Empower WNY - Social Media
Jackie Pennington - Spring 2023
Empower WNY, formerly Niagara Cerebral Palsy, is a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of services for people in the community, especially focusing on those who live with disabilities. Some of the services provided include a children’s academy, day habilitation, community housing, and job training. Empower even has opportunities for those with disabilities who can’t be hired by other companies to gain employment at one of its centers, such as at one of the bottle redemption centers. I began this internship with Empower in January of 2023 for the spring semester to receive course credit. I was highly excited when Dr. Barner reached out to me about the opportunity for a social media internship as social media is the field that I want to go into. I began my internship working with two staff members at Empower who were to guide me through the tasks I would be completing during my internship. We decided that I should have weekly meetings with them (at a minimum) to touch base on projects and get updates on what
new things were happening.
The main goal of this internship was to increase community awareness of Empower, as it is a small organization and many people do not know all of its services. Some of the relevant tasks I worked on during my time with the organization included helping mock up a social media calendar, creating flyers/posters advertising company events and news, interviewing people at different sites, and putting together videos of these interviews and more to highlight the services provided. I also attended some staff meetings, went on a tour of all the sites, and assisted with
any general administrative tasks as needed.
I used Canva to design the flyers and posters I created, so I have gotten plenty of experience on that platform. I used iMovie and Flixier to put together the videos using photos and videos taken on my phone, so I gained lots of experience with those platforms as well. Jotform Tables was the software used to create the social media calendar and I spent a lot of time working with that and learning how to use it. Facebook and LinkedIn were the two social media
platforms that my supervisors and I focused on, which allowed me to gain more knowledge on the workings of those two social media softwares.
Though my internship was filled mostly with positives, I did experience some drawbacks. Towards the end of the semester, when I had a little over a month left in the internship, the two supervisors I was working with had to suddenly leave their positions. This caused a lot of stress for me as I was concerned with how the progress I had made during the internship would be impacted and what the next moves would be. I was also sad to see them go as I had come to love
working with them and collaborating on creative projects together. Luckily, the two original supervisors were able to ‘transfer’ me to some others at the organization who were more than happy to have my help. Many of the projects that my original supervisors and I had come up with had to be put on hold and couldn’t be completed during the rest of my time with the organization, which was a bit disappointing as I had been very excited about them. Though it
was a bit different working with others who were temporarily filling in the roles of my supervisors who had worked with the social media of the organization, I was still able to use my skills and complete my internship.
Despite the unexpected change, there were many positives to this internship. I learned how to master numerous software and platforms, was able to experience firsthand what it is like to work in a real-world setting doing a job I love, gained many new connections, and met many wonderful people at an organization with a heart-warming mission. Another upside was that I learned a valuable skill that I can take with me into my future career. The change in supervisors and some of the upheaval it created within the organization actually allowed me to experience
what can happen in a real organization; sometimes staff changes occur and sometimes projects fall through. Because of this, I learned how to quickly change gears and work under different circumstances than expected, and this can happen quite a bit in the nonprofit world, especially with such a small company. I was still able to complete my internship and end on a positive note with the organization, which I am greatly thankful for.
I can most definitely picture myself doing this as a future career. My role at the organization evolved into a broader one, going from a social media focus to an overall marketing and communications specialization. I discovered that this is for certain what I want to do for my career. I have always been interested in social media marketing/management and this internship confirmed that. Although I believe that I would like to move out of the nonprofit world to work
with a larger organization, it was still a valuable experience that provided me with an abundance of learning opportunities.
To any student who may be considering this internship opportunity, I say go for it. This internship allowed me to gain hands-on experience in the real world doing something I love, and I got many positives out of it. My advice would be to always keep an open mind and be ready to go with the flow; especially in a nonprofit, things can switch up at the flip of a coin and you may feel lost and concerned. However, if you keep an open mind and continue on with a positive attitude, you will gain more knowledge and experience than you initially thought. Empower is filled with wonderful people, from the staff members to the people it services. I made so many wonderful connections and I always found myself with a smile on my face when working, whether that was alone or with others. The lessons I learned and the knowledge I gained during my internship will serve me well in my professional career and I am nothing but thankful to
Empower and all the people I worked with for helping me on my journey and setting me up for success. Overall, this was a wonderful experience.