What I Learned About Collaboration & Leadership in Nonprofits

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful week. I can’t believe it is almost August already!

Through this internship, I have learned the importance of creating a culture of inclusiveness and collaboration in an organization in order to achieve high productivity and a loyal base of supporters. I’ve learned that great leaders are open-minded, motivated, and trustworthy, but also that leaders have to be flexible and quick to adapt to changes and ready to manage complex problems while staying positive. And most importantly, strong leadership is the key to furthering an organization’s goals. Staff and interns must not only be passionate with their words, but must go out into the world and act on those passions.

Through my internship experience, I’ve also learned that although I can adapt easily to new/different tasks, I like structure and having a list of tasks to complete each day. Since there were so many interns in my office, sometimes we had to share tasks or compete for tasks to work on each day. I have the ability to lead others while understanding each person, including the leader, has to contribute in order to achieve the best results for the cause or mission.

This week was special because I attended the Global Deacs event in D.C.! It was a great event and I had the opportunity to catch up with some friends from WFU student government, meet some new students, and network with alumni. I met a young woman who graduated from Wake in 2015 and who has since obtained her Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University through Wake’s agreement and the Accelerated Master’s Degree program. She gave my friends and I fantastic tips about studying abroad in Argentina and Chile and advice about post-grad life.

The highlight of my week was definitely a workshop I had the opportunity to attend through my internship’s relationship with the American Association for University Women. It was a salary negotiation workshop for women as a part of their Start Smart/Work Smart initiative to tackle the gender wage gap. I now feel more confident in my ability to advocate for myself in these types of situations and more resourceful.

Have a great weekend!

Best,

Daniella Feijoo

Class of 2019