The Ethiopian Community Development Council

This summer I was given the opportunity to intern with the Ethiopian Council for Community Development as the resource development intern. In this position, I work directly under the resource development manager. The resource development manager is in charge of not only the grant writing and financial resources but also the interns along with volunteer programs. ECDC is run by a board of directors, what drew me to work with ECDC is the diversity of leaders and managers. Directly under the board of directors is the resource manager and department heads. The organization is structured in this way, so it is easier for the department heads and the resource manager to speak directly to the board with issues that concern and impact them.  The Ethiopian Community Development Council is a part of a larger organization called the African Community Council. Even with various groups and departments, ECDC is a very close-knit community. From my workload, I have done grant research for other areas such as the Denver and Texas location. There are no senior-level positions besides on the board of directors. The board of directors has levels of seniority and this dictates who makes decisions depending on the department. I intern with the resource development manager, this department consists of four people total including myself, because we are such a small department it allows for open communication and coordination. With the current pandemic, an office dynamic and interaction is very difficult to analyze because of all the teleworking. A way to describe the work environment is very direct and organized, even with the current pandemic the transition into telework has not been a challenge to ECDC. In addition to the direct nature of the work environment, there are monthly meetings where departments are speaking with the board in order to express concerns, the progress that has been made, and how the board of directors can be of help to the department. As I previously mentioned I work with the resource development manager and we speak to the board about grants that are pending, and we highlight the aspects of the grants that need to be done by the directors.