Whirlwind!

The past two weeks have been quite eventful - there's so many exciting things that I want to share with you from my recent experiences. I've been to NYC on my service trip, participated in a great networking breakfast hosted by BCCJ and attended the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference yesterday. Those are just the highlights!

God's Love We Deliver, the organization we partnered with in NYC, was phenomenal. One of the most striking things about the organization was that we were told on the first day that although this is a nonprofit, it is run like a company. Throughout the week, I heard employees referring to GLWD as their company or the company.

The organization seemed very efficient and well-run, from what I could learn in a few days working there. The employees were happy and committed - mostly everyone I met had been there for several years. It seems to me a perfect example of our Net Impact motto of using business tools for good. In this case, GLWD seems to have taken some of the best practices from the private sector and implemented them successfully in their nonprofit organization.

Not only was I impressed with the operations of the organization, but the employees and other volunteers were inspirational and the service they provided was high quality and high impact. We spend hours chopping and cooking fresh vegetables. I saw the chefs making their own sauces and baking desserts from scratch. If I remember correctly, something like 29% of GLWD's clients have special dietary needs, which are accommodated on a daily basis. The scale of the operation happening down in GLWD's kitchens and the amount of customization that takes place is more than impressive.

And last but not least, my Brandeis group was great! They were a fun group of students to work with for the week, and all of them impressed me in some way at some point during the trip. Their idealism and enthusiasm was contagious. This trip was a great refresher and a reminder of why all of the work I'm doing in my classes is important: so that I can take the skills and knowledge that I'm gaining and apply them in organizations as remarkable as GLWD so that they can continue to innovate and serve the people who rely on them each day.

More on the other exciting, inspiring events of the past week later!