Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

This week, I had the opportunity to sit in on an OPRA Leadership meeting. During this meeting, I had the chance to listen to leaders speak about their past experiences and their views on leadership. Each of these people shared what values they thought to be most important when you are in a leadership role. While I thought all of them were helpful, the common theme that I found most interesting was, “It’s a good thing to have conflict”. At first, when someone mentioned it, I thought, “That’s terrible advice, conflict is bad”. However, as they continued to discuss, they brought up how important it was for employees and employers to trust and respect each other enough to be able to express their true thoughts, in order to pursue positive changes. Having a staff with differing opinions and ideas can be an extremely positive thing. Additionally, one other common idea that I found to be interesting was, “Choose to be vulnerable”. They discussed how helpful it can be, as a leader, to be able to share parts of who you are as a person, not just a boss. This led me to think about our conversations from our Wednesday meeting where we heard powerful leaders emphasize to us that their job is to make sure that everyone has exactly what they need in order to get things done– in other words, it isn’t about gaining personal power, but doing everything in your personal power to help your staff and business.

Additionally, during this meeting, I got to see a presentation on the social and political history of people with developmental disabilities. This presentation was incredibly powerful. Throughout history, these people have been shamed, mocked, and mistreated. It was incredible to see how much progress has been made in the field throughout history, but also a little disheartening to see how long it took these changes to take place. It does however, give me hope that more positive changes are to come.

Moreover, this week I worked on another edition of our blog, Through Our Lens” as well as my typical Tuesday outing with my ASPIRE group.

This has been a challenging week for My Project USA. On Saturday, we lost one of our soccer players Issa Jeylani to gun violence. This traumatic event affected the whole center and the community around it. It brought reality to the center that there needs to be a change and we need to be at the front fighting for it. At that moment, I mourned for him, as it brought back many memories of members of my community that were victims of this crime. Although I am from the north side of Columbus, we are facing the same problems as the west side. As a community, we need to unite and change the dynamics and expectations of our community members. The most impactful people are those who live in the neighborhoods. They are people who need the community to grow on a different path. If we find these individuals and help them understand their power, we can show others that a change will come.

This also helped me realize how important it is to practice self-care. I took the time to speak to pillars in my life. They helped me understand the impact something like this can have when you do not process it in a healthy matter. If we keep looking back at the past, we cannot see the future. This does not mean we cannot learn from the past. I hope that My Project USA can serve as a pillar for these students. We can teach the students to take the past and use it to help mold the future. Together we can help guide the students on a path of healing and forgiveness. These students are resilient with a bright future ahead of them, they simply deserve someone who will support them to fight against the odds.  

During the seventh week of the fellowship, there were many trials and triumphs. I faced the realities of living through a pandemic and got sick. Although I was not in the building during that week, I was able to reflect on the past few weeks. I have an immersive experience working with My Project USA that I will always be grateful for. I have learned many lessons about management, networking, and operating a nonprofit. Great leaders know that to make a change, they need support and guidance from their community. They cannot make every decision on their own. A lesson that I have constantly learned at this organization is that we cannot be successful without working together as a team. I appreciate our Human Resource director and the Operations and Programming director for giving me guidance. I would not feel as confident about working in the nonprofit sector without their support and words of kindness.

I am grateful for the new network of individuals who I connected with during this fellowship. It is an honor to represent MY Project USA and hear people express their appreciation for the organization and its work in the community. Dr. Lomax tells the fellows that if you are going into nonprofit work to fill a hole in your heart, you are doing it for the wrong reasons. I am able to see firsthand what it is like to have employees work to be effective in the community. The team consists of hardworking and diligent people who work at the grassroots level to help others. This experience has allowed me to have a newfound respect for anyone who starts and maintains a successful nonprofit. I aspire to create an organization that does such impactful work for its community.

This week at ETSS was filled with a variety of different things, from fundraisers to new trainings. On Wednesday, we had the second happy hour fundraiser of our Summer Special Series at North High Brewing. Working mostly remote this summer, I haven’t gotten to meet too many staff members in-person, so it was great to meet more people and finally put names with faces.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, we had our Learning Session at the Columbus Foundation, where Dr. Tracy Najera, Executive Director at Children’s Defense Fund Ohio, and Nick Jones, Director of Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, shared their journeys with us. We focused on the role of advocacy in the nonprofit sector, both in general and within specific positions. Personally, I admire all of the work being done at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and hope to one day work there. I’m excited to talk more with Nick Jones about his position and his direct community engagement.

Today, we had our monthly staff meeting, where all full-time staff, site coordinators, and instructors/tutors were invited to join. In the beginning, we welcomed a few new resettlement case managers to the team. This meeting was different from previous staff meetings in the sense that we had our first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training session. ETSS board member and OSU professor Binaya Subedi lead this presentation, which was the first draft of our DEI Dialogues. At the end, the floor opened to become a place for conversation, and it was great to see of the involvement of all ETSS staff. I noticed how willing people were to not only share their ideas, but also receive comments and constructive criticism, all to make ETSS a better and more inclusive environment. One specific example comes to mind when we were discussing the LGBTQIA+ community. Within the draft training, the barriers to health care for transgender individuals was highlighted. At the end of the presentation, a staff member stated that, while transgender individuals often face more barriers in the health care field, it is important to include all members and individuals of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The week began with preparing a memo for a meeting with Mr. Mac, Chief Operating Officer, and the Market Directors. I met with them to discuss the continued use of a shared programming calendar. The meeting went well, and the team plans on using it in the future! At the same time, I have been tasked with creating flyers and marketing materials for recruitment measures. I feel pretty good about the initial rough drafts. On Tuesday, I had a working meeting with Ellen, the Philanthropy Coordinator. We discussed navigating social media posts regarding community partners such as ADAMH and Target Circle. Feel free to vote for our organization up until September 30th on the Target Circle App.

Wednesday was a great day. During our fellowship sessions, we heard from Dr. Tracy Najera, Executive Director of the Children Defense Fund Ohio, and Nick Jones, Director of Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. We discussed difficult topics and received motivation to keep up the fight(non-profit work). During the afternoon, I collected content and hung out with students from our J Ashburn Jr. Site. I especially had a great time with the teens since I met them during our Denison University college tour.

Thursday was dedicated to learning labs with Christine Roberts, BGCA Senior Consultant. I enjoyed the sessions on Converting Supporters & Attendees into Donors and Leading Your RD Committee to Lead Your Board. Friday marks the last day of my summer classes! As a result, I will have a substantial workload removed to maximize my free time completing my fellowship tasks. By the way, I am projected to end the semester with a 3.85! Tonight, I will be collecting content for the Milo Grogan Boys & Girls Club Teen Night(5-8pm)! All 13-18 Students are welcomed to attend the event!

Most of us were not taught the importance of taking care of our mental health growing up. It usually isn’t until we hit a roadblock in our lives or go through a loss of some sort that we begin to dig deeper into what’s going on. Stress is something all of us encounter, but not all of us know how to deal with it properly. It takes a long time to reteach yourself how to manage stress in a more productive way.

If you find yourself to be more academic or career-driven like I am, it’s very easy to push self-care aside. I’ve always seen self-care as something optional, similar to an extracurricular activity. In my last internship, my supervisors would routinely advise me to take breaks and find ways to unwind outside of work. I would add a self-care activity to my to-do list and as soon as I became busy, it would be the first thing I’d cross off (without doing). Sometimes I find myself “on a roll” and I don’t want to stop working because I know how hard it is to regain that momentum. I’ll work non-stop for hours believing that I actually accomplished something when in fact, I lost out on valuable time I could have spent with my family, friends, or self.

These past few years, full of seemingly back-to-back stressors, have taught me that self-care is in fact a requirement for us to function. We cannot be productive without taking care of ourselves first. Sometimes life can be overwhelming, and in those cases, it’s extremely important to stop and breathe. Personally, I enjoy painting to clear my mind. Unfortunately, I haven’t painted in months due to my aforementioned preference for productivity over sanity, but yesterday I picked up a paintbrush and made something.

[This is your sign to make (or do) something too!]

In two days, I will move out of my apartment and leave Columbus for an indefinite period of time. It feels strange leaving a place where I experienced so much personal, professional, and intellectual growth, but I am incredibly excited for the next stage of my life. 

This departure means that this week was my last week working in-person at Local Matters. Though I will still be working remotely for the next two weeks, Wednesday was my last day physically in the office. On Wednesday, I dropped my compost bin off and entered the education room to join the staff meeting for the last time. I spent Monday and Tuesday preparing for my presentation at this staff meeting. The operations manual is still in draft form, but in a state where I could comfortably present my work. As I delved into my research process and conclusion, I was met with a great deal of support from my coworkers. This was exciting and validating. It was great to see the potential impact of my work and feel the support of those around me. 

My job responsibilities were often challenging when creating this draft. It is difficult to come into a new environment and immediately begin looking for areas of improvement. Oftentimes, this critical lens disconnected me from the positive areas worth praising. My team members were all passionate about the mission of Local Matters and truly cared about the social issues the organization tackles. The work of Local Matters is stellar, and they have already developed a strong reputation in the community throughout their 13 years of operation. However, every workplace has a constant ability to improve their practices. I had to remind myself that I was assisting in the mission of Local Matters by helping them improve the efficiency and productivity of their operations.

My task would have been a fruitless effort if it had not been for the receptiveness of  Local Matters staff. I cannot emphasize enough how helpful my team members were through their willingness to spur change within the operations. I especially want to thank Executive Director Michelle Moskowitz Brown, Director of Operations Kerry Shaw, and Director of Programs Jessica Williams (my wonderful supervisor) for their openness to all of the ideas I presented and their constant assistance.  I will miss getting to see the talented, passionate staff at Local Matters each week.

The Sustainable Business Directory holds 625 businesses and 105 organizations at the end of week 8. It is rewarding to see all the hard work coming together as we approach the end of the summer. Something that I have not mentioned yet is the organizations sector of the directory. The website also has the ability to search through organizations within Central Ohio. The organizations included range from nonprofits to governmentally owned entities. For example, we have included BalletMet. They are a 501c3 organization, meaning not for profit, and are included in the “nonprofit” category.  Furthermore, BalletMet is also a Green Spot member. The organizations associated with Green Spot have been given a tag titled “Green Spot Organization.” As I have mentioned in previous entries, the purpose of such tags is to allow Simply Living to maintain a healthy and long standing relationship with a like-minded organization. This week, I did some research and entries into the directory of microbreweries in Central Ohio. Prior to my research, I was familiar with a few of the well known microbreweries in Columbus such as Land-Grant, Seventh Son, Barley’s, and Wolf’s Ridge. However, this gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the other local microbreweries in Central Ohio. One I found that resonates with the mission of Simply Living is called Henmick Farm & Brewery. This particular brewery is located alongside Alum Creek in Delaware, Ohio and has a unique approach to microbreweries. The brewery is located on the Henmick family farm and the family  allows their guests to wander through the farm. This approach allows for the guests to engage and appreciate nature while still having fun with friends. Simply Living wants the community to coincide with the environment while also supporting the local economy. Henmick Farm & Brewery does exactly that with their microbrewery.    

This week was very conducive in my education on how to advocate for others effectively. At this week’s Learning Session, we had the opportunity to hear from Nick Jones, the Director of Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families, and Tracey Najera, the Executive Director of Children’s Defense Fund Ohio, both dedicated advocates for under-served communities in Ohio. From them, my cohort of fellows and I learned how to advocate for those we are serving in our organizations sincerely and successfully, and what mistakes to avoid that would prevent advocacy projects from being lucrative to their goal. For example, we learned that interaction and gaining an understanding of situations directly from those who are being negatively impacted in their health or ability to live safely and with opportunity for success based on their environment is imperative. Communicating with people who you are trying to serve will lead to better results because you can hear what actions need to be taken to mitigate issues that are occurring from those who are actually experiencing these issues. We were taught from experts that we need to have ambition and intention in our work, along with working to serve others in disparate situations, because if you are not fully committed then you cannot be prosperous in your work as an advocate.

At Ohio Humanities, I also have been been working on a project whose goal is to advocate for education about segregation that is ingrained in our country’s history and continues to have an impact on our society as well as implications for how racial inequalities are approached today. In Hillsboro, Ohio, in the 1950s, a group of black mothers routinely took their children daily to march for over a year to the city’s “white” elementary school after the “black” elementary school was burned down with the goal of their children being admitted and integrated. Their dedication to their children’s education played a large role in the Midwest during the civil rights movement after Brown v. Board of Education. Ohio Humanities is advocating for the courage and devotion of these mothers through a short documentary that is being screened at an event in September, for which I have been given the space for a large role in the planning of, something I am incredibly grateful for.