Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

This week we finalized all of the projects and deliverables for the Information Session on Thursday. Families came to the session and walked around the school scanning QR codes that linked to the videos we made about the different programs, academics, opportunities, clubs, and financial aid Marburn offers. Our leadership team came up with the idea to switch up our approach to these information sessions to make them more flexible and accessible. Parents and caregivers were able to take as much time as they wanted to watch the videos and chat with Marburn faculty and staff. It was also a kid-friendly session to allow parents the opportunity to come even if they didn’t have childcare set up. 

Today is Friday and it was the last day of our 2022 summer school program. We celebrated the students with recognition ceremonies and field day activities. Each student was recognized during their ceremony for the hard work and perseverance they showed these past four weeks. Parents and caregivers came to the ceremonies to see their students receive a certificate and encouraging words from their teachers. Celebrating students is a value Marburn Academy participates in regularly. 

After the ceremonies, each division played outside to celebrate the end of summer school. We had a bounce house, an inflatable obstacle course, chalk, frisbee, basketball, bowling pins, etc. To top it off the students enjoyed popsicles after running around in the heat. Today and this week have been eventful and so much fun. I loved seeing all the students smile and play.

This week was my first week back in the office after the conclusion of the Summer Camp. I have had a very eye opening week. I got the opportunity to meet with a few important people in the Community in Schools office and one of the highlights was meeting with the Parent and Engagement Coordinator. When we first was introduced to each other, it was a brief time, but my focus on my internship is to do planning around Family and Engagement activities for Site Coordinators to be able to have documents and resources for when the school year begin. I finally had a meeting with the Specialist and the meeting went from being only 30 minutes to a little over two hours. This was by far the most informational and life changing meeting I have had in the past few months. We spoke a lot about the work that is done as a Parent Engagement Coordinator and the conversation sparked up topics around nonprofits, family history, the importance of education in young children and went on mini trails of real estate, healthcare, poetry, and much more. I learned a great deal from this conversation that I will be able to use in my last year of college as well as my future decisions that I make as it pertains to my career field. I want to thank Ms. Vernell for allowing the conversation to extend with no limitations.

For the past week and a half, I have been working on a mini project that I decided to start on my own. This entailed me to create a two page evaluation of the Summer Camp that we planned and implemented for the middle school students at CCA. The reason for this upbringing was because in the nonprofit spectrum, evaluation is a key component of the success of programming and the impact it has on the community. I believed that my input on some of the improvements of the summer camp would be helpful for future interns of CIS. I decided to to section the evaluation up three segments which were Planning, Program Quality, and Student to Adult Engagement. I learned a lot by just recounting the four weeks of the program and being able to list pros and cons and anything I feel may have been beneficial or will be beneficial to implement for next summer.

As I have stated, this fellowship has placed me outside of my comfort zone. My prior work experiences have been externally oriented. I interacted directly with customers or constituents, and examined public policy issues while identifying possible solutions. My current role at Local Matters has pushed me to look internally at the issues within an organization and work with those around me to address them. As my final product nears completion, I am satisfied with the progress I have made and excited to see how this experience has shaped my personal and professional development. 

This week, I began wrapping up my first draft of the operations manual. I have had to come to terms with the fact that sometimes a first draft is called a rough draft for a reason. There are still holes in the manual and areas that need a great deal of expansion, but sharing my current progress with my team will allow them to provide new input and feedback on what additions are necessary. On Wednesday, I provided updates to the organization during our all-staff meeting. The CEO of Local Matters then spoke with me and gave me great pointers on how to reorient my current work to better suit what is needed. She also asked me to give a presentation at the staff meeting next Wednesday, which is my last week in-person. While getting feedback on the general direction of the project is nerve wracking when a deadline is rapidly approaching, the CEO’s help definitely gave me the assurance I need to create a strong manual. 

After the staff meeting, I implored a new tactics to get feedback from my team members. Rather than soliciting input from them in a formal capacity (through surveys or interviews), I simply sat in the kitchen space with them and conversed with them on a casual level. I eventually asked what they think I should add to the manual, which helped me add a few more points to the processes and procedures section. I also connected with them all personally by discussing our personal lives and interests, which was great. Though I am still working laboriously to complete a presentable draft of the manual I enjoyed taking a step back to learn about all of my team members.

This past week was enjoyable and very busy. On Monday I shadowed Darrell and got to tag along on the projects he worked on that day. In the morning we helped guide our summer school students during morning drop-off into the school. The next event was running the fire drill we had that day. I am sure everyone remembers when we had fire drills as kids in school. It was cool to be on the other side of the drill with the teachers and staff members. The next project was going out to inspect our soccer field to make sure it was not flooded. Marburn rents out the field to teams who need it during the summer. We were in charge of making sure it was in good shape and safe for teams to play on. To end the day, I helped him paint a classroom that was in need of touching up. It was pretty fun to hang out and participate in projects around the school. 

This week I also helped create videos and deliverables for our information session that will happen next Thursday. This info session is for interested families who want to learn more about Marburn Academy and the educational opportunities. Many of the families are coming from different areas of Ohio that are more than an hour away from Marburn. It is very important that they have a good experience and that we take good care of them. Next week we will be working on finalizing the materials for the info session and also getting ready for the last day of summer school which is next Friday. It has been so nice to have students in the building for the past month and see them learn and grow each day.

To kick off this week, I started at the ASPIRE program once again. My days with ASPIRE are becoming my favorite of the week, and the day I look forward to most. Seeing the same group of people each week gives me the opportunity to develop my relationships and genuinely get to know the participants. For the ASPIRE program, the ARC staff get to work, and then head off on their driving routes to pick up participants from home and bring them back to ARC. Usually, I stay back in the office to catch up on work and await their arrival. This week, one of the participants walked into ARC, saw me, and said, “I knew you were here! I saw your blue car!”. This was such a small comment, but it made me feel really good to know that she noticed the car I drove, and got excited when she realized that I was going to be spending the day with them.

With ASPIRE, we decided to go to the free market, and go back to the library to return some things from the previous week and scour the music section for a new CD to listen to in the van. While we were at the library, one of the participants walked around the books with me and helped me select my very first Columbus library book– which I think I was a lot more excited about than the average person. My favorite part of being with ASPIRE isn’t necessarily the activities we do, though I do enjoy spending the work day at places like the conservatory or the mall. My favorite part of ASPIRE is the people. I enjoy talking to them and learning about their interests, hearing their stories, or joking around with them. I have never had a job where I spend the majority of my day smiling.

Later in the week, I went to an ARC Adult Resource Center that I had never been to before. Participants in the resource centers are divided into “pods” in different rooms due to COVID. In one of the pods, participants were making turkey pinwheels that they were going to snack on later in the day. After the cooking took place, they put the recipe into a little booklet, as they do with all of their food creations. They have made three full cookbooks and are working on their fourth edition. Flipping through these definitely made me a little hungry, especially the dessert recipes.

Finally, at the resource center I had the ability to sit in with a couple program coordinators in a meeting where they discussed the logistics of ARC. The point of this meeting was to discuss where to place people and which staff would be with certain participants. It was interesting for me to see how much planning it takes to make this company work. Just when you think you’ve fond the solution, something else comes up. Or, something may look like a perfect plan on paper, but it cannot work in reality.

It was a very productive week for me at Ohio Humanities, as I finally got to finish the donor stewardship project that I’ve been working on for weeks! After I finished the phone calls to donors last week, I drafted and sent out thank you notes to donors that called for them to reach out to us for conversations about our work. I sent these notes through emails and through written notes that were mailed, and I’m excited to see the response that comes from them. From one response we already got, I had the opportunity to have a phone call with a donor and with the Senior Development Officer, Scarlett, to hear about what the donor thinks Ohio Humanities is doing effectively in sharing our work with our donors, what changes or advice they had, and why they love the humanities like us. It was a very valuable experience hearing directly from a supporter, and I’m anticipating more phone calls in the coming weeks with Scarlett, as well as in person conversations with donors to gauge what actions we should take to gain more donor support.

At this week’s Learning Session, we got to hear from Elizabeth Martinez, the president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio, in person about her professional experience and the mindsets she adopted in her struggles and journey to have a prestigious leadership position in the nonprofit sector. Her advice resonated with me substantially, particularly when she expressed the significance of mentorship and having guides who can act as accountability partners as well as facilitators to connections. I also appreciated when Elizabeth highlighted the significance of being the best version of yourself – we need to consider everything with our name attached to it, be thoughtful about the way we are presenting ourselves in all our interactions, and refining ourselves in spaces where our point of view and opinions are expected. This perspective helped begin to erase some of the reservations that I feel as a young professional in whom I feel I am “permitted” to interact with, and I think that adopting Elizabeth’s advice is going to have a valuable impact on my journey to create new opportunities for myself and in becoming a leader in the nonprofit industry.

Week 6 was the last week of camp. It was an amazing four weeks of the camp and seeing the transition from the first week to the last week was wonderful. As I reflect on my time being a Summer Camp Counselor, I was able to impact the students by encouraging them to gain trust in the counselors, building their confidence throughout various activities, and giving a safe space for students to feel comfortable opening up and being themselves. From the beginning of the Camp, the students and counselors were getting equipped with understanding each other and the expectations both on our end and on their end. After getting in the groove of how the summer camp would be ran, we began to get more organized and was able to see an increase in student participation and excitement to want to be there. We did a great job keeping focus on the three core competencies for the Social & Emotional learning aspect of the Camp.

I also seen an improvement in myself throughout this experience as this was the first time I was able to work closely with Middle School Students. The atmosphere was great to be in, many of the students enjoyed how authentic and engaged I was. I enjoyed many of the activities and field trips we had with them. This allowed for me to be active in the outside setting of the camp and see students in their natural element. Being a part of a group of people who want to ensure that students are still learning in an informal school setting while also enjoying their summer with new students and adults was rewarding to see.

Looking back at the speaker Dr. Lewis who truly made a mark on the student’s lives, it made me reflect upon my college career/path as well. Understanding, the roles and leadership positions that I am in and what it would lead me to my future is what I enjoy to do and take in. This summer camp has contributed to what I see myself doing in the near future and that is putting together quality programs, creating a nonprofit for students, and advocating for the next generation by being an asset and providing countless resources for them to succeed and be in the position to go after their dreams and goals. I want to thank Communities and Schools for giving me this opportunity to be a part of one of the first interns to help with Summer Camp and hope to have it continue after this year to continue impacting students.

At the end of Week 6, the Sustainable Business Directory holds 525 businesses. I am happy with the progress I have made this past week on the directory and am looking forward to the launch of the website. During our Summer Fellows learning session, Dani Robbins mentioned the difference between charity and social change. From my understanding, charity responds to immediate needs while social change sparks a shift in society. For an example with respect to Simply Living, consider the local economy. Once a year, there is a nationwide shopping holiday known as “Small Business Saturday” which is a response to the domination of big box retail and e-commerce stores during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is an example of charity because it is an immediate response to the rise of the global economy through raising awareness for the local economy. The Sustainable Business Directory on the other hand, is an example of social change. The directory encourages society to shop locally year round because it acts as a resource that offers an alternative to shopping at big box retail and e-commerce stores. I am not saying that the Sustainable Business Directory is better than Small Business Saturday. But I believe this directory is a more effective way to change societal behaviors. 

Taking an even closer look at charity versus social change, Simply Living itself is a non-profit that focuses on social change. As I have referenced before, Simply Living’s mission is to “connect people with learning opportunities that promote sustainability, environmental justice, and our local economy. We provide community education for a more sustainable and equitable world. We envision a compassionate and sustainable world through personal, community and cultural transformation.” Simply Living wants to educate our community through learning opportunities, such as the Sustainable Business Directory, which will trigger societal change.

My thoughts on self-care, fellowship accessibility. and inclusion.

We had a brief lecture on self-care during one of our learning sessions. I remember hearing that self-care is the sole responsibility of the individual. A bootstraps type mentality, in my opinion. But I challenge this argument. The health of an individual is not just the responsibility of the individual. Our actions and inactions sometimes harm other people. We must make effort to be aware of the consequences of our actions. Therefore, we, fellows, and the Columbus Foundation at large, must also practice community care or collective care. This is yet another piece of the equity and inclusion puzzle. What was missing in the lecture on self-care was this concept. A community cannot succeed when community members are not caring for each other. What was missing in this self-care address was the acknowledgement that individuals’ self care practices are hindered by external forces such as “bosses,” friends, family, race, gender, sexual orientation, chronic health issues/disabilities, neighbors, businesses, climate and weather, authorities (instructors, police, judges, etc), policies, or lack of policies that institutions and employers have. The conversation did not acknowledge the negative health affects these variables can have on fellows. What was missing was the conversation about organizations and employers cultivating a culture of self-care, which can often lead to higher satisfaction, productivity, and retention. What was missing was that self-care is not commonly taught to individuals. It is not always curriculum in schooling or taught in families. What was missing was the acknowledgement that someone’s physical and mental health is always affected by all of these external forces outside of our control. What was missing was the context of self-care costing money and that it is, debatably, a luxury to those with low incomes. It is not always accessible, especially for people who are disabled. For some personal context: I cannot cook food if I do certain work for a variable number of hours. A 3 hour day can take me out as much as an 8 hour day. A 10 hour day can go by fast and I feel my baseline normal. Disability is not a reliable thing. Perhaps I do cook, but this tipping point means the next day I can’t work at all. And possibly the day after that, because I go to my needed art therapy time for my mental health. But art therapy time requires physical effort. That increases my pain which results in fatigue. Now I need to recover from therapy. Perhaps I take a medication to aid me, but then the medication has its own side effects that affect my life in other ways. Now I need to recover or alter course based on medication.

I do value the autonomy and agency of others, I do value work ethic. I value working on expanding my discomfort zone and as a result, reducing my danger zone. I also value taking care of others and I value providing the education and tools for others to take care of themselves. We must recognize that in our society, it is too easy to abandon self-care when all your energy has been expensed on surviving.

Some ideas on how The Columbus Foundation can support their Summer Fellows and be more accessible in the future:

Allocate funds to pay an equitable wage. Context: Median rent is over $1000/month in Columbus. (July 2022 Columbus Rent Report, Apartment List). Context: White Castle pays $17/hour. Context: Gas is $5 a gallon. Self-Care massage is $60/hour.

Recruit more: students of different age groups, non-degree seeking students, non-credit students, students with children, etc.

Engage with and recruit more people who have disabilities. Ask them how to make the program more accessible before, during, and after the program. Perhaps emphasize providing feedback after program completion to fellows so that they do not think offering feedback could result in jeopardizing their position.

Provide clear rationale for certain fellowship requirements.

Offer a way to provide anonymized feedback to challenge requirement rationales, non-profit site issues, and concepts shared in learning sessions.

Recruit learning session presenters who have disabilities.

Recognize that fellows may be working multiple jobs outside of their fellowship to make ends meet and to secure employment when the fellowship ends.

Remove the hour requirement. Non-profit sites can track productivity based on fellows’ deliverables over the course of the ten week period. Hourly work is status-quo.

Offer the option to attend learning sessions virtually.

Recognize that fellows may not have reliable transportation, healthcare, food, shelter, or clothing. Find ways to ethically identify if people are struggling to meet these needs. Find ways to support people to meet these needs. People who go through these issues have insights into how non-profit services are failing and how to improve them.

This week was very interesting in the sense that there were many changes that took place at Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services. Internally, there was a change in management, which greatly affected the Advancement department. Because this change took us all relatively by surprise, we had to work together even more so than before to make sure everything stayed on track. We had many meetings, some with Dr. Seleshi and others with just the Advancement team. We created a central list of all of our current projects and activities, as well as our short term and long term focuses and goals. While many more meetings and lists are in the future, these tactics have allowed us to stay on track through these transitions.

I was informed this week that I will now be splitting the rest of my time between the Advancement department and our Youth department. As Youth Summit is quickly approaching on August 4^th, any help and focus on the day’s planning and coordination is welcomed. While I don’t have any specifics on what I will be focusing on with the Youth department, I have many meetings set up for next week to learn about the events’ progress and connect with the team.

With Advancement this week, I focused primarily on donation requests and coordinating the delivery/pickup of the packages. While most stores are located here in Columbus and allow for in-person pickup, there are many chain stores whose headquarters are located elsewhere in the United States.

We have been reaching out to many companies for donation requests, and it’s great to see how generous and kind our community is. However, not everyone is able to donate due to varying reasons. Nonetheless, one specific interaction this week left me in awe of how kind people can be. When inquiring about an in-kind donation to Shores and Islands Ohio, a center offering regional attractions in Sandusky (including Lake Erie, Kelleys Island, and Put-In-Bay), they informed us that they were unable to fulfill our request. However, they generously shared the names and contact information of companies who have helped them in the past. This unexpected list of contacts was very helpful, giving ETSS more ideas of who to contact and what to include in our EOP auction.