It's the Final Countdown: Presentation to the Town Council

Today, I presented my  policy brief to Mayor Lewis and the Gilbert Town Council. The Town Council has been looking at E-cigarette regulation within the Town of Gilbert. I was charged to write a research brief on e-cigarette health concerns and federal, state, and local municipal regulations. I've written policy memos before, but not a policy research brief.  My supervisor, Heather Wilkey, provided the necessary guidance and encouragement from start to finish. Her insight of local municipal policy proved to be beneficial and extremely informative. I would not have been able to do this immense project without her assistance.

My document went through several revisions to change my academic vocabulary to the political language need to convey information in a clear, concise, and objective manner. I was completely unaware that my writing style was both verbose and subjective, because I'm so used to academic papers that utilize esoteric language to describe abstract thoughts and concepts. I soon realized that when writing a policy paper for busy legislators such language can be cumbersome to read. Without Heather's proof reading expertise and knowledge in political jargon, I would have submitted an academic paper instead of a policy brief. I spent countless hours working and perfecting the language and information in my paper and even took it home to work on. At one point, the brief, e-cigarette research, and anything concerning e-cigarette regulation consumed every aspect of my life.

After the brief was completed, I was to create a powerpoint highlighting various key points in the brief which would be presented to the Town Council. Like the brief, the powerpoint went through several revisions. I had to make the presentation both informative and visually stimulating. Again, Heather's expertise proved to be invaluable. She recommended highlighting key words and color coordinating text with the background's overall color scheme. Graphics, photos, and shapes played an important role in the overall design of the presentation and Heather's eye for detail helped shape the perfect balance of visual elements to reinforce the information presented.

The final presentation was to be held at the Town of Gilbert council chambers on October 28th. However, I was to present to the Executive Team (Administrative Directors) and then to the Second-in-Command team before presenting in council. The pressure was on to perform well, so practicing whenever I had a chance was key to my success. The presentation to the Executive Team went better than I thought. I was able to capture the attention of everyone in the room, which I am told was difficult thing to do. I was given several "job well done" and "good job" comments from the Town of Gilbert staff, and even  a town administrator turned to my boss and jokingly commented: "Does she want a job?"

The Second-in-Command presentation was just the same as before, but not as smoothly as the first presentation to the Executive Team. Heather once again provided valuable feedback and public speaking tips. I continued to practice my presentation while being cognizant of my "umms" and other fillers. Taking a breath instead of  saying "umm" helped and I read this wonderful article on NPR, Why Saying is Believing-The Power of Self Talk about writing down your anxieties before taking a test or giving a presentation will help you perform better. Also speaking to yourself in the third person also helps distance yourself from the situation while providing encouragement and motivation to give your best.

The day of the presentation to Town Council came and of course I was extremely nervous. I had practiced so much, I could recite every word in my sleep (and I probably did). When it was my turn to speak, I took a deep breath and said to myself, "You got this". I could feel my body start to jitter, but I refused to let incapacitate me and ruin all my hard work and effort. Then I spoke and the words just flowed out my mouth so effortlessly and I was even able to thrown in a few subtle jokes to lighten the mood. I find laughter helps cut the tension and ease anxiety and nervousness. Before I knew it, my presentation was over! Whew! The longest ten minutes of my life!

I sat down and listened to the council debate over e-cigarette regulation in the Town of Gilbert, which would only include county buildings and vehicles. My phone started to buzz with congratulatory text messages. I knew I done well and this was reinforced by appraise from the Mayor Lewis and several members of the Town Council. One of the council members said it was the best written brief he had read.

Now after the dust has settled and the ordinance has been passed, I can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment of my work here at the Town of Gilbert. I could not have done it without Heather's input and encouragement to succeed. Individual accomplishment is impossible without the assistance and guidance of others. I would not have been able to be the person I am and achieve so much in my life without people like heather guiding the way.

Haunted Halloween in Gilbert (WARNING: SCARY VISUALS)

On our way back from the tour of the senior center, Krista the Recreation Coordinator, gave us a tour of the Haunted House the recreation center hosted this past weekend. Check out the directions! Krista and her team of volunteers really out did themselves! Kudos!

Public Service: Senior Center Tour

Yesterday, I toured the Town of Gilbert's Senior Center and Recreation Center. I met with Rene Carlin, Recreation Supervisor and talked about funding  the senior center as well as volunteer work. Since I am interested in Nonprofit management, I was very interested to talk to Rene about the many challenges she faced providing services and resources to many of the seniors in Gilbert and outlining municipalities. The senior center along with the Chandler Christian Community Center provides meals at the senior center cafeteria and also delivers meals to seniors through their Meals-on-Wheels program at the cost of $5 a meal (a sliding scale prices also available). Plus, the senior center partners with another local nonprofit organization, Friends for Life, to provide food  for their client's pets.

Volunteerism is the backbone of any nonprofit organization, so it is only natural the senior center relies heavily on the citizens of Gilbert to care for the elderly by volunteering for the many programs offered by the center.  Even seniors are able to volunteer in the kitchen, teach classes, and perform other jobs around the facility. Volunteer retention is always an issue for many nonprofit organization, but not for the senior center! Many of the volunteers have been working with the center for years. Volunteer recruitment might be an area of interest and getting the word out is something the Town of Gilbert works closely with local organizations and nonprofit organizations to help fill the gap in human service needs. Just recently the town hosted a volunteer day on October 25th, and the Gilbert senior center had as many as 100 volunteers help with the meals on wheels program.

Funding is always a challenge for many nonprofit organizations when public and private spending has dwindled during the economic downturn. The Town of Gilbert had reduced their contributions to nonprofit significantly within the past years. The town council voted to reduce their funding to human services to $0 over a five year period ( Gilbert Human Needs Assessment (2014), p.19), which will ultimately affect the senior center ability to provide services to Gilbert's seniors. The organization realized they must find additional funding elsewhere, so they partnered with other organizations like the Silver Sneakers program and other nonprofits to make up in the gap for funding. Donations, grants, and generated income from a small gift shop also provide additional revenue to fund senior programming.

We talked about the need to get  promote the available resources out there to the public. The senior center has an outreach coordinator who helps individuals find the necessary resources and information they need. Rene also mentioned communicating and reaching out to other nonprofits to build more collaborative partnerships in these touch economic times is very important. Gone were the days when organizations could stand solely on their own without outside help, now working together is the only way they can survive and keep their doors open to help those in need.

Interview: Director of Intergovernmental Relations

One of the assignments for my internship is to interview one of my supervisors OR profile a person who has a career that you aspire to. I chose my supervisor Leah Hubbard, the Director of Intergovernmental Relations at the Town of Gilbert. As you can see from her picture above she is out of this world!

As a municipal lobbyists, Leah works with elected officials, special-interest groups, and local organizations to influence policy and legislation to enhance interest  imperative to the citizens of Gilbert. Her goal is to "work with legislator and communicate to them the needs and proprieties of our town." She does this by building positive and productive relationships which requires the ability to be a proactive listener and work with diverse groups of people and opinions.

When I asked her how she chose her career, she said, "I didn't. It chose me". Leah grew up in Arizona, but attended University of Texas for her Bachelors of Arts in Government and Politics and her Master's in Public Affairs. She worked on several election campaigns in Texas, but returned to Arizona to reside with her family. She credits networking, volunteer work, and hard word to her current position at the Town of Gilbert. After she moved back finding a job in her area was extremely hard to find, but she volunteered and networked to a lobbyist position at an Arizona firm and later after building positive relationships with various legislators and local municipal employees, she was encouraged to apply for the Director position at the Town of Gilbert.

As prospective director in my field, I was interested in qualities that make a good manager. Leah is all about team work, so I wasn't surprised when she said that building a good team was imperative to running a tight, well oiled ship. She mentioned  most organizations don't train people to take their place, and she finds this to be crucial to healthy organizational leadership. She said she should be "replaceable", meaning that if something should happen to her and she had to leave then her team would immediately step up and replace her role without hesitation. A good leader trains the next generation of leaders to take their place. The Office of Intergovernmental Relations hold weekly team meetings, I find them to be extremely helpful when everyone has so many things going on at once. The meetings bring everyone together, to see what we are all doing, and offer any help or advice on areas we are struggling on. We always have "daily affirmations" where we recognize a team member for their outstanding performance. I notice this helps ease any tension between members (if there is any), bring everyone together in a supportive team environment, and build positive relationships amongst the team.

One of the interesting leadership qualities Leah exhibits is the ability to be authentic. One of the first things she told me when I arrived here, was "My door is always open", and it is. She is available to answer any question I might have or even ask me questions to stimulate a conversation or encourage critical thinking. During our team meetings, Leah is the first one to ask everyone about their weekend and life events. Sometimes we talk only about work related issues, so it's easy to forget we have lives outside of work. Leah is the first one to recognize the individual behind the desk and it is one of the qualities that I feel builds loyalty and respect to the organization and her leadership ability.

I could go on and on about the many things I have learned from Leah both directly and indirectly during my internship. Here are a few things I've learned from Leah about leadership and good work ethnics:

• Networking
• Volunteer Work (build relationships and work experience)
• Never be afraid to ask
• See various sides to all stories
• Don't pretend to know everything
• Be authentic
• Build a support team
• Grow a thick skin
• Three P's (Patience, Persistence, and Politeness)

Trip to Vancouver

This probably doesn’t have to do with anything about my internship, but since this is a “free write” entry, I thought I would write about my weekend in Vancouver. This past summer I interned at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. My roommate was this fantastic girl named Reka, who interning at the conservation department at NMAI. We immediately hit it off and had so many things in common despite the language and sometimes cultural barriers. After her internship in Washington DC, she moved to Vancouver, Canada to start another internship in the same department at the Museum of Anthropology. So, I promised her that I would come visit her in October and have a great time soaking in all the sites of the city. We went to Stanley Park, Granville Island, Downtown/China town/, and the waterfront. Check out the pictures I took.