Reflection 1: Friday, June 4th (Anna Marston – Council for Court Excellence)

Category: Organizational Culture

The Council for Court Excellence (CCE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic organization based in Washington, DC that envisions a more equitable justice system. I started my remote internship for CCE on Tuesday, June 1st, and spent the majority of the first week getting to know the staff members and the other two interns that I will be working closely with. Because my first week was spent primarily learning about CCE and its staff, I wanted to focus on the organizational culture I have observed so far. We use Microsoft Teams to communicate, with one large group chat called “CCE Staff.” People communicate formally and informally in this message chain, sending GIFs but also making comments about professional projects and collaborative efforts. On my first day, I attended a full staff meeting to introduce the new interns to the staff and vice versa. While each staff member is highly accredited in their field and very professional in their work, they also know how to make each other laugh and act as friends just as much as colleagues. I think this candid nature of CCE is a huge strength of the organizational culture as it brings the employees closer together in fighting for such deeply important issues of injustice in DC. On my third day, I attended my first biweekly “CCE Social Hour” virtually as a chance to connect with the staff since being in-office isn’t an option yet. This casual and lighthearted social hour also highlighted the strengths of CCE I mentioned above. In an advocacy space where not the most lighthearted issues are discussed every day, this is a great way for the staff to check in on each other’s well-being. I don’t yet see any weaknesses in communication–other than the fact that the platform is virtual and there are fewer opportunities to connect with staff; this might be something I have to look closer at as the internship continues. There are six full-time staff members: the Executive Director, Deputy Director, Policy Counsel, Communications Manager, Development Manager, and Operations Associate. The context of CCE as a nonprofit, public policy think tank, ensures that each staff member has a unique leadership role with specific focuses. Each staff member contributes to one or more of the four committees (Youth Justice, Civil Justice, Criminal Justice, and Justice Education) and interacts regularly with the large Board of Directors. Therefore, the position of CCE in the advocacy space of DC gives each staff member a unique voice in the relevant issues they are passionate about and requires the staff to be attentive to DC justice issues.