Service-Learning

Public Allies is a phenomenal leadership development program that functions both as an incubator for the effective training of tomorrows nonprofit leaders and a model for the power of apprenticeship and mentorship. This past semester with them has truly been an amazing experience both professionally and personally.

During the course of this semester I put into practice my leadership development and management background into supporting the infrastructure of a new curriculum based on value based leadership and collaborative action. From this I learned first hand the difficulties of program implementation and evaluation.

The most important things I learned from this internship were less broad than my initial objectives and more technical in nature than I anticipated.

In the course of this semester I learned how to scale my projects and understand how my skills become relative to the populations I am working with. By this I mean, no amount of knowledge of management theory x and management theory y is required or requested when talking to someone about the nonprofit sector, its interactions with the profit and public sectors.  In addition, I also learned from and experienced the new trend of of collective impact that attempts to bridge all three sectors to meet a specific social need.

I also go the opportunity to meet CEO’s, directors,  and board members from countless nonprofits around the state and was able to expand my sensitivity and awareness to the most pressing issues affecting the Metro-Phoenix area. Through this internship I learned what it takes to put a program together from start (collecting donations, obtaining space, food, drinks, invitations, participants, programing) to finish (running logistics, creating surveys, evaluation, audit).  I can sincerely say I met all of my objectives and in many cases surpassed them. For these experiences and more I cannot thank Public Allies enough for the growth I’ve had this past semester.