Career Path of a Development and Communications Manager at Groundwork Southcoast

Oddly enough, I fell in love with my industry back in middle school. My first experience in the nonprofit sector was in high school when I did my senior project. I interned with a local nonprofit in Providence, Rhode Island, where I live now, that I still really support and love.

Since then, I always had an internship throughout college. I worked unpaid or low-paying internships and also had other jobs on the side to support myself through college. Knowing I wanted to be in the nonprofit sector and aware of its high turnover rates and financial instability, I wanted to best equip myself for that field.

I attended Bryant University, a private business school. I majored in communications with a double major in marketing and professional creative writing. I took an internship at a local nonprofit summer camp, worked as an editor for my school's College of Arts and Sciences magazine, and then held an internship and was later hired at a boutique digital marketing agency. There, I worked with clients in many different sectors and gained experience in various aspects of digital marketing.

To broaden my knowledge further, I also worked at a more traditional public relations agency. I learned time-honored public relations techniques on top of my digital marketing experience. We had both for-profit and nonprofit clients, which was a great way to learn as much as possible about business, promotion, marketing, and public relations right out of college.

I then transitioned to the Martin Luther King Community Center in Newport, Rhode Island, where I was their development and events coordinator. It was there I combined my background in fundraising with my extensive marketing, communications, and public relations knowledge. I wanted to see if my plan to gain all these skills would work in practice, and it did. We put the MLK Center on the map with successful fundraising campaigns and galas.

Ultimately, I wanted to experience the national environmental sector and immerse myself in policy. While I had worked with people-centered nonprofits, learning about the climate crisis made me passionate. I realized the climate crisis affects all aspects of our lives and disproportionately impacts marginalized communities.

I transitioned to Citizens Climate Lobby as a grant writer. I had experience with individual giving, marketing, and public relations, but not with foundation giving. I landed this job for a national climate organization without ever having written a grant before, but my confidence and strong writing skills got me in the door. I truly rounded out my knowledge of the sector there.

Briefly thereafter, I worked in higher education, but I didn't like it. I realized I preferred grassroots movements over service from an ivory tower. Now, I am the development and communications manager at Groundwork South Coast. I'm able to apply everything I've learned in my career, including marketing, public relations, communications, grant writing, individual giving, and corporate sponsorship. I work a hybrid schedule, both in person and remotely, and it is really wonderful.