FALL 2020
Leadership scholar portfolio
Fall 2020 & My Goals!
Ithaca College was entirely virtual for the Fall 2020 semester, so Leadership Scholars had the chance to challenge themselves and adapt to the new virtual world we're all working and learning in! My goal for the 2020-2021 school year is to earn my Leading in a Diverse World certificate, which recognizes completion of 6 credits of leadership development work where students "enhance their understanding of other people through the lens of personal identity development, learning about the experiences of people in other identity groups, and explore various topics on diversity and social justice". This semester, I took part in the virtual Social Action Leadership Series, which earned me three Leading in a Diverse World credits and means I'm right on track to meet my goal!
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"ON-CAMPUS" INVOLVEMENT
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IC Students Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations
A sample Instagram post that I created as part of a new social media strategy for Tompkins Mask Makers.
A sample Instagram post that I created as part of a new social media strategy for Tompkins Mask Makers.
This was my third semester involved in IC Students Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations (SCNO), as well as my third semester as a project manager. This semester, all of our work was conducted virtually, which presented new challenges that I took as opportunities to grow as a leader. Our client this semester is Tompkins Mask Makers, a coalition of local women who took it upon themselves to start hand-making, selling, and donating masks at the beginning of the pandemic.
I'm the project manager of the Social Media strategy team, and we're working to build a social media strategy, a content calendar, and sample posts for the organization. As a leader, I've learned a lot about flexibility and adapting to change this semester. In this virtual world, obstacles come up all the time and it's important to balance the needs of your team members and your client as you work around the roadblock. I'm very oriented to problem-solving, and this semester has given me a chance to further develop those skills and get good at thinking on my feet!
We'll be continuing our work with Tompkins Mask Makers in the spring, and I look forward to more opportunities to lead my team and working towards an executive board member role in SCNO.
leadership developMENT
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My overall goal for the Leadership Scholar program this year is tied to my leadership development. I'm working to earn my Leading in a Diverse World Certificate, and participation in this series, a virtual reimagining of the Social Action Leadership Retreat that is held annually at IC, got me half of the way there!
Social Action Leadership Series
Me with the mask I made in our Challenging Conversations workshop.
Me with the mask I made in our Challenging Conversations workshop.
The Social Action Leadership Series was one of the most fulfilling leadership experiences I've taken part in so far in my time at IC. ​For three Thursdays afternoons in November, I got to join a Zoom session with lots of like-minded peers and professionals who care about the same social justice causes that I do. Participants were sent materials ahead of the workshop series and were able to create tangible items during each workshop session.
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Our first session, Craftivism: Radical Quilting, taught me a lot about the history of quilting throughout social justice history and had the chance to make my very own Hexy quilt. We discussed craftivism, the concept of using crafting within activism work to promote social change, and learned about different examples of craftivism. I was surprised to learn that some initiatives I'd already heard of, like Pussyhat Project from the 2016 Women's March, is a form of craftivism. I learned the most from our discussion about the audiences that craftivism appeals to - namely middle class white women with the time and resources to dedicate to crafting. That really opened my eyes to think about ways I can ensure social justice projects I take part in in the future are accessible to all people.
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The next session, Challenging Conversations: We are Each Other's Listeners, was one of the most meaningful leadership sessions I've participated in at IC. We got to go into breakout rooms and share stories about challenging conversations that we've had when standing up for the values and issues that matter to us. We got a lot of really helpful insights as to how to go about having these difficult discussions, and the biggest thing I learned was the importance of being an active listener and trying to understand different perspectives.. We also got to decorate face masks to represent our values, and I decorated mine with the female symbol to represent the importance of women's rights and women's access to healthcare.
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Our last session in this series was Careers & Social Justice. We heard from a panel of three IC alum who currently work in different professional roles in the Diversity & Inclusion field. I loved getting to hear about their experiences after college, and it taught me how I can continue to work to support the causes I'm passionate about after college - and get paid for doing it!
Community service
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Partnership to End Addiction
An title card I created for the Motivational Interviewing training video series that I edited in this role.
An end card I created for the Motivational Interviewing training video series that I edited in this role.
An title card I created for the Motivational Interviewing training video series that I edited in this role.
This semester, I worked as a virtual volunteer for the Partnership to End Addiction, a non-profit that provides support to the loved ones of people who are facing addiction. In this role, which I've held since this past summer, I've worked to edit training videos for both internal and external audiences and assisted with content organization and management. Addiction is such an important issue, especially now was the pandemic has exacerbated the opioid epidemic and overdoses and overdose deaths have increased. This volunteer role also gave me the chance to develop skills outside of what I learn in class but that are still connected to my academic interests. I hope to one day work in the non-profit field, and I'm really fortunate that this opportunity gave me the chance to get a behind-the-scenes into how a non-profit operates.