After completing my internship, I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a master’s in social work. I took a brief break to spend some more time traveling and then got a job at Communities In Schools of Central Texas. I worked as a grant writer and then grant manager for three years, raising millions of dollars to ensure children have the resources to arrive and thrive in school. Now, I’m stepping into a new role as Director of Strategic Partnerships to lead and build our network of 80+ community partner agencies, with whom we collaborate to support students at 123 schools across our region.

Having the privilege of interning with a grassroots, community-based organization was an incredible way to experience true asset-based, community-driven development. It helped to further my understanding of how to incorporate those being impacted at every step of a process, ensuring their voices are heard and their opinions and ideas are incorporated into programs.

I had a pretty clear idea of what I was interested in doing after grad school, but my Connect-123 internship was one of the first times I got to actually test out the new knowledge and skills I had been building. It was influential because it helped affirm that I was on the right track and also gave me something valuable to put on my resume as I was applying to jobs after graduation.