worth?”
The question hit me after I was given the amazing news last week that ECDI would be possibly be keeping me on as an intern. I knew from the beginning of these discussions that, if I were to be hired, I could not possibly get paid as much as I’m currently receiving from the Columbus Foundation’s generous support. From there, the question became: how much should I be paid if I stayed at ECDI? Like any child of the internet, I immediately googled the average salary of a grant writer and got nothing. Even taking into account the type of organization you’re working for, the city you live in and how long you’ve been doing it, the salaries vary dramatically. Accepting that google would give me no answers, I turned to my friends and family. I was torn by the fact that, while potential assistantships may come with tuition coverage, a hefty stipend and financial peace of mind, they could never give me the satisfaction of working for an organization I truly believe in. Luckily, when the time came to discuss my salary with Tammy, I was comfortable enough to voice this concern and we were able to work out the hours and rate needed for me to say at ECDI long term. For the first time, I felt more like a professional than just an employee or intern. I’ve realized that, while I still don’t I have a definitive answer to the question “What am I worth?”, I definitely think it’s a question we’re all worth enough to ask.

It is hard to believe that I am in week ten of ten of my summer fellowship with the Columbus Early Learning Centers. Although the fact that I will be continuing as a part-time volunteer coordinator might be contributing to this feeling of disbelief, time definitely flew at the CELC this summer.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I had scheduled several large groups to come in to the CELC for service projects later this summer. Since many of these will not be coming in until after the completion of the fellowship, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the work that these groups will be doing. Later this week for my last blog post, you all can look forward to reading about the work of a couple of our individual volunteers.

John Glenn Civic Leadership Council (August 23^rd)-The John Glenn Civic Leadership Council will be bringing approximately forty volunteers for a volunteer day in late August. Since there are so many volunteers coming with this organization, they will be working on a variety of projects throughout the center. They will be painting an accent wall in our new triple office, designing new bulletin boards for each of our classrooms, giving our kitchen a makeover, and moving items out of a storage room to make space for a new teacher resource room.  This organization will also be partnering with the CELC throughout the academic year to work on numeracy in each of the classrooms.

Community Commitment 2015 (August 29^th)- For the first time we are partnering with Pay It Forward at Ohio State to bring Community Commitment 2015 to the Columbus Early Learning Centers. Volunteers will complete the storage room project that the John Glenn Civic Leadership Council is starting so that we can begin work on our new teacher resource room. In addition, they will be laying a fresh coat of mulch on our preschool and toddler playgrounds and creating enrollment packets for fall 2015.

United Way Columbus Volunteer Challenge (September 9^th)- Every year, the United Way of Central Ohio hosts a weeklong event of service called the Columbus Volunteer Challenge in which they pair business and leadership groups with nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies throughout Central Ohio. Once again this year, we will be partnering with the United Way for Columbus Volunteer Challenge. However, this year, rather than having a business or leadership group serve at our center, the CELC will host the United Way’s Leadership Givers for an evening service project. These volunteers will be making improvements to our literacy center, decorating nap boxes, and painting an accent wall in each of our classrooms.

As you can see, these volunteers will have the opportunity to have a meaningful and visual impact on the organization. Stay tuned later this week to hear about the projects of our individual volunteers.