The hidden secrets of North Philadelphia
I’ve always been passionate about the media/advertising industry and giving back to my community. During my time at Temple, it was challenging to find an internship that suited my passions and career goals. After a long time, I was able to find an internship at Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative as a Communications and Brand Strategy and Research Intern.
The Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative is a nonprofit organization that provides Philadelphia residents free career and professional development opportunities like informational sessions, networking events, and many more. My main tasks for the internship have been creating social media posts, a weekly newsletter, and my focus group project.
I typically design flyers for social media and create captions for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I made flyers for any upcoming events that the Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative usually has, like the Workforce Webinar Series and Employer Spotlight. The weekly newsletter I worked on was for OWL Collective Weekly Newsletter. The newsletter provides employment, education, training, and community opportunities for North Philadelphia residents. But the focus groups were the number one thing I am most thankful for and enjoy doing the most.
One day, I met up with one of the people who hosted the Workforce Webinar Series to discuss social media content. During our conversation, it was brought up that barely any people in North Philadelphia came to the Workforce Webinar Series. When the host of the workforce webinar series mentioned that many people weren’t coming to the Workforce Webinar Series, I immediately wanted to know why. This caused me to be interested in doing a research project about the Workforce Webinar Series.
With my supervisor’s approval, I began working on the Workforce Webinar Series project with two focus groups and a survey. Throughout this project, I was able to cover insights on why North Philadelphia Residents weren’t attending the Workforce Webinar Series and how we could improve the Workforce Webinar Series to make it more accessible to North Philadelphia residents. This project made me realize that the North Philadelphia community faces many difficult challenges like finances, transportation, self-doubt, education, and even job requirements that prevent them from achieving their goals. With the Workforce Webinar Series help, they can assist those in need to help achieve their career and professional goals.
North Philadelphia is not the community that the media claim it to be; it’s a community filled with families, full-time workers, and students trying to live their own lives and achieve their goals. Overall, I love interning at Lenfest North Philadelphia Workforce Initiative. My one piece of advice would be to never give up on finding an internship that aligns with your interests and goals – it may seem challenging, but it’s worth it in the end. During this internship, I learned many skills I will take with me throughout my career. However, the one thing I will take with me is my greater appreciation and love for the North Philadelphia community.
