Roxy Allen -

October 29, 2010 success No comments

Julien Smith challenged his readers this morning to add to his list of ways to train in becoming child-like. Here are two secrets I’ve learned in my twenties.

Make friends
People with at least 3 close friends at work are 88% more likely to be satisfied with their lives. When we were kids it was easy to make friends. We actually put effort into it. It does take time – to ask someone out to dinner, go for a walk in the park, or hang out at your family’s cabin for the weekend. It might be uncomfortable at times as you adapt to their habits and re-learn social graces. But it will actually make your other relationships stronger – if you do not have friends at work, make friends outside of work to give you something to look forward to at the end of the day. Go beyond hanging out with your wife’s friends. You will make your relationship with your significant other better if you have mates to give you a new perspective on yourself and relationships in general.

Wear Chucks with dress pantsThis works especially if you are young and work in a rather casual workplace. But what if you were an executive and wore them? Why not? I wear them all the time with black and khaki pants. They send the message that you are comfortable, approachable, and playful. Try it on a Friday and see what happens.

What Black Nonprofit Professionals Need

September 23, 2010 careers, non-profits, Voices of the Sector No comments

We had a great discussion tonight at the Voices of the Sector community dialogue with young black nonprofit professionals, hosted by YNPNdc.

Two huge themes emerged – 1) The need for mentors and 2) Resources

Mentors

We need people who believe in our talents and can promote our unique skills within our organizations. Professional development still has a lot to do with who you know and entree into leadership roles.

Resources

In order to get jobs in certain sectors, like international development, students and young professionals start out with unpaid internships. Unfortunately, many people cannot afford to go without an income for that long, blocking us out of certain jobs. This was actually one of the hugest issues of the night – how can we build our careers in nonprofit jobs that do not pay anything at first? Where are resources for scholarships?

The discussion brought up some great issues, and the extremely intelligent members of YNPNdc challenged us on the leadership team to continue now with solutions. We heard you! In January we will have a large cross-community event that will bring us all together to discuss what we’ve learned and how to move forward.

What a great event!

A Young Professionals Billionaires Pledge

September 20, 2010 giving, non-profits No comments

Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009

You may have heard about the Billionaires Pledge, a call to the world’s wealthiest individuals to give away a majority of their wealth to philanthropy. I think that’s a great idea. I’m not a billionaire, though, so is there a club for the rest of us? Well, some friends and I thought there should be, and we recently launched Givr, a movement about giving. You can pledge to give more than you gave last year – more time, service, money, advice, writing, or anything generous.

Working in the nonprofit sector, I used to feel that my daytime vocation is sufficient for giving back. But then I read Seth Godin’s post about how insurance salesmen should buy their own insurance to 1) show they believe in their product, and 2) understand what it feels like to buy their product.

I believe in the nonprofit sector’s ethic to give without expecting anything in return for personal benefit but for social benefit and since I’ve been finding excuses to give more often. Over the summer I gave what I could to the Haiti and Pakistani relief efforts, as well as $25 for a friend’s charity bike ride and a day of service for 9/11 with the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of DC (YNPNdc). I now understand the experience of being a funder, or philanthropist, more directly. This helps me out professionally and personally.

We young professionals working in nonprofits may not be able to give billions, but we can give collectively adds up. You can take the pledge and join other young professionals in a greater commitment to giving here: http://givr.razoo.com/ and fan us on Facebook.

How to Win a Nobel Peace Prize

August 14, 2010 success No comments

Obama woke up at 6 am, same time I woke up, and someone told him, “Oh, hey, you won a Nobel Peace Prize.”

When I saw the news on Yahoo, I was elated – good for him!

Then several of my friends commented that he didn’t deserve it. What has he done? He’s too young. Hasn’t been in office long enough. He’s stealing my freedom. All talk no walk.

Why is his win so contentious?

The reason is the reason he won.

According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee he won for the creation of a “new climate in international politics.”

A “climate” is an intangible thing – it’s like an X factor thing – you can’t teach it or describe it or make it happen, it’s either there or it isn’t.

It’s really hard to tell why he won or should win. Does that matter now that he has?

When an opportunity comes it is how you roll with it that counts.

Julien Smith says you can’t even prepare for when “it” happens. You can only adapt to it.

Even Obama himself thought it was premature, but he’s not downplaying it or making an overly huge deal about it.

We will see how he adapts.

Gen Y Assistants are Awesome

May 13, 2010 Uncategorized No comments

I loved this article in Fast Company about Gen Y Assistants. We really are amazing!

An excerpt:

1. She brings up things that never occur to me. As much as I study Gen Y and correspond with them frequently online, there’s something completely different about having a Gen Y-er physically in my presence. Since she’s fresh out of college, she brings a totally different perspective about my work and the world. By digging into her experiences and hearing those of her friends and peers, I widen my view of what’s important to her generation. For my business and many other businesses today, Gen Y is either our entire customer base or a large and ever-growing percentage of it. No matter what your business, gathering Gen Y input is not only a good idea; it’s become essential.

Advice on Landing a Job at a Non-Profit

April 8, 2010 Uncategorized No comments

Landing a job at a non-profit is quite different from landing one at a for-profit.

Willy Frazen was generous enough to let me guest-post on his blog, One Day One Job, a great resource for job seekers right out of college. The post gives 5 pieces of advice about how to land a job at a non-profit, based on my experience.

Willy was frustrated with the job search process when he graduated, so he created One Day One Job to help other job seekers find organizations where they would be a great fit and could feel great about supporting.

On weekends, One Day One Job covers non-profit jobs exclusively, so you want to be sure to check it out.

Willy also created One Day One Internship, which can help you find a successful internship placement.