Emily Zaffiro, a graduate intern at Collectivity shares her thoughts on her role and the work she does

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Emily Zaffiro and I am originally from Milwaukee, WI. I received my undergraduate degree in Sociology at Grinnell College before moving to the Twin Cities to continue my education at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs for my Masters Degree in Public Policy. In my free time, I paint, knit, and most recently, have gotten into biking. 

Please describe your involvement with clients while at Collectivity.

My very first day at Collectivity, January 7, 2020, I did not spend a single minute within the actual office. Instead I met with one of our clients, Minnesota Education Equity Partnership (MnEEP), and drove 3 hours away to Marshall, MN to help run a half day long conference attended by many educators and leaders, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Of course the involvement does not just end there. It also is sitting in on meetings, asking questions, and urging clients to critically think about what their end goals are for their organization. In this way it feels as though Collectivity is an extension of our clients, and I am an extension of that. 

How is your work at Collectivity now setting you up for your future career?

Collectivity has aligned my internship activity with my long term goals and has developed new strengths and capabilities in me. I have always had a goal of working within the Educational Policy Sphere, and at first I was unsure of what Collectivity was going to do to help me in this endeavour. However through conversations with both Scott and Shehla, we developed a game plan for me to get the most out of the intern experience as I possibly could. This means that for every client we get that works in Education, I get put on the team to help them reach their goals. I am able to do further research into the areas that inspire me, as well as work on the areas that give me pause. For example, I am not the best writer. Knowing this, Shehla pushed me to write this piece to strengthen my writing skills. When there are tasks I struggle with, or ones that I really love to do, the team at Collectivity hears me and pushes me farther than I ever thought possible in an internship experience. 

Tell us about your work regarding teacher equity.

I always knew that I wanted to go into the educational sphere of influence, specifically on the policy side. My priorities in the sphere were funding and school choice models, with teacher equity as something I knew was important but not a focus in my mind. I figured that once we created a better sphere of influence, then everything else would sort itself out as well. Boy, was I wrong. My work regarding teacher equity stems from MnEEP’s TeachMN20/20 movement, as I spend most of my time with this particular client. I work on organizing meetings, over ten within the past year, as well as conversations with a number of community partners that see themselves in this sphere. All of the conversations and convenings have given me a deeper understanding regarding the complex issues that are in play in the education policy space. By understanding this segment of the overall educational sphere, I am better able to place myself and my future work. 

Any last comments or thoughts?

It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to work alongside the team at Collectivity within the past 10 months, or so. We all come from a variety of backgrounds, be it private or non profit, as well as over a variety of locations. All of these pieces allow for us to address the issues brought about by our clients in a variety of ways to get to the best end results. There is no other team that I would like to spend my time with.