Although my internship at DESTA is still running until mid-October, being part of the team for the past month and a half has been very enjoyable for me. I started as a digital marketing team member, which I am still a part of, and have been given other responsibilities along the way. I am now working on gathering notes and information from the heads of DESTA’s programs to help update the organization’s website. I’ve also been able to maintain a good balance between the work and the meetings and my summer, as meetings are not as frequent and most of the communication is done through email threads, texts, or punctual Zoom calls. Being part of this team has shown me the backstage of small non-profits, all the details they have to pay attention to, the reaching out and the collaborations, the work behind each event for the community… Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to attend the event I was working on for Emancipation Day, but the team was very pleased with its outcome, which made it worth it. I, also unfortunately, do not have any pictures of my time in DESTA since the teams work fully remotely, but I do enjoy this environment of work, where I can submit my tasks stress-free and still be able to reach out for help anytime it is needed. Now there are a few reasons why I believe DESTA is a good choice for an internship now that I have been part of the team. First and foremost, the mission, as a black woman, it feels RIGHT to work alongside other black people to help the community progress and get rid of some of the baggage holding us back. Through their food program, employability workshops and social justice window, DESTA has been able to do amazing things for many people. Second, autonomy, for the reasons previously mentioned. Third, and this one resonates with me especially, it’s a good realistic image of what it takes to build a non-profit organization. I have been wanting to build a non-profit organization for a few years now, which led me to study what I study today, and I have to say, after seeing the backstage, it takes away from the glittery filter it had in my mind. I am unsure of if this is the path I’d like to follow, but I am grateful that I was able to live some of it to make that decision.
