Community Fellows Blog Posts

Walking into City Hall on my first day was extremely intimidating. It’s a large building with groups of people moving in every direction, yet everyone I met was welcoming and quick to help, starting from security upon walking in, the multiple information desks I went to to figure out where to go, all the way to my supervisor on the 16th floor. Over the first couple of weeks, I mostly did basic setup, met the team, and learned how the City of San Jose Office of Economic Development supports local businesses so I could understand my role more as a Data and Information Systems Intern. Since I grew up in San Jose, hearing familiar neighborhoods and areas come up in conversation made the work feel personal and made me even more excited. 

In this role, I work within a government platform that lays out the steps in our workflows, and I specifically work on the one for small business grants. As I go through, I follow how a request moves from the applicant intake to completion. Instead of going through every small business, I focus on the steps themselves. From there, I am beginning to make small efficiency tweaks and to look for simple ways to create and integrate similar workflows with other teams. What has surprised me most is the amount of coordination and the number of decisions behind even small updates. A change often requires several teams to agree on timing and processes, so any progress made is dependent on clear communication between everyone involved. Seeing that up close has made me more patient and given me a better sense of how a large city operates. 

Because of that, my main goal this year is to share and take action upon any observations that can make this work path easier to navigate. If the process feels simpler, more small businesses can access the support they need. On a personal level, I want to ask thoughtful questions, speak up when I have something useful to add, and learn from people who care about this work and this city. 

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