Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation (KCCF) is a nonprofit based in New York City, founded in 2020 by 12-year-old cancer survivor Elana Koenig. KCCF works to heal the financial and emotional wounds of families struggling with childhood cancer, from diagnosis to beyond remission.
I started at KCCF in December 2020 as a social media volunteer, but thanks to the mobility opportunities offered by the startup’s fluid structure, my role quickly evolved into a vital leadership position. I go by the title Volunteer Marketing Director, but my responsibilities extend beyond my focus in marketing.
I am in charge of managing and directing every volunteer at KCCF, of which there are around 25. The organization is completely operated by volunteers, so that means I have a hand in every team in what amounts to be an informal, unpaid, but passionate “staff.” As the teams fluctuate, I advertise for positions and interview new volunteers.
I created the organization’s structure as it exists today with the following teams: Content Development, Marketing, Website, Outreach & PR, and Events & Fundraising. I completely reorganized Notion, KCCF’s virtual workspace, and Google Drive to accommodate remote task assignment.
Not only do I direct the daily activities of the volunteers, I also participate in high-level discussions with the Board of Directors and other pro bono collaborators. I’ve assisted in forming the organization’s strategy and goals, and I’ve written important documents, including our policy for family support and several grant applications.
I’m also the point of contact for partnerships and projects, such as KCCF’s recent case studies with NYU Stern and Axis Consulting.
The work I enjoy the most - and hope to focus on as we train volunteers who can dedicate more time to KCCF - is directing the organization’s marketing efforts. I’ve been working with the other volunteers to improve KCCF’s visibility, solidify our brand, and tell the organization’s story in the most compelling way possible.
We’ve made great progress so far, but there’s still so much potential to capitalize on. It’s truly a wonderful organization with a unique perspective and approach to a devastating issue.
Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) is a women-led anti-atrocities nonprofit based in Washington, DC. It was founded by Niemat Ahmadi, a survivor of the genocide in Darfur, to amplify the voices of survivors, empower women in the affected communities, and put an end to genocide in Darfur and around the world.
In December 2020, I was selected by Niemat for a spring marketing internship. For the past 5 months, I have worked to develop content for social media, amplify the organization’s message, increase brand visibility, and raise funds for DWAG’s unique projects. I have also been responsible for managing the $10K Google Ad Grant.
The most significant project from my time at Darfur was managing and marketing a sponsored online auction to raise funds for DWAG’s Women Empowering Women (WEW) Centers. It was called the Darfuri Women Empowerment Auction, and I was solely in charge of marketing the event. Overall, I raised $22,715 by promoting travel packages (provided by our sponsor AmFund) and donated pieces of art.
Other projects include designing graphics for Black History Month and producing videos using Adobe Premiere Pro for DWAG’s Women’s History Month campaign, called “Bold, Brave, and Beautiful: Stories of Resilience.” For that campaign, I was able to obtain a video interview with Ms. Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Factor-H is a nonprofit based in Los Angeles founded to diminish the suffering of families and communities affected by Huntington’s disease and living in poverty. The organization’s focus is helping HD-affected individuals in Latin America, where the largest clusters of the disease are found.
From December 2020 to June 2021, I worked remotely as their social media manager - managing all accounts, developing a social strategy, creating original content twice a week, and translating copy into Spanish. I was also responsible for editing the newsletter and creating promotional videos using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Over that 7-month period, the Instagram following grew organically by 54% and the Twitter following grew by 92%. Bringing attention to these communities is critical, as those living with HD in areas of extreme poverty are among the most vulnerable and stigmatized people in the world.
This photo and the photos in the thumbnail belong to Factor-H, but you can see my graphic design work for the organization here.
Take Back the Night Foundation (TBTNF) is a nonprofit dedicated to ending all forms of sexual violence through awareness events and initiatives. TBTNF was established in 2001 to honor the pioneers who first marched in the 1970s and demanded the basic right to feel safe walking the streets.
The foundation is completely operated by volunteers. I joined in December 2020 as a sponsorship volunteer. I work with Riti Bora, the Sponsorship Director, to find and reach out to potential sponsors. I have also been tasked with developing new campaigns and partnership proposals, including proposals for Uber, Christian Louboutin, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Additionally, I’ve helped the social media volunteers with graphic design and campaign planning. You can see my designs here.
In the fall of 2019, I wrote and planned content for Aglo, a retail intelligence startup in Sydney, Australia. I performed a range of tasks, from writing blog posts to creating automated email campaigns to developing entirely new procedures for social media and marketing. You can check out the blog here.
Mark Jordan, the CEO, trained me and trusted me to carry out all content development, ad campaigns, prospecting, and outbound marketing for Aglo. During my time there, I was also in charge of managing the website, which saw a considerable increase in traffic. The email campaigns had open rates between 49-88% and click rates between 22-84%.
Through my internship, I became very familiar with CRM software, SEO best practices, Google Analytics, Wordpress, B2B marketing tactics, and an international business setting.
I also conducted interviews with various industry professionals for Aglo’s blog, several of whom became prospective clients. I really enjoy connecting and talking to people, because it’s by far the best way to craft stories with the right audience in mind.
My time in Australia was invaluable to my development as a marketing professional. Not only did I learn many of the skills I still rely on today, but I also experienced a culture and landscape that transformed how I look at the world and relate to the people around me.
During my four years at UNC Chapel Hill, I was involved in Criminal Justice Awareness and Action (CJAA), an on-campus organization for youth outreach in the criminal justice system. I volunteered for two specific programs: the Durham Youth Home and Prison Books.
At the Durham Youth Home, I helped create and organize educational and recreational activities for adolescents awaiting trial. These activities ranged from self-esteem building exercises and trivia games to handmade construction and art projects.
The second program, Prison Books, sent books and zines to prisoners. I would receive letters, choose books that best fit the requests, and send them to individuals who were incarcerated in prisons with some of the worst living conditions. Again, I saw the importance of stories as not just entertainment but a way to deal with isolation.
I also did a lot of work for CJAA itself. I helped plan and organize Awareness Week, an annual week of events and presentations on campus to raise awareness about criminal justice issues. On the left, I painted an advertisement for Mariposa and the Saint, a fantastic one-woman play we hosted based on real letters written by Sara Fonseca in solitary confinement.
Early in 2019, I enrolled in a post-graduate content development course by Experience Lab at UC Berkeley. The first part of the program was an online course. Through the online course, which took place in the summer, I learned about inbound marketing, storytelling, and design thinking via the curriculum’s rigorous modules.
As part of the online course, I pursued and received a certification from Hubspot in inbound marketing, as well as a certification in Google Analytics.
The second part of the program was an in-person meetup, hosted at Berkeley’s extension campus in San Francisco. During the meetup, we worked with real startups to perform content audits and create content calendars. We also worked on app ideation and project proposals. The second image is from my group’s brainstorm for an app that helps people decide where to eat faster.
The third and final part of the program involved putting our newly developed skills to use during an internship abroad. I interviewed and received an offer from Aglo, a B2B retail intelligence startup in Sydney, Australia. Read more about my Aglo internship here.
This content development course with Experience Lab was a pivotal moment for me, one where I finally found a place to channel my longstanding interest in storytelling into a career. I also met some wonderful, like-minded individuals who enriched my time in both San Francisco and Sydney. They’ve been an incredibly supportive part of my network ever since.
Hubsty is a startup that provides cafes and restaurants in Sydney with an affordable marketplace for consumables. It was co-founded by one of the members of the Aglo team, Ricardo Yoshioka. He wanted to use the Aglo app and network of shoppers to promote Hubsty to potential customers.
I helped edit and refine the copy for the procedures that shoppers would see on the app. To make sure the procedures were as clear as possible, I tested them myself. I visited about a dozen cafes over several lunch breaks and talked to managers as a representative of Hubsty.
Each time, I identified potential issues and areas of confusion. The procedures have been launched on the app now. So far, Aglo’s network of shoppers have been able to seamlessly incorporate the cafe visits into their daily routines.
