Nonprofit Workers Are Superheroes
We are entering the home stretch of our Fellowships and graduation is very close. I am beginning to wrap up my projects at the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, looking at what I can realistically finish and writing out plans so the next intern can continue what I have started.
Looking back on my projects feels strange. It seems that only yesterday we were beginning to plan them. Now they are on my "finished" list. I've customized a Salesforce platform and taught employees how to use it. I've created a college speaker program to increase college outreach for low-income students. But I still have a few things I need to finish and I intend to sprint this last stretch.
There are more projects that I wish I was able to start, but I am excited for next year's fellows. They will have the opportunity to work with their nonprofits for the entire academic year, opening up chances for bigger, more impactful projects. Interviews were this week so the 2017-2018 Fellows should know if they've made it by the end of the week.
I am beginning to reflect on my relationships with the people I am lucky enough to call my coworkers. My boss, Maria O'Hollearn, will be the hardest person to say goodbye to. She holds me to high standards but is patient, kind, and inspirational as I work to meet them. She is incredibly invested in my professional development and well being, always making sure that I am prepared for post-graduation life.
Over these short months my HFSV family has made me fall in love with nonprofits and their dedication to helping those that most would prefer to ignore. Nonprofit workers are superheroes. They work on heartbreaking cases for lower wages than the average Bay Area worker is paid, all in the name of progress for others. Though not everyone can work a nonprofit job (myself included at the moment), I believe that if people tried to think more like nonprofit workers the world would be a better place.
I did not just gain a job and a few connections at the HFSV, I gained friends and teachers. I will miss them and (hopefully) they will miss me, too.