Tag Archives: gen y

20Under40: A Week Long Conversation about Leadership Changes in the Arts


Posted by ajlovesya

Some time ago I posted about the call for submissions for the 20Under40 anthology which will feature 20 essays by emerging leaders in the arts about the future of arts and arts education.  To follow up with this amazing project they are hosting a week-long discussion for emerging leaders in the arts to talk about generational changes in leadership and the value young people bring to the arts field:

Emerging Leaders Blog Salon
Join the Emerging Leaders Network of Americans for the Arts and the 20UNDER40 anthology for the Emerging Leaders Salon on ARTSblog the week of October 19-23. Nearly 20 diverse arts professionals from across the country will discuss the impending generational shift in arts leadership and the value of emerging leaders to the field. Follow these posts and continue the conversation through your ideas, comments, and personal stories.

This is run by The Americans for the Arts Emerging Leader Network which “works to identify and cultivate the next generation of arts leaders in America.”  They have chapters across the country so I encourage you to look into them. Even if you are not in the arts, joining one of these groups as a supporter goes a long way as well.  I am member of ELNYA-Emerging Leaders of New York Arts and always blown away by the events, conversations, and opportunities presented to cultivate leadership!


Launching a Career in Social Change: Résumé and Cover Letter Tips for College Grads


Posted by ajlovesya

This post was written for Nonprofit Career Month, a national campaign to promote awareness of careers in the nonprofit sector.

So you’ve decided to explore a career in the nonprofit sector.  Great!  However, if you’re a recent college grad, writing a résumé for your first job out of college is tough. Unlike traditional résumés where you can highlight previous experience that is most likely connected to the job for which you are applying, time in college is often characterized by random jobs and classes that don’t go together. How can you package and present your experiences in a way that demonstrates you’re a good fit to a potential employer?

What you want to send to potential employers is not a traditional resume but rather a Career Launching Résumé (CLR). Lauren Friese over at TalentEgg.ca defines a CLR as a résumé that focuses on your assets, demonstrates your interest in the position, stands out, and is written like a sales proposal. What do these four characteristics look like when applying for a job in social change?

Your Assets:

You need to demonstrate to an employer that you can do the job well and fit into the organization’s overall mission. What skills are your bringing to the table that will meet an employers need?

Showcase accomplishments not just duties: If the job you are applying for wants management skills, give data that shows how you increased sales or followed through with a successful project. Throughout your cover letter use key words like teamwork and resourceful to connect what you did and who you are with what the organization wants.

Your Interest:

A common piece of advice given when applying for nonprofit jobs is to demonstrate passion for the organization and its mission. But what does passion look like in a résumé?

Highlight any academic research related to social change: Did you use your thesis to examine the impact of educational policy on a local community? Have you explored business practices that address poverty or expand employment opportunities? Integrating social issues into research is a great way to show passion while developing writing and critical thinking skills. Since you are just graduating from college, this information should be at the top of your résumé and listed under your college.

Emphasize service and fit: In the cover letter, discuss the organization’s track record and how your skills can fit in with their future plans. If you have done community service before, put it on the résumé and describe. Organize your résumé chronologically but use subheadings and titles that demonstrate the skills and experience applicable to the job. Instead of saying “Relevant Work Experience” try “Community Leadership Experience.” If the job is managerial or administrative related, use related words in your titles and descriptions.

Standing Out:

Many of us have heard of the frightening statistic that most hiring managers only spend 30 second per résumé which means you have less than a minute to catch someone’s eye. How can you make a person keep reading?

Get a personal contact: 90% of all jobs are filled by referral. Try having an informational interview with someone at the organization you would like to work at and use that person as a segue into a job, or tap into your networks (alumni are great for this!) for contacts. Look into organizations that your college has a great relationship with and see if they are hiring. Make sure to mention personal contacts in your cover letter.

Selling Yourself:

In the end you are selling a product: YOU. It is crucial that the packaging is put together and there are no surprises. What is your best presentation?

Proofread and share: Print your résumé and cover letter out and read it the day after your write it to scan for mistakes. Share your résumé with peers for some fresh eyes to ensure that everything you’ve written makes sense and is easy to navigate.

Use social media wisely: “Googling” is all the rage these days. Make sure your internet presence is clean and interesting. Try starting a blog to build yourself up as a thought leader in the field or simply to discuss pressing issues in social change while developing your communication skills. Use LinkedIn to keep people up to date on projects you are working on while connecting with others who share your passion.


How Gen Y and Nonprofits can Benefit from a Bad Economy


Posted by ajlovesya

Much of the discussion surrounding the impact of the weak financial market on nonprofits focuses on donations. While corporations are responsible for only about 10% of the funds received by nonprofits, the relationship extends beyond money to time (board members and volunteers) and resources (space and advertising) that are very useful to any nonprofit that receives them.

However, what impact does this change have the thousands of young people who pursue investment banking right out of college? No longer is investment banking the secure lucrative career many recent college grads think they are. After all, once the 4th largest investment banking firm files for chapter 11 and others quietly rearrange themselves, well, it’s time to rethink career paths.

Rodger Cohen sums up the impact of sudden change in the economy perfectly: “We’re witnessing the passing of more than a venerable firm. We’re seeing the death of a culture.”

A culture that places such premium on money and power that young people who might otherwise focus their attention elsewhere feel compelled to follow. Cohen continues,

“When I taught a journalism course at Princeton a couple of years ago, I was captivated by the bright, curious minds in my class. But when I asked students what they wanted to do, the overwhelming answer was: “Oh, I guess I’ll end up in i-banking.”

It was not that they loved investment banking, or thought their purring brains would be best deployed on Wall Street poring over a balance sheet, it was the money and the fact everyone else was doing it.”

However, the number of recent grads signing up to do banking has steadily decreased and many are reevaluating other passions and interests.

So here’s my suggestion: get into the public sector.

Take your intellect, creativity, and detail oriented tendencies to create new programs addressing social problems; think of ways to generate money while serving others i.e. social entrepreneurship.  Join a young professionals group at a nonprofit to better explore your options. Help analyze policies for a think tank or work with a political watchdog group.

As I have stated before, the nonprofit sector’s greatest asset is its diversity, allowing a place for everyone. Money shouldn’t be an issue: there is no such thing as security and everyone is going broke.

Read How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of
New Ideas and The Non-profit Career Guide to get a sense of what’s out there and where you fit in. Cohen recommends A New Bank to Save Our Infrastructure for socially minded bankers.

And nonprofits: realize the enormous opportunity we have here. You have access to a crop of “number” people, use them to better organize information and create transparent documents about where money is going; have them develop interesting ways to generate income outside of asking others.  If you can’t pay like a corporation, offer better benefits that enable people to deepen their commitment to the organization.

As our leaders prepare to step down for retirement there is a swelling number of young people looking for a place where they will not get lost and where their talents are appreciated.  Engage them either as employees or as a group with new concerns that can be explored for our mutual benefit.

As we go through a culture shock, questioning more than ever the validity of security and how much money matters, we should reach out, collaborate, and see how we can come out stronger.


You Say Colorblind, I Say Intellectually Lazy


Posted by ajlovesya

When Barack Obama won the primaries much attention was paid to my generation’s reasons for voting for him.  Apparently, we’re color blind.

Firstly, are we watching the same election?

Is this the same election where Obama’s racial authenticity has been called into question? Where his bid has sparked numerous discussions about the black experience in America—highlighting persistent inequality? Where the role of his race in the election is at once celebrated and used as fuel for racist tirades at home and abroad?

You cannot get away from race in this election which is why when someone says that my generation is color blind I’m not celebrating, I’m worried. Color blindness during a time when race is being discussed not just in terms of controversy ( i.e. affirmative action) but in terms of its impact on our day to day lives sounds more like intellectual laziness than progressivism.

This lack of input is even more startling when we realize that my generation is increasingly at the forefront of a racially charged issue: gentrification.  While many may say the issue is rooted in class, the controversy rests in how people view the changing landscape of neighborhoods–changes that become evident first in culture. For example, my return to the neighborhood where I grew up (Bed Stuy, Marcy Projects) would be celebrated since it is seen as me bringing my capital back to my community. A white person with my same capital is assumed to bring a new culture and thus is seen as invasive.

And this hostility, while seen as an inevitable by product of gentrification, appears irrational as we realize that a. the rate of people moving out of neighborhoods because rising costs is less than 1% and b. the rate of blacks moving out is twice as high as white people moving in.

Maybe we don’t have the language to discuss race in a useful manner. Maybe we are tired of all the race talk because we don’t see anything beneficial coming out of it. Or maybe some of us truly don’t think about race. Yet this kind of silence does more harm than good as it implies that our generation is not concerned or involved in an issue that impacts the relationships and livelihoods of people in this country.