My professional goals for this past year when leaving my old job and starting short-term ones in Sri Lanka and Guatemala were to expand and enhance my skills in a completely new environment, work directly with beneficiaries and witness the impact firsthand, meet new people who would diversify my network, and identify my favorite and least favorite aspects of my profession.

Check, check, check, and check.

Based on previous experiences and recent ones, I’ve realized great qualities in work environments (encouragement to share ideas) and managers (they check in with you formally and informally and show that your input is valued).

On Monday, M and I presented our final deliverables to Alterna’s client after a 3-month long project. It was incredibly satisfying to have such ownership and see it through from start to finish.

It has been really interesting to work with an organization that is building its identity and structure and more so, to be a part of that process. From creating a communications strategy including messaging, tone, and style, and implementing the beginnings of it, to shaping a work environment and team rapport, to choosing graphic design elements for its visual philosophy. We had an Alterna staff meeting to discuss and evaluate organizational structure, where we each talked about our experiences, likes, dislikes, and suggestions for improvement. At the end of it, the director thanked us, looking around the circle of people: “All the good things you have said are because of you, what you have created. Alterna is this – nothing more than people.”