Growing Into the Role

During my interview with Tasnim Jahan, the project director of MAPS, I asked her what skills she wants interns to develop and how she balances her responsibilities as project director with the growth and sustainability of MAPS. After our discussion, I understood that a primary goal and takeaway of this internship is the knowledge we’ll gain and responsibility we’ll share. Learning about inequities in our community is one thing, and the next step is to sincerely give back to the community. 

As the project director, Tasnim works with all staff members, interns, and volunteers in MAPS. And with budget cuts to DEI programs, this year is an entirely new hurdle to jump. To account for the amount of time Tasnim had and to better meet the team’s needs, she combines the individual office hours from previous years and has longer meetings with separate groups of staff. Without a secure funding source and without the previous monetary compensation, Tasnim is using flexibility to her and our team’s advantage to maintain the sustainability of MAPS. Funding or not, the goal is to serve our mentees and advance academic opportunities.

The skill of being insightful and taking responsibility is something I thought I had in my daily life, but in sites it takes a different form. I’m much more cognizant of what I’m saying and how I’m impacting our students, because I want to support them as much as possible. And at the organizational level, taking my time and asking questions while learning about the history of these neighborhoods and cities is how I try to pay attention and give back.