ViviendasLeón Summer 2014

For Summer 2014, I will be interning with ViviendasLeón, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that focuses on international development and education travel with partners in Leon, Nicaragua. Its mission is to support human economic development in the rural communities of León, Nicaragua and engage US students in global citizenship. VL’s community projects and programs range from agroforestry to small business creation, to computer training, and youth development.

As an intern, I will be learning how an international nonprofit runs and operates, how to create a detailed marketing plan with budget restraints, work closely with the executive management team, learn the challenges and opportunities of fundraising for a nonprofit, and ultimately, to build my knowledge about Nicaragua, international development, philanthropy, and economic initiatives.

My name is Julie Lam and I am a fourth-year studying marketing with a concentration in business law. As a student that has been involved with service since high school, I ultimately want to work at a nonprofit organization. The PSIP program will allow me to have the opportunity to apply my course concepts to the real world.

ViviendasLeón was founded in 2003 and has eighteen years of experience in travel, community service learning, and rural development. VL aims to provide permanent, measurable gains in the standard of living of rural poor populations and to promote understanding between people.

During my first two weeks at ViviendasLeón, I met both of my supervisors, Brianna Russell and Evan Markiewicz, both of whom were very welcoming and extremely excited to meet me – I felt a sense of comfort and belonging.

During my orientation, I was introduced to a number of projects VL is currently working on, including the Soccer Youth Camp and the Honeybee Cooperative, both of which help communities in León, Nicaragua sustain better living conditions. I was also introduced to another intern (also from USF), who trained me on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) management and other various tasks such as researching grants and foundations.

Weeks 1&2: These past two weeks, I have been working on social media outreach, by updating VL’s Twitter and Facebook pages; posting project and volunteer opportunities on Universal Giving; researching partner companies for recruitment; and I am in the process of researching potential grant donors.

Weeks 3&4: These past few weeks, I have been working from home in addition to some time in the office. My supervisor Bre has been in Nicaragua with high school interns and I have been researching foundations and grant donors to see which are good fits for our organization. I have prior skills in research from past work and academic experience which serve as extremely useful for the tasks I have been working on. Ultimately, I have learned about the many sources of help / funds that are available to non-profit organizations. There are many companies and philanthropists that are willing to help and WANT to help non-profit organizations. Furthermore, because VL is not a large organization, I am learning to take initiative. I do not have someone constantly looking over my shoulder — because of this, I am working on my own, completing tasks and achieving goals on my own — all skills of which are extremely helpful for organizations as such.