Changemaker Catalyst Award recipient Katie Gervase is a senior at Tulane who spent her summer as a Grant Research Intern for Liberty’s Kitchen in New Orleans. Katie is majoring in Economics and Social Policy, and is minoring in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Political Science.

While taking my Introduction to Business class for my Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship minor, I analyzed a social enterprise’s business model as part of a semester-long case study. The organization that I spent my time researching was Liberty’s Kitchen, based here in New Orleans. As I learned more about their multifaceted programming, I became invested in their mission. This is why I reached out regarding a summer internship in their office.

My summer as a Grant Research Intern with Liberty’s Kitchen has been an informative and enriching one. Liberty’s Kitchen is a socially innovative non-profit that provides unemployed and out-of-school youth with professional development, skills training, and social support services to achieve their visions of success. Their work also addresses the prevalence of food deserts and poverty throughout the city through a collaborative corner-store initiative with TopBox Food to provide affordable, accessible, and nutritious food to low-income neighborhoods.

As an intern, I monitored and evaluated programs, researchd best practices to strengthen the organization’s knowledge base, and identified partnership prospects and potential new donors to enhance funding opportunities. By identifying and working with potential donors and community partners, I developed my ability to communicate the mission, strengths, and needs of Liberty’s Kitchen and their alignment with their partners. This is a translatable skill that will serve me in future employment in both the nonprofit and private sectors, particularly as it relates to identifying and persuading stakeholders, funders, or investors in a project.

When I joined Liberty’s Kitchen, my supervisor made it clear that she wants this experience to be as beneficial to my personal and professional growth as it is for the organization. We had a candid conversation about what I hope to get out of this internship, specifically in relation to building specific skills or working in areas of interest. This conversation immediately set a foundation of open communication that we continued throughout the summer and also made me feel like a valued member of the team.

One of my primary goals was to develop my technical writing skills for professional settings. My supervisor tasked me with many projects that give me autonomy and worked toward this goal. I have written multiple letters of interest (LOI) to potential funders and memos to existing funders about our recent programming. I am very appreciative of the opportunity to take charge of drafting correspondence with stakeholders and funders. After I sent her drafts of my work, she would respond within a few hours with any edits or corrections. This back-and-forth not only gave me the chance to develop my writing skills, but also allowed me to contribute concrete deliverables for the organization. As I draft various forms of correspondence, I am learning how to communicate information to different audiences and with different intentions.

One of my long-term projects is to compile and organize research from various reports and journal articles that are frequently used in our grant applications. Because of the multi-faceted work of Liberty’s Kitchen, we often need to tailor our applications based on the interests of the individual potential funder. A foundation that funds programs related to food access requires an application completely different than a funder that focuses on job-training initiatives. Therefore, when I am not drafting correspondences or conducting research on specific upcoming funding opportunities, I am reading relevant sources and pulling statistics that support our argument for the need of our programming. This matrix of research that I am compiling is something that my supervisor has wanted to build for months but has not had the time. This project is one that I started from scratch, which makes me feel like I am contributing something valuable to my team.

I also enjoyed volunteering at our monthly Guest Chef Night. For this event, a chef from a local restaurant donates their time and expertise to prepare a three-course meal with our trainees. Community members can purchase tickets to the event and all of the proceeds go back to our programs. As a volunteer, I helped set up the café, run food to guests, meet the chef, and listen to program participants and alumni share a few words about what Liberty’s Kitchen has meant to them. While the majority of my work occurs in a behind-the-scenes capacity, this was a fun opportunity to interact more directly with our primary program.

This internship at Liberty’s Kitchen has been a growth process because of the amount of independence that I have in the position. I have been tasked with multiple ongoing projects that I must balance with short-term priorities. With this autonomy, I am more of a self-starter than I was at the beginning of this internship. I feel more confident in my ability to get straight to work and know what to do. I also am more self-assured in communicating professionally with supervisors and colleagues. I have developed a rapport with my coworkers, specifically at our “family meals” which are when we gather every day to eat lunch. I have been truly welcomed into the Liberty’s Kitchen family. In fact, my experience has been so positive that I plan to stay on into the fall semester.