Posted on November 22, 2013
By Sandy Lam
So you want a career in global development. What does that mean to you? It’s an extremely competitive field, especially in Washington State, so whether you are a soon-to-be-graduate, recent graduate, or someone trying to make a change in career fields, here are five golden tips to make sure you end up in the right place for you and are getting the most out of your efforts.
1. Define your goals and interest (BE SPECIFIC) and write down what skills you can bring to the table.
When I say be specific, I mean, REALLY specific. Saying you are “interested” in said organization with nothing to follow up with, makes you look unknowledgeable and can possibly be insulting to your potential employer. Think of a specific story or experience you can share that ties your passion to their mission. Don’t go for a job you don’t care about, especially in nonprofit. It will be obvious and you will be fighting a sea of other people who will truly standout simply because of their passion alone. They’re the ones willing to put in the long extra hours without a second thought.
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Posted on November 21, 2013
By Heather Pitorak Menezes
“I left Burundi, but Burundi never left me,” explained Deogratias “Deo” Niyizonkiza, the founder of Village Health Works. Deo, the opening keynote speaker for the 5th Annual Global Washington Conference: Catalyzing Collective Impact, described his childhood in and his home country of Burundi. Situated south of Rwanda, west of Tanzania, and east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi is one of the poorest countries on earth. Ninety percent of the population lives in rural areas. Access to potable water is rare; much of the population relies on stagnant rain water for drinking. It is has one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, yet “misery is the norm” as Burundi faced “long, dark years of civil war.” Civil war and genocide, Deo emphasized, are the result of what “chronic misery does to a human being.” He described two ways to approach the dire situation: 1) you run away or 2) think about the situation and ask yourself, ‘what can I do about it?’ Deo opted for the latter. He left Burundi, and while facing initial struggles in the United States, including homelessness, he eventually received a college education. According to Deo, “I left Burundi, but Burundi never left me.” And that’s how Village Health Works was created. Village Health Works focuses on key, interconnected elements: health, education, agriculture, and community engagement. For Deo, the idea of bringing healthcare to the community was uplifting. While, it took 12 months to be granted permission to formerly implement Village Health Works in Burundi, they worked regardless, and in arduous conditions. “We didn’t wait for electricity, water . . . [i]f we didn’t do now, then when?” Through friendships they made, they raised money for a water tank in one community. This was the first time that this community had access to clean water.
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Posted on November 21, 2013
By Mark Olmstead
Founder and President of RESULTS, Sam Daley-Harris sat down with Carol Welch from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the Global Washington Conference on November 13, 2013.
Daley-Harris had an interesting transformation from his educational background to where he is now at RESULTS. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Music and never really considered a career focused on global poverty or climate change until he was invited to attend The Hunger Project in the late 70’s. He left that experience hopeless, thinking that hunger was inevitable and there was not much to be changed in the world. The only thing that would be achievable is self-control, which he was able to transform into a vision and goal to achieve results.
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