Location: New Haven, CT
Current Status: Executive Administrator at Spirit in Action (Full-time/permanent)
In my senior year of high school I took the opportunity to study abroad in Chile for a semester. This global experience firmly planted a dream in my mind of working for a nonprofit organization after college. I went off to college at UC Berkeley and after graduating with a B.A. in Geography found that I could not get the job I wanted without some more experience or additional schooling. Relying on my love of knowledge, service, and (of course) reading, I started the MLIS program at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
As you can see by my current status I, like Ricardo, am not currently using my Library and Information Science degree in a traditional way. Yet, I am a non-library information professional. I started out my Master’s degree program unsure of the specific type of library work I wanted to do. Like many others, I shifted back and forth between public and academic, children’s, youth and student services. However, one passion remained the same throughout all my classes – I enjoyed business design and management.
When I was half way through the program I was recruited to work for Spirit in Action, an international grant-making foundation. The position was a dream-come-true and in the fall of 2007 I began working as Executive Administrator. One of the main functions of Spirit in Action is to provide small grassroots organization leaders in Africa with start-up capital and business skills so that they can improve their lives, send their children to school, and pay for medical care.
Since 1996 we have supported the conception of over 400 micro-businesses, each of which is required to “Share the Gift” by passing on a portion of their profit to another individual in their community so that they have the opportunity to also start a small business. Additionally, we work with local leaders in various African countries to start sustainable agriculture projects in their communities. Each day I am blessed to see the hope that people gain by beginning the road to economic empowerment through opening a small business.
After starting this position with Spirit in Action I quickly understood that libraries are, in fact, nonprofit organizations and that many of the management and communication techniques that I was learning in school were directly applicable to my nonprofit work.
Now, I like to tell people that my degree is in Library and Information Science and that I am in the business of information services. Being the single employee for the organization my duties are diverse, which is very similar to the work of many librarians. Like a traditional librarian, I conduct research, answer questions, and work on donor and public relations. Yet, for me the questions are about how to set up a chicken co-operative in Malawi and how to do leather tanning in Zimbabwe.
I graduated with my MLIS in December 2009 and today I continue to expand my work with Spirit in Action, utilizing my new knowledge in information organization, website development, and strategic planning to make the world a better place. Even though I am not in a library, I use my MLIS skills everyday as I fulfill my dream of working for an international nonprofit and using my leadership abilities for good.
If you would like to read more about or contribute to Spirit in Action’s inspiring international work, please find us on Facebook or read our blog.
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