New Places, New Ideas

Over the course of this semester in DC, we have heard from fascinating speakers and explored new spaces on wonderful site visits. Site visits give us the opportunity to see the nuts and bolts of working at an organization and allow us to see if we could envision ourselves there one day. Our first site visit was to the US Green Building Council (USGBC) where we heard from two William & Mary alums about their paths to working at USGBC. USGBC is a nonprofit- dedicated to encouraging the creation of green buildings using a unique market-driven approach. Then, we went on a tour of their amazing workplace. As you might imagine in an organization dedicated to fostering sustainable building practices everything had been thoughtfully designed to follow environmentally friendly principles. Beyond being green, the space was designed with the employees in mind including a full-service kitchen. The work spaces seemed very calm and peaceful, and each desk had access to natural light. There was even a waterfall in the entrance of the space. Needless to say, no one wanted to leave including our professors.

Another week, we heard from the Project Executive of the National Mall Plan and the Executive Architect of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. I had never seen the MLK Memorial before and it was a sight to see and reflect on it. We learned a great deal about the Mall and all of the wonderful things on it. Since our class is focused on social movements and social change, it was fitting we visited the Mall, the site of many protests and rallies.

A few Fridays ago, we visited the Center for Community Change, an organization devoted to social movements across the nation and beyond. We heard from multiple staff members about how they arrived at their job and all the work they do to foster community change. One person organizes communities to advocate change while the other leads large-scale immigration campaigns. We even heard from a William & Mary graduate about her work there on communications. We also learned about the financial side of running a nonprofit from creating a budget to raising money. Everyone was welcoming and encouraging our ideas and questions. Hearing from so many staff members reminded me of all the work that goes into creating meaningful change in a community. Everyone left inspired to start their own efforts to change their local communities.

I have truly enjoyed all the site visits we have gone on, and cannot wait to share our last one at Amnesty International!

-Jackie Borman