Community Fellows Blog Posts

As my internship with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley continues into the winter quarter, I’ve gained more perspective into how the skills we learn at the Leavey School of Business can be translated into helping our broader community. Each day, I see the amount of organization, communication, and messaging that's implemented across the entire organization and beyond. What I’ve realized is that when it comes to helping people and our broader community, the skills that we learn in business are all the more important. In nonprofits, organizations that tend to be more mission-driven, the focus on effective communication, efficiency, proper spending, and other business-related concepts is high because the proper implementation of these skills means the organization can improve the lives of more people. 

In my work at Second Harvest, one skill stands out to me above the rest: concise communication and storytelling. In business, we’re taught to be able to communicate our argument, perspective, and/or message in as few words as possible. Concise communication increases the effectiveness and impact across any medium - whether it be a memo, advertisement, or recommendation for a client. In my time at Second Harvest, I’ve learned that this lesson is just as important in the nonprofit sector (if not more important). In strategy and advocacy, my department, we focus on outreach to legislators and community organizations to draw attention to important issues and to have those issues translated into bills and laws. Legislators are exceptionally busy and, additionally, at the focus of many individuals and other organizations within the community. It’s vital in outreach, conversations, and presentations to be able to deliver a truly impactful message in a very short timeframe. You don’t have hours in a sit-down with a legislator, you likely have minutes. At Second Harvest, importance is placed on what I’ll call “concentrated communication” - delivering a truly moving and effective message in the shortest, most-efficient medium. If you watch a Second Harvest advertisement, you’ll see an emotional and impactful story that’s told within the timeframe of a minute or less. The timeframe doesn’t limit the message but only enhances it.

Working at Second Harvest has shown me exactly why conciseness is so valuable. Addressing an issue as serious as food insecurity, where people are relying on your advocacy and help to enable them to live happier lives, time can’t be wasted and words can’t be needlessly spent. Seeing the work of the marketing department at Second Harvest, I’ve also learned that a short story, focusing on a few important and very real elements, has more power than longer ones. As someone who loves storytelling and is hoping to use it effectively in a career in advertising, I feel like I’ve been able to observe truly effective communication at Second Harvest. More importantly, I’ve been able to witness that business skills can be applied to help people and to better their lives. The skills we pick up within the Leavey School of Business can be used to improve our community. Before this internship, I had a narrower perspective on business, but now I've realized how broadly applicable what we learn really is and that it has real power.