It has officially been one week since I began my GFUP summer fellowship with ALIGN NY. This week entailed meeting with my direct supervisor and introducing myself over Zoom to the greater team during the weekly staff meeting. During each of these touch-points, everyone at ALIGN has made me feel welcomed, and they’ve set clear goals for a mutually beneficial fellowship period.
So far, I believe the culture fit is spot on. ALIGN clearly maintains an inclusive environment where diversity, justice, and equity are important. I noticed right away that the majority of the employees there include their pronouns in their Zoom names, and despite the small size of the team, there is a considerably wide representation of gender and ethnic/racial identity. These indicators meant a lot to me as someone with years of experience in LGBTQ+ and JEDI advocacy, and who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition to being welcomed warmly by the folx at ALIGN, my fellowship supervisor has also established an open line of communication so that we can discuss any issues that arise during the summer. We also had a candid discussion regarding her expectations and my strengths and limitations, which has allayed most of my anxieties related to starting the new position as a fellow. Overall, the tone of our staff meetings are encouraging and supportive, and I feel that my supervisor will be an attentive advocate for me within ALIGN and its climate coalition at large.
As the summer progresses, I’m looking forward to building confidence and asking questions freely during staff meetings. I’m also looking forward to engaging with everyone on the team, in addition to my direct supervisor, even if it’s in simple ways throughout the week. I get the sense that everyone at ALIGN is extremely busy — it’s a small team with a large workload — so stepping forward, speaking up, and sending polite reminders to request attention to my work will be instrumental.
Great to hear things are off to a good start! I think your recognition that folks are busy and your plan to make sure you are stepping forward and speaking up as appropriate to ensure you stay connected and get the feedback you need is spot on. Especially important during the remote environment. I look forward to hearing more in our check in.