My Nonprofit Reviews
kirasface
Review for Foundation for Sustainable Development, Oakland, CA, USA
FSD puts all of its energy toward making sure that its interns have a positive experience in the field, that they have the support they need to be successful, that it is receiving constant feedback on how to improve its support and placement services, and that its local partner organizations and the communities they serve are involved and invested in the process. My experience with FSD changed my perspectives on a lot of things, and I am thankful that they are around to provide this opportunity for collaboration and growth.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
the appreciate of people in the community who have seen the results of proactive past interns.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
offer more extensive support to the partner organizations to help them with the stresses of supporting interns and to help mitigate the waves of financial input and external influence as interns come, stay and go again. I think interns are rather demanding on their host organizations, and there may not always be mechanisms in place to support them effectively.
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
the personal growth I achieved.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
understanding, supportive and motivated. The fellow volunteers were just like me - young and trying to find their way through the confusion of international community development.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
expand to serve more communities, provide more extensive local support to its volunteers, develop its educational materials to help interns better learn how to successfully implement projects, provide a greater base of funding for grant proposals so that more than $1000 could be requested, and help to fund the volunteers so that no one is inhibited by the cost of the program.
Ways to make it better...
the local organization I worked with better understood the problems of culture shock and how to help interns find their way around the organization.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
differences in business practices between Westerners and locals in the field that may slow down progress on a project for a short-term intern.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2008
