Name: Rebekah
Junior
Major: Sociology
Minor: Global Health
CFS Program: Field Studies in Civic Engagement

Working in the social change/socially responsible sector is something I am fully certain I want to enter into after college. With little actual experience in the field, however, I am uncertain what this position will look like and what role I want for myself in it. This quarter I am working at Zealous Good, a small social enterprise start-up founded by an NU alum (Go ‘Cats!). Zealous connects individuals and companies with excess items directly to local charities that have matching needs for those items. It falls into the category of sharable economies, a business sub-sector gaining increasing popularity during these times of an uncertain economy.

I have the fancy title of “Non-Profit Outreach Intern” which my supervisor thought would be an especially great fit for me since I’m interested in learning more about the non-profit sector. I’m currently reaching out to old contacts Zealous has tried to make partnerships with but for whatever reasons was unsuccessful. I have yet to secure a partnership, but I feel like my first one is close! I was concerned I would have to sound “sales-like” in pitching the company, but since the services Zealous offers are ideas I believe in and fully support it’s not like the greasy car salesman pitch at all. Since the idea of Zealous is generally new, the greatest challenge is convincing people that it’s worth trying out, something it would be hard to do if I myself didn’t believe in it.

I absolutely love the atmosphere of working in such a small group. It’s never been more than 4 people in the “office” (we’re currently working out of a non-profit) and the team at max is 10 people, including some who work out of state. There’s absolutely no busy work to do (something I hear my classmates complain about) and my first day I was thrown into organizing real contacts for the company. Every email, phone call and meeting I take with a charity or donor represents the face company something especially important since the company is still working to brand it’s name in the Chicagoland area.

I’m learning new software, talking to strangers about the company at length and taking on large projects all in my first three weeks. These are all things I was uncertain of before starting and have so much more comfort doing, even this early on. The work is hard, the days are long and the success is not always tangible in this sector of business, but I’m so very excited to be here doing meaningful work that has an impact.