The Most Important Things...

During my session as an intern at Make-A-Wish I learned a lot of things about nonprofit organizations, about different work cultures, and about the different interactions between different departments and different levels of leadership. Looking back at my initial goals that I made at the beginning of the semester, I think I have made great strides in meeting most of these goals.

1. Learn the ins and outs of the behind the scenes operations in a nonprofit organization (or at least in the Learning & Development department of the organization). I want to learn what keeps the organization running. 

Throughout my time at Make-A-Wish, I certainly have been given quite an insight into the behind the scenes operations of a nonprofit organization. I learned that often times, things can appear to be working quite smoothly to the public eye, but on the inside, there is a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of updating and reform. 

2. Start and finish a project that will help the Learning & Development department to grow and expand in a way that will benefit it in the future. I want to create a process that is efficient and that can be replicated by others in the future to produce quality work. 

I have been able to fulfill this goal through a few different avenues. One of my projects as an intern was to streamline the process of hosting a Lunch 'n' Learn. Before I started at Make-A-Wish, the Learning and Development team held a lot of the responsibility of ensuring that Lunch 'n' Learns went off without a hitch. However, when other departments were the guest speakers, our team was still running around, trying to get everything prepared, while we were playing catch up on our daily tasks. So, I went through every step of the process, broke it down into the roles and responsibilities of the hosting department, our department, and the I.T. department. Once I did that, as soon as a Lunch 'n' Learn was scheduled on the calendar, I approached the hosting department, went over the process with them, and handed over all responsibility, thus streamlining the process. 

3. Explore different areas of a nonprofit organization. I know I want to work in the nonprofit sector once I graduate, but there are so many different aspects of a nonprofit that it is difficult to know where exactly I want to be after graduation. I hope that through this internship, I will be able to explore different career avenues and learn more about myself as a contributor to the nonprofit sector and where my skill set will best fit in a nonprofit organization.

Over the course of the semester, every other week at our team meetings, each person on the team gets to choose a different "guest speaker" to bring in from another department. It has been really neat to hear about the work that is done across the office, and how diverse the work is that is done even on the same floor! Some departments work closely with the chapters, and granting the wishes themselves, while others (such as mine) focus more on training the volunteers, and getting knowledge and tools to staff members. It is incredible that such a diverse group of people all come together because they are all so devoted to the mission of Make-A-Wish.