January is a month of new beginnings. At Up2Us Sports, our AmeriCorps VISTA members continue their commitment to supporting sports-based youth development organizations and strengthening communities. To take time for reflection, we asked VISTAs: “What are your professional goals for the coming year?”
Here are some ways they strive to grow their host sites and themselves:
Olivia Ravenscroft - Urban Initiatives - Chicago, IL
“One of my professional goals as a VISTA member this year is to help support and streamline the employee intake process at Urban Initiatives, assisting our Chief People Officer with onboarding and offboarding staff and maintaining complete, updated files for each employee. I am also working on increasing Urban Initiatives' presence across all of our social media platforms to help share with the world the important work we do, as well as assisting with the development and distribution of internal communications so that all of our employees stay "in the know" and can find the resources they need to be successful! One of the projects I'm working on that allows a lot of creativity and fun is planning and promoting employee engagement in cultural activities, such as virtual social events and employee recognition initiatives to celebrate when team members are living out our organization's values. I also have a longer term goal of defining and developing projects that were not originally defined in my VISTA Assignment Description as needs arise, and a personal focus for me in this experience is to further develop my project planning skills and leadership abilities.”
Owen Miller - Banner Neighborhoods Community Corporation - Baltimore, MD
“My professional development goals can be divided into hard skills and soft skills. In terms of hard skills, I want to develop my time management and learn how to run meetings effectively. In terms of soft skills, I want to learn how to present myself professionally every day and how to build professional relationships. I plan to work on my skills when it comes to hosting meetings by actively hosting them and taking notes on what could have gone better after each meeting. I would like to run my own non-profit someday so learning how to manage personnel is an essential experience for me. In terms of my current project, I would like to set up a client services portal that would allow clients to access our staff directly if they have questions about how to obtain cash assistance.”
Daniel Ryu - Up2Us Sports - New York, NY
“For skills, I’d really like to work on programming for my VISTAs and making sure I provide value to them. This is my first job in a supervisory capacity, and I’m quickly realizing how important that is. I’d also like to improve my public speaking, which is a perennial goal of mine. Project-wise, I’m eager to work out a career-services type of program for the VISTAs, so we can more concretely aid in their job search and take advantage of the Up2Us vast network. After my time as a VISTA, I’ll be attending law school and I hope to work on public interest issues like immigration law and youth advocacy. I’m hoping to clerk for a federal judge after law school and then join an appellate litigation firm in DC afterwards.”
Roneisha Pierce - NEWfit - Baltimore, MD
“One of my top professional goals as a VISTA member this year is to get as much experience as possible in my lead coordinator position. After graduating from undergrad, many people decide to go straight into grad school. I decided to get experience in my career first, then take further steps in furthering my career by continuing on to grad school. Working as a VISTA straight out of college has provided me with some insight in my professional career. Continuing on as a VISTA, I would like to reach each goal my team and I have created to further our organization, NEWfit. The pandemic has taken a huge toll on our organization and we are doing whatever it takes to adjust to the new times and still provide a fit, fun, and active virtual life for our youth. After my term is over as a VISTA, I would like to extend our sports program beyond Baltimore and provide assistance to teachers and students everywhere.”
