Welcome to the 3rd (and final) issue of the NPIP summer internship newsletter for 2014, Community. This issue will spotlight the remaining interns in our 2014 class, as well as past events, such as the NPIP Networking event and The Denver Foundation’s participation in the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. As the summer draws to close, it’s always good to look back and to see how much was accomplished over our time in the internship program. This year’s cohort was given the opportunity to engage with some amazing leaders in some difficult, but important conversations. We learned about 21st Century Leadership, how to adapt to changing times, and what it looks like to be an ally to marginalized populations. We also have gotten the chance to build friendships with each other, which will hopefully turn into all of us being fellow colleagues later on down the road. I hope that you all have enjoyed and learned much from this year’s version of the internship newsletter. My hope is that these newsletters have encouraged you to continue to support future internship classes going forward; and for those of you who are first time readers, I hope you have been inspired to join those already investing in the program and the interns who going to impact the city in the near future.
Emily Quinn was born in Zhejiang, China, and she was adopted at the age of three months. She grew up in Arvada, Colorado, and was a gymnast for fourteen years. Growing up, Emily attended Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families’ Chinese Heritage Camp, and she has been a part of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival since it began. She currently attends Ithaca College with a major in Physical Therapy and a minor in Asian American Studies, and she is involved in their Diversity Peer Educator program among other things. Her upbringing sparked her interest in diversity and social justice.
Emily is interning at the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition (CCDC), and she loves it! She is learning many skills that she believes all healthcare professionals should learn, like writing appeals for clients who get kicked off of benefits. Emily cannot wait to put these skills to use in the future, and she wants to help increase health equity by working with underserved and marginalized communities in Colorado. Emily loves working with CCDC, and she has been having a great time meeting, bonding, and learning from all of the other interns!
Josh Ryines is a Colorado native, and Aurora is his home! He recently graduated with a B.A. in Speech Communications from Metropolitan State University of Denver, and is looking to pursue a career working in the nonprofit sector or in higher education. His motivation to help others is directly connected to his own experiences within the community, and feels like he is a product of his own community. As a recipient of the Mile High United Way Pathway scholarship, he understands the generosity, compassion, and the capacity we all share inside of us to give back to our communities. Without it, he would not be where is today. Josh is interning with the organization Platteforum, an award winning organization that teams underserved urban youth (K-12) with contemporary master artists in intensive, structured, and long-term creative learning environments. As an intern at Platteforum, Josh works closely with projects and programs that include Platteforum's own Artlab interns (a group of 15 high school teens). During the summer, he has had the pleasure to watch as they collaborate with artists and other nonprofit organizations that serve at-risk youth. An experience that brings with it a new perspective on the world, and new lessons about himself! Among other things, Josh is responsible for weekly check-ins with Artlab, assisting in the preparation of Platteforum space for activities, seeking food donations for the students, and supporting the artist in residency, Andrea Moore. Andrea is a writer, photographer, and performance artist. The Artlab students aren't the only ones that are learning from this extraordinary artist, but Josh also has had the opportunity to work on his own writing and performance art.
David H Oviedo is a senior at the University of Denver, studying Political Science with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies. He is a second year college student, having received his associate’s degree while in high school from Colorado Northwestern Community College. David was born in San Antonio, Texas, but has lived over half of his life on the Western Slope of Colorado in a small town called Hotchkiss. Starting this summer, David started working for Project Angel Heart, an organization dedicated to providing nutritious meals to people with life threatening illnesses free of charge. As a Development Intern, he works on a variety of different projects, including managing donation information, helping plan and execute different events Project Angel Heart hosts, reaching out to old and new donors, assisting with finding and writing grants, and even helping in the kitchen cooking food (which he loves a lot). Potentially graduating next year, he hopes to attend law school, but graduate school and the armed forces are also on his mind. David is hard working and loves helping others. He is using this time while working in the Internship Program to think about his next steps after graduating, as well as learning new skills to help in his professional and academic career. When he is not working, David likes to read, play video games, and think about what is yet to come. He hopes that through this experience he can make new friends, learn how nonprofit organizations work, and get an idea for where to go after he leaves college.
Jesse Bruce is a senior at the University of Denver, majoring in History and Psychology. He will be starting graduate level coursework in the fall with hopes to obtain a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver. His career interests include teaching, education administration, education reform, and nonprofit work in the field of education or mentorship. Jesse works for VSA/ Colorado Access Gallery, a nonprofit focused on providing people living with a disability educational and economic opportunities through the arts. His primary duties include developing and marketing VSA’s art curriculum so that it focuses on artists with a disability and includes fun and educational activities. He then creates write-ups for these curriculums and markets them on VSA’s website. Jesse has also enjoyed teaching and interacting with VSA’s Summer Artworks students as well as playing an integral role in the economic success of first and third Friday exhibitions.
David Isaiah Gaffney has been working this summer with the Denver Colorado Aids Project. He has been enjoying his time and has gained many things from his internship. He has been learning about the intricacies of event planning and has been in charge of maintaining Denver Colorado Aids Project’s presence at events such as Dragon Boat Festival and Black Arts Festival. Overall, he has enjoyed the opportunities this internship has offered him.
Kris Colley is from Denver, Colorado, and is a senior at Morehouse College, majoring in Psychology, with a minor in Journalism. Kris is a fun-loving individual, who is sincere, kind, and who has a great sense of humor. His hobbies include traveling, learning, and anything that involves sports. Kris has loved sports since he was a child, and fully relates with all the aspects of sports. He uses sports to teach himself both in game and life lessons. Kris is very aware of who he is, and is proud of that fact. But he understands the importance of growth and gaining more knowledge. As more challenges and experiences come his way, he will continue to stay steadfast in the morals and ethics his parents and countless others have instilled within him. Kris Colley has been interning at Urban Peak Denver this summer. The amount of youth tragedy and homelessness that he has seen over the past nine weeks has changed him for life. He learned that although a person may be living without a home, it does not mean that they are a bad person or that their behaviors got them into their peculiar situations. At Urban Peak, he has been working in the development office, fundraising and writing the organization's summer appeal to donors. This has been an unforgettable experience and he will continue his work with both nonprofits and homeless youth in the upcoming years. Kris has truly become an effective leader through this experience with The Denver Foundation. After Kris graduates next spring from Morehouse College, he hopes to go to graduate school to study International Relations.
Nick Broncucia is a junior at Regis University in Denver, studying Peace and Justice and Spanish. As an intern at the Aurora Community Connection (ACC), Nick is a jack of all trades. He coaches youth soccer, helps coordinate the summer tutoring program, helps with social service assistance and referrals, does administrative work, and is completing a storytelling project about community members and participants of ACC. He loves working in Aurora with so many wonderful, dedicated, and hardworking people, and enjoys the vibrancy and diversity of the community.
Luis Zavala has been working with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, as the Business Development Intern. It has been an amazing experience for him. His supervisor Margaret Bell; Faith Relations Manager, assigned projects which would allow Luis to develop and grow in corporate philanthropy, event planning, and relationship building. One of the projects which Luis enjoyed the most was going out to the building sites, interviewing and photographing volunteers. During this project, Luis was able to learn from philanthropists, who donated large quantities of money as well as volunteer hours to help build the home. These dedicated philanthropists showed their support and dedication for Habitat’s Mission and made Luis’ relationship building an easy task. Another project which was both difficult and fun for Luis was the Dedications Project. A Dedication Ceremony is done after a Habitat Home is built. During the ceremony, the house keys are handed off to the partner family, the sponsors and volunteers get recognized, and the home is blessed. As the Business Development Intern, it was Luis’ duty to plan, create and carry out three different ceremonies which will make any future event planning a simple task. Luis is honored and blessed to have been able to work with such a wonderful organization.
Our 2nd Learning Workshop took place July 10th in The Denver Foundation Community room. Our guest presenters were Dr. Eddie Moore Jr., founder of the White Privilege Conference, and Dr. Abby Ferber. In this workshop, we learned about white privilege and what it looks like and how it affects our lives today. We also participated in an activity that taught us how we all have certain privileges that give us an advantage, but may hinder other people. If you would like to see the video for this workshop, use the following link: http://bit.ly/1mRTDI0
The annual NPIP Networking Event took place July 17th in The Denver Foundation Community room. The event brought together TDF staff, supervisors, board/committee members, alumni and current interns from the program. The evening was a great success, as it gave supporters of the internship program the opportunity to meet the new class, and for the interns, it was the chance to engage with people working at various levels of a nonprofit organization, and to hone and sharpen their networking skills.
The Denver Foundation StewardShip Team competed in the races at the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday, July 19th. The team did a tremendous job, taking silver in their division of flag catching boats, and finishing with the fifth fastest time among the fifteen flag catching boats. The energy was great, and the team can’t wait to go for gold next year. We could’ve done without the support of our captain Aaron Miripol, our coaches, the sterns who worked with us, and last but certainly not least, our wellness committee for providing the drinks and snacks at all of the practices and on race day. Thank you to all of those who came out to support the team at the festival.
Our third Learning workshop took place on July 31st at the Daniels Fund Building. We learned about intergenerational communication, and how important it is to being an effective 21st Century leader. We got the chance to hear from Tony Pigford, one of the founding members of DAAP (Denver African American Philanthropists), about what Philanthropy is and how we as young emerging leaders can engage in the work of Philanthropy. Later that day, a panel featuring alumni from the internship program came and spoke with us about their experiences during the internship, the work they’ve been engaging in, and advise they had for us about navigating school and later a career. It was encouraging to hear how much the internship program benefitted them, and how the things they have learned now translate into the work they’re currently doing.
On August seventh, the interns participated in the closing ceremony for the Nonprofit Internship Program (NPIP). We had a special guest join us: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock! We had a great time chatting with him about his past internship experiences, Denver’s growth as a innovative city, and his job as the Denver Broncos’ mascot. He is a great example of what 21st Century Leadership should reflect, and we were all inspired and motivated by his words of wisdom.
Each of the interns presented their “Creative Expression” projects, chronicling their experiences during their internships. It was amazing and powerful to see what each intern created and the stories that were shared over the afternoon. It was very evident that this internship program had a significant impact on each of the interns and how they will look at leadership going for into the future.