![2020-21 LSB Community Fellows](/media/leavey-school-of-business/undergraduates/community-fellows-and-npi/dawnphotography-209---Sara-Montenegro-1-360x330.jpeg)
2020-2021 Fellow
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
Marketing Major, Retail Studies Minor
Home Town: Eugene, Oregon
What were your responsibilities at your internship with the Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County?
My main responsibilities as the Marketing and Communication Intern for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County were in regards to social media management, as well as some work regarding press releases. At the beginning of each week, I would meet with my supervisors, and we would go over the social media schedule for the week and potential press opportunities. I would leave the meeting with a set of social media concepts for which I needed to design a graphic, draft a caption, and schedule to be posted on various platforms. In addition to drafting captions, designing graphics, and scheduling posts, I also had the opportunity to work on the analysis and reporting of social media and email statistics. Every once in a while, I had the opportunity to work on a press release, which was also so interesting and fun!
In what ways do you think you made positive contributions to the Catholic Charities of Santa Clara?
One of the amazing parts of the Community Fellows program is the opportunity to intern on a small team where you are given a great deal of responsibility and ownership over your work. Nonprofits tend to be chronically understaffed, so as an intern, we get to take on projects and opportunities that are highly impactful for the team and organization as a whole. Every day, I felt like I was making positive contributions to my team, as I took charge of projects like press releases and social media series, and initiated the development of ideas.
What would you recommend to LSB students who want to make a difference in the community?
I would encourage any LSB students who want to make a difference in the community to apply for the LSB Community Fellows program. This fellowship is an amazing opportunity to escape the SCU bubble and better understand the needs, struggles, and realities of the Santa Clara County community as a whole. This internship lets you get involved and make a difference in our community, learn and practice valuable business skills, and understand how these skills can be applied beyond the corporate world to spur real change in our society.