I recently made my return to Chicago after working "abroad" in NYC. I'm thrilled to be home and interning at the Chicago Cultural Alliance. While in NYC I worked in book and online magazine publishing as a publicist and editor respectively.
I worked on a number of projects ranging from high profile fiction titles like "My Sister's Keeper" and covering press junkets for Hollywood films like "Sex and the City". But, I was always attracted to projects of substance, for instance a book that comes to mind, "Dancing on the Glass Ceiling" which armed women with the necessary tools to survive in the workplace and the film adaptation of the "Kite Runner" which I covered as a reporter where I was the only woman in the room and ended up asking the toughest questions of the author.
All the while, I had been playing with the idea of returning to school but wasn't sure which program I was best suited for. I ran into an old friend and told her I was interested in making the transition into nonprofit and she pointed me in the direction of UIC's Masters in Public Administration program. Jack pot! The MPA program mixes fundraising, grant writing, legal, budgeting and nonprofit management.
The CCA caught my eye when researching local nonprofit organizations that focused on the arts. The Alliance stood out from the crowd because in addition to highlighting the importance of culture they go a step further working on behalf of the individual communities that make up Chicago. As an intern I'll be providing staff support to the CCA, attending off site events including training sessions and acting as a representative at meetings and workshops. I'm really excited to get my hands "dirty" and dive into the "Talking About" program which will happen in May.
As well, I'm planning on studying abroad [for real, not NYC] in London this summer as part of an urban planning course. I plan to take what I learn at the Alliance, team up with a local organization abroad, and investigate the neighborhoods and ethnicities that make up London.
Beyond school and interning, in my free-time I enjoy metalsmithing and jewelry making. Yup, I use a torch!!
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