Author: Zachary Williams

As summer comes to a close, I’m thankful for the opportunity to reflect on my time at United for a Fair Economy. I like to think that I’ve done some important work at UFE this summer. When I first started my internship search, I thought I wanted to intern at a larger organization. As I reflect on my internship, however, I’ve come to realize that I’ve done important work in my time at UFE that I likely wouldn’t have been able to do at a larger organization. At a small non-profit, every member of the team, from the executive director to the summer interns, is integral and does important work. I had the opportunity to help plan the 25th anniversary event, researching several different online silent auction platforms and choosing the best one, monitoring ticket sales and sponsorships, and helping scope out the Old South Church, the location for the event.

This summer, I’ve also been able to learn a lot about how non-profits are financed. A few weeks ago, I went to the offices of Philanthropy Massachusetts with UFE’s grant writer. We looked for new funders for UFE, and since then it’s been my responsibility to research these funders, enter all relevant information into the database, and mark prospective funders. UFE is currently seeking out funding for a popular education project, as well as for general operations, and my work will help UFE’s grant writer know where to focus her efforts to increase UFE’s chances of getting funding. 

As cheesy as it sounds, when I started my internship, I wish I knew how much I’ll miss working at UFE. I anticipated growing tired of the 9-to-5 routine, but I haven’t yet. The work at UFE varies from day-to-day; while there are always daily tasks to complete (e.g. donation processing, responding to emails), I’ve had the opportunity to work on several longer-term projects, like organizing the thousands of photos on UFE’s server and planning the silent auction. It’s nice to be a part of longer-term projects like this, as I’m more motivated by long-term goals than short-term goals. Prior to this internship, I’d never considered working at a non-profit after graduation. After interning at UFE, however, I’ve realized that this career path is a good fit for me. I’m motivated by mission-driven work, and I’ve enjoyed learning more about development and communications. I can see myself working at a non-profit sometime in the future. 

The most important piece of advice I’ve received in my time at UFE is to maintain a good work-life balance. In mission-driven work, where most employees are incredibly passionate about their jobs, it’s not always easy to recognize when it’s time to step away and enjoy some needed leisure time. I’ve been lucky in that UFE prioritizes the work-life balance of its employees. Everyone is encouraged to take time off when they need it, to use up all their vacation time, and to put their health and well-being first. Even with an employer that encourages maintaining a good work-life balance, it’s still necessary for everyone who works in the social justice field to engage in self-care. Self-care looks different for everyone; for me, many parts of my morning routine are small acts of self-care. On the train ride into work, I take time to read, listen to a podcast, or just look out the window. I have a twenty minute walk from North Station to my office in the Financial District, and I like to change up the route I take occasionally to see as much of Boston as possible. Since my office is right next to the Greenway, I make sure to go for a short walk when I need a break from the office. 

One of the most important skills I have learned at Brandeis is how to write concisely and accessibly. Last semester, I took Professor Vijayakumar’s “HIV/AIDS, Society, and Politics,” course. One of my first assignments was to write a 2 to 3 page analysis of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a country of my choice; I chose Brazil. In just 2 to 3 pages, I was expected to include data about Brazil’s HIV incidence, HIV prevalence, the social groups most affected by the epidemic, how the Brazilian epidemic compares to epidemics in the wider geographical region, and what progress Brazil has made in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Along with everyone in the class, I found it challenging to distill all the necessary information down to 3 pages, and my task wasn’t made any easier by the sheer amount of data that exists about Brazil’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The experience of writing the data analysis taught me how to write concisely and accessibly and extract relevant statistics from large data sets. With a maximum word count, there is little room for superfluous data or flowery language. In addition, Professor Vijayakumar emphasized the importance of taking your intended audience into account when writing a data analysis and making sure it’s accessible. 

In the first few weeks at United for a Fair Economy, I’ve found that they, like Professor Vijayakumar, stress the importance of making all of your writing accessible to your intended audience. You cannot claim to work for economic justice while simultaneously making your work inaccessible to the people you claim to be helping. UFE works with many people who don’t have any postsecondary education and who don’t speak English, and UFE makes sure everything they produce is accessible to these audiences. They discourage the use of jargon and acronyms; a rule of thumb in the office is that the average tenth-grader should understand all of our communications. In addition, UFE is very conscious of the marginalization of those who don’t speak English and is committed to language justice. All of UFE’s communications are published in both English and Spanish and UFE conducts bilingual (Spanish and English) Training of Trainers for activists and organizers. 

Last week, Madeline and I had the opportunity to write a blog post about immigration policy for UFE’s website. This blog post gave me a chance to put UFE’s commitment to language justice into action. We started the blog with a history of US immigration policy, an overview of the multitude of problems with America’s current immigration policy, solutions that have been proposed so far, and UFE’s idea of what a humane solution to the immigration crisis looks like. At nearly 2,000 words, I’m not sure that the blog can be called concise. However, we made sure that it’s free of academic jargon and superfluous information. Our piece assumes that our readers have some knowledge of the US immigration system, but aren’t versed in all of its intricacies. While it currently exists only in English, it will be translated into Spanish before it goes up on the website. In addition, Madeline compiled a list of organizations advocating for immigrants’ rights locally and nationally. It is important to keep in mind that while learning about the roots of America’s current immigration crisis is necessary, such learning is useless if not coupled with action. 

 

This summer, I’m interning with United for a Fair Economy (UFE). My discovery of UFE was pretty serendipitous; I was browsing the list of WOW Social Justice internships and came across the posting for this internship. Even though I have relatively little prior experience working for economic justice, as a student from a working-class background, UFE’s mission is incredibly important to me. My grandparents worked on dairy farms, in paper mills, and in shoe factories. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any organizations like UFE aiding them in the fight for fair pay, progressive taxation, and a more equitable economy. I hope that by interning at UFE I’m able to advance the cause of economic justice and help workers like my parents and grandparents.

According to their website, UFE “challenges the concentration of wealth and power that corrupts democracy, deepens the racial divide and tears communities apart.” UFE takes a multi-pronged approach to the fight for economic justice; their three main programs are Economics for Everyone, the Responsible Wealth Project (RWP), and the Inclusive Economies Network. Economics for Everyone uses popular education to equip people with tools they can use to identify and fight economic injustices. One of UFE’s most important popular education initiatives is the Training of Trainers Institute, which is held biannually and is targeted at organizers working against economic injustices. I haven’t yet gone to a Training of Trainers, but I hope to attend one at the Highlander Center in Tennessee this fall.

In addition to holding trainings, UFE also publishes infographics, reports, and books. One of their most important reports is the State of the Dream Report, an annual report that deals with a topical issue and its relationship to economic justice. The 2019 State of the Dream Report details how the US disaster response system fails economically disadvantaged people and worsens economic inequality.

The Responsible Wealth Project connects high-income earners to fight for economic justice. In the past, members of the Responsible Wealth Project have lobbied for more progressive individual income tax rates, fought for the preservation of the federal estate tax, and filed more than 100 shareholder resolutions to hold corporations accountable.

Unlike Economics for Everyone and the RWP–both of which are based in Boston–the Inclusive Economies Network is based in Durham, North Carolina, and is fighting to increase the state minimum wage to $15/hour. 

As a development intern at UFE, a large part of my job so far has been processing donations, entering donor information into the UFE database, and brainstorming ideas for UFE’s 25th anniversary celebration (on Friday, September 13th from 6-9 pm at Old South Church in Boston!). I’m especially grateful for the opportunities to learn more about nonprofit finances, as I’m interested in working at a nonprofit in the future. UFE is unique among nonprofits in that it receives a very large share of its money from individual donors, and not from grants.

Learning more about UFE’s finances has really underscored the importance of cultivating and maintaining donor relationships, especially for an organization that relies mainly on individual donations. My role in cultivating and maintaining donor relationships is the primary way in which I have furthered UFE’s mission so far. A donor who feels valued is far more likely to contribute to again, and a healthy, growing donor base is needed to run a successful nonprofit. 

Overall, my first week at UFE was pretty great. I’ve been really impressed with how accessible and thoughtful the UFE staff have been. Madeline (the other UFE WOW intern) and I had meetings with most of the team members during the first week, and they were all incredibly welcoming and willing to answer any questions we had about their work. They take their mission to fight economic injustice incredibly seriously, but they’re also able to have fun and not overwork themselves. If my future workplace looks like UFE, I’ll be more than satisfied.