Gloria Ampadu-Darko: Reflecting on My Experience as the 2021–2022 NLC Menino Fellow

By Gloria Ampadu-Darko

The National League of Cities (NLC) Menino Fellowship was undoubtedly a very special experience for me. When I first came across the opportunity, I immediately jumped on it. I was ecstatic about everything the Fellowship offered. The chance to carry out a self-chosen, guided research project, the chance to intern at a distinguished national non-profit organization that helps underserved communities all over the country, and the chance to live in Washington, D.C. during that internship were all elements of the Fellowship that drew me in and made me want to apply. I’m happy to say that all the excitement and joy I felt when I officially received the Fellowship never waned throughout my experience. It was an opportunity that exceeded my expectations.

During the first part of the Fellowship in which I had the opportunity to carry out a directed study, I was originally nervous because a directed study was new territory for me. However, Associate Professor Katherine Levine Einstein provided me with excellent guidance and help along every step of the process. Initially, she gave me the space to voice out all my ideas about the topic of my research paper, then she workshopped with me to help me hone in on a specific topic. For a person like me that usually has a number of ideas and may have trouble figuring out the best one, this was incredibly helpful. Not only that, but to guide me in researching my topic, Professor Einstein selected books, readings, and articles that she knew would inspire me. Eventually my research paper came to be a contemporary comparison of the levels of socioeconomic inclusivity in Seaport, Boston and Midtown, Atlanta in regards to housing affordability and housing developments. In the end, I produced a research paper that explored the pertinent issue of diversity and inclusion in Boston, an area sometimes referred to as America’s most racist city, and Atlanta, the city dubbed as the “Black Mecca.” Being a Black woman raised in Atlanta and currently living in Boston, this topic was very meaningful to me. It felt great to be encouraged and well guided throughout this research and writing process.

While I enjoyed my directed study, for me the main event of the Fellowship was definitely moving to Washington, D.C. to intern at the NLC Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute). I had not had much previous internship experience before NLC, so I viewed this as my first opportunity to truly get a taste for what it’s like in a professional work environment. In addition, I was able to get a firsthand look at the meaningful work that non-profit organizations do day-to-day and the impact of that hard work.

NLC made a great first impression right from the start. On my first day in the office, a colleague, Sharie Wood, greeted me with open arms and a friendly smile. She showed me around the office and made sure I had all the materials I needed. Then she went above and beyond and took me out to lunch that day! This was the type of kindness and warm welcome that I received from everyone at the YEF Institute. I never felt like a nameless intern that no one bothered to meet. So many of my colleagues took the time out of their day to personally welcome me to NLC and offer to meet and chat. This initial welcome made me feel so valued.

When it came to the specific teams that I joined, once again, I was received with open arms. We first had introductory meetings to get to know each other, then meetings to talk about the work that the teams do and what role I would play in helping them carry out that work through the projects I would be assigned, and finally we would have weekly check in meetings to discuss how my assignments and projects were going. I was never assigned work without having a discussion about it with my colleagues, and I was never left in the dark about the work I was supposed to do. In fact, my colleagues always made sure to let me know that they were available if I had questions. I very much appreciated the way I was included and my input was encouraged and valued. I was not treated as simply an intern, but as a true employee and colleague.

Besides my colleagues being intentional about creating a workplace culture in which inclusion and respect were valued, the work that I got to do for the different teams was important and meaningful. It is a known fact that sometimes interns are only given busy work that other employees don’t want to do. This was not the case at NLC. Even as an intern, I directly contributed to the projects my teams were engaged in. Some of the work I got to do included helping implement a grant program that awarded small southern communities with micro-grants in order to carry out initiatives that would positively impact those communities. As part of this work, I contributed a blog post to the NLC website, “NLC’s Micro-Grant Program: Creating Positive Change in Southern Cities.” Another amazing project that I got to carry out involved researching how different organizations and entities implemented systems change frameworks. With this project, I got to present my findings to my colleagues twice, first at smaller meeting and then then at an all staff meeting. Both presentations were very successful because it sparked meaningful dialogue between my colleagues and they expressed that they enjoyed the presentation. Not only that, but my presentation helped the YEF Institute as a whole in thinking about how they wanted to measure their impact and implement a systems change framework.

When I walked into NLC’s office on my first day, I didn’t have many expectations for my internship experience and what I would get out of it. But after working with the amazing people at the organization for only three months, I now have high expectations for my future internships. My experience with NLC and the YEF Institute was so positive that it set the bar for what a meaningful, impactful, and positive internship experience should look like. For that, I am extremely grateful to have received this opportunity.

Learn more about the NLC Menino Fellowship.