TheInternView: Looking at your professional accomplishments, your passion for public service is evident. Where does this passion come from?

I’ve always been interested in education issues and for a while wanted to be a teacher.  My passion for education comes from my experiences growing up in the projects in Bed-Stuy but being offered a scholarship to attend a wealthy private school in downtown Brooklyn. The differences between opportunities and environment were outrageous.  School was both a refuge from and a reminder of those differences that never quite sat.  College was an opportunity to explore this issue more and solidified my commitment to education equality and youth development.

TheInternView: How did you get the internship for The PEACE Project at Friere Charter, and what were your responsibilities?

I was studying education in college and was required to have a teaching placement.  I was running a journalism program there, helping students launch an online magazine.  I had a small group of kids and I would alternate between working on the magazine and observing them in the classroom.

TheInternView: Within two years of graduating from college you started a non-profit organization called OnlyUP. In what ways did your internship influence your desire to start OnlyUp.org?

Oddly enough, the internship at the PEACE Project didnt spark my interest in OnlyUp–although it did make me reconsider how I wanted to be involved in education.  Ive moved from wanting to be a teacher, to after school programming, to fundraising and marketing.  Anyway, I was offered a post-graduate public service fellowship with a few of my classmates.  We each had the same concerns with our jobs: no challenging work, limited support, and essentially being excluded from a lot of conversations about the organizations where we worked.  Brandon West and Travis Green talked about starting an organization that would help nonprofits create better opportunities for young people and asked me along with two others to help develop the idea.

TheInternView: What are some of the challenges of you’ve had to overcome in order to make OnlyUP a success?

The biggest one is time. One of the leaders went off to grad school, one got sick, two just became overwhelmed, and I had new responsibilities that made committing to the organization difficult.  Additionally we started way too big and didnt pay attention to our needs and constraints.  We wanted to run multiple programs in multiple cities which was way beyond our capacity.  Lately, we’ve slowed down considerably, and focused on one aspect of the organization–helping nonprofits create more “millenial friendly” policies and only work with a handful of organizations at a time.  On a personal level, Ive grown more committed to young people being involved in public service and so it makes working on this organization easier as I can marry my personal passion and professional drive.  I am learning more about the needs of nonprofits and young employees and constantly putting what I am learning into action whether through OnlyUp or on my own.

TheInternView: What advice do you have for students/interns who want to move up in their industry quickly or start a business shortly after their internship experiences?

1.  Start small:  Think about what you can realistically accomplish based on your schedule, interest, and team.  Think of your start up period as a pilot period to explore and test your ideas.   When  you start too big it is easy to fizzle out or become overwhelmed.  We learned this lesson the hard way.

2.  Dont compare yourself to other people: People work at different paces and have different resources.  You dont know what is happening internally with that organization or group so your best bet is to focus on setting and reaching your own goals based on your time and skills.

3.  Dont get advice from too many people: I know this may seem arrogant, but when you are just starting, EVERYONE will have something to say.  Keep an open mind, and definitely find your mentors, but ultimately, let the decisions rest with you and your teammates.

4.  Read:  Read about other people starting organizations, read about issues in your field, read about leadership–just read and reflect.  Being aware of trends can definitely help you as you make decisions and keep you aware of what needs and challenges exist.

5. Know it’s ok to pass up opportunities:  In fundraising we are warned against shaping our programs to fit the needs of a grant and are told instead, apply for grants that match the mission of our organization.  The same applies to folks starting their own organization.  Not every opportunity will make sense for you. Dont be afraid to pass it up.

6.  Focus on impact instead of growing: Scaling/growing is such a hot topic right now for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs.  I think this focus is unfortunate.  Focus on actually making a difference.  Growing may not be a good move for you and staying small is not a bad thing.

Follow Allison as she builds OnlyUp: @ajlovesya

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Have you interned for a company with multiple interns? Did you ever talk with the other interns about starting a Non-Profit or For-Profit entity?