Career Path of a Director of Strategic Partnerships at United Way Los Angeles
Oxana's career journey began in arts management, fueled by a passion for the arts and honed through internships and a role at the LA County Arts and Culture Department; this path led to an MBA at UCLA Anderson, inspiring a shift towards social impact, culminating in their current position as Director of Strategic Partnerships at United Way of Greater Los Angeles after leveraging "the ability to code switch between the nonprofit speak and the business speak".
Nonprofit Management, Arts Administration, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing and Communications, Social Impact
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Oxana Ermolova
Director, Strategic Partnerships
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
UC Santa Barbara
UCLA School of Management, Full-time MBA
Entertainment, Music & Arts, International Relations & Affairs
Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Sales and Client Management
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. Oxana's career started in arts management, showcasing a passion for the arts and a transition from performance to supporting roles. This involved internships and a student arts critic role, highlighting the value of hands-on experience.
2. Her pursuit of an MBA at UCLA Anderson broadened her perspective to include social impact, exemplified by her capstone project focusing on corporate partnerships and microfinance. This demonstrates the value of further education in enhancing career trajectory.
3. Oxana's career progression shows a clear path from arts administration to corporate partnerships in the non-profit sector, emphasizing the transferable skills of communication and relationship building and the ability to 'code-switch' between different professional contexts.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Did you have any internships or jobs before your current role?
Absolutely. I started off in the arts management space. Growing up as a first-generation immigrant from Kazakhstan, I fell in love with the arts and dance. When I realized I couldn't be a performer, I looked for opportunities to support the space and moved into nonprofit arts administration.
I began exploring the field during undergrad through internships with local arts companies and as the student arts critic for a local newspaper. This led to my first full-time role with the LA County Arts and Culture Department as a communications coordinator. It was a natural extension of the marketing and communications skills I had been building.
From there, I continued my career in arts management with a company in San Francisco. At that point, I wanted to add to my managerial skill sets, so I enrolled in UCLA Anderson School of Management's full-time MBA program. This inspired me to think more broadly about the social impact space, particularly through field research on female financial inclusion in India.
As my capstone project, I oversaw corporate partnerships and programming for an American microfinance organization. I then continued my journey in partnerships, working for the City of Los Angeles as Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships. I used my ability to code-switch between nonprofit and business language to drive resources to impactful organizations.
This experience brought me to my current role as Director of Strategic Partnerships at United Way of Greater Los Angeles.