The GreenLight Fund model is unique: in an annual process, each branch works closely with community leaders to identify issue areas that need addressing, find organizations and programs that act on these issues and are not currently in the community of interest, and finally invest in a single organization so that it can come to the community and bring about change. Since I started interning at the GreenLight Fund branch in Detroit I have noticed the many functioning pieces that must be put in place for this process to run smoothly; however, the central mission of all of the work being done has always been very clear—everything is about social impact and finding organizations that can bring social impact to the community of Detroit.
My project at GreenLight Fund Detroit is twofold. Firstly, I am building and developing its communications channels. Day to day this entails researching and presenting on the best social media practices for nonprofits similar to GreenLight Fund; finding social management tools that can be implemented in the Detroit branch; building content for all of the communications channels; and creating a schedule for social media posts to be sent out that can be continued after I leave this summer. Not only will this piece of my project help the GreenLight Fund Detroit office run smoother in terms of its social media presence, but I see it as doing a lot more than that. If I can help GreenLight Fund Detroit show off its platform of social impact, by better communicating to the Detroit community what organizations they have invested in, the good these organizations are doing for the community, and other cool social entrepreneurship ventures happening in Detroit, then maybe it will have a lasting effect on members of the Detroit community. Maybe it will inspire Detroiters to find their own ways to make a social impact in their community or make use of the new organizations coming in that have been invested in or, at the very least, become more knowledgeable of the social impact scene in Detroit and GreenLight Fund’s place in it.
Secondly, I am helping to build the branch’s pipeline by researching organizations around the nation that work to address the issues GreenLight Fund Detroit has identified for this year’s cycle. I compile all of my findings into a spreadsheet as well as into Salesforce for Rishi and Nina, the executive director and program associate respectively, to read through as they decide which ones to move forward with and consider as possible investments. Here I see my impact in the city very directly: one of the organizations that I have either researched or found could be getting an investment from GreenLight Fund Detroit by the end of this process and coming to Detroit to make change on a pressing issue for the community. Last cycle, they invested in a group called the Center for Employment Opportunities, which helps people that have just been released from prison to have an immediate job and path to permanent employment, thereby reducing the chances that they return to prison. This next cycle? Who knows, but as of now it could end up being a group that I did initial research on or put on the radar for GreenLight Fund Detroit. A year from now, an organization will be coming into Detroit to make a social impact and address an important issue and it could very well be an organization that I compiled information on for the Detroit branch, which makes me very excited.
My project at GreenLight Fund Detroit is twofold. Firstly, I am building and developing its communications channels. Day to day this entails researching and presenting on the best social media practices for nonprofits similar to GreenLight Fund; finding social management tools that can be implemented in the Detroit branch; building content for all of the communications channels; and creating a schedule for social media posts to be sent out that can be continued after I leave this summer. Not only will this piece of my project help the GreenLight Fund Detroit office run smoother in terms of its social media presence, but I see it as doing a lot more than that. If I can help GreenLight Fund Detroit show off its platform of social impact, by better communicating to the Detroit community what organizations they have invested in, the good these organizations are doing for the community, and other cool social entrepreneurship ventures happening in Detroit, then maybe it will have a lasting effect on members of the Detroit community. Maybe it will inspire Detroiters to find their own ways to make a social impact in their community or make use of the new organizations coming in that have been invested in or, at the very least, become more knowledgeable of the social impact scene in Detroit and GreenLight Fund’s place in it.
Secondly, I am helping to build the branch’s pipeline by researching organizations around the nation that work to address the issues GreenLight Fund Detroit has identified for this year’s cycle. I compile all of my findings into a spreadsheet as well as into Salesforce for Rishi and Nina, the executive director and program associate respectively, to read through as they decide which ones to move forward with and consider as possible investments. Here I see my impact in the city very directly: one of the organizations that I have either researched or found could be getting an investment from GreenLight Fund Detroit by the end of this process and coming to Detroit to make change on a pressing issue for the community. Last cycle, they invested in a group called the Center for Employment Opportunities, which helps people that have just been released from prison to have an immediate job and path to permanent employment, thereby reducing the chances that they return to prison. This next cycle? Who knows, but as of now it could end up being a group that I did initial research on or put on the radar for GreenLight Fund Detroit. A year from now, an organization will be coming into Detroit to make a social impact and address an important issue and it could very well be an organization that I compiled information on for the Detroit branch, which makes me very excited.
Part of an exhibit in the pop-up science museum located in the lobby of the building we work in.
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