Force of Nature - View from an intern

Below are the words of Anisha Menon, who spent 2 weeks as an intern with FON

If I’m being honest, before my two weeks here, all I knew…or rather, remembered, about Force of Nature was that amazing concert back in 2005 and how the money for my ticket went to tsunami victims, but little else.So when I was looking for experience in a non-government organisation, and someone suggested interning here I immediately agreed. What was the worst I could have to do, meet the Black Eyed Peas?

So I started here at the easy-to-get-to-if-you-know-Raju’s-restaurant office with a whole two weeks in front of me. The office is quiet, but that’s not surprising when you realise that behind the high-profile and not as high-profile fundraising events that they organize, the nuclear Force of Nature team consists of seven people, who all just work really hard!

I was told by Richard about the various aspects of Force of Nature, and of any Non-profit organisation I guess and how these can be divided into fund development, field development, grants and communications. Me, I worked with Anni on fund development during my two weeks at FON and saw how important (and not easy!) it was to organise an event and put plans into action, and how you need sponsors, and generally people to believe in your idea if it’s going to become real.

I was also set the task of planning my own event for FON, and I had a lot of fun coming up with different ideas, choosing venues, local artists for performances and such like but as Anni reminded me, that was the easy, more enjoyable part of the process!

So even after my two weeks at Force of Nature I still have loads to learn. Before I started, about two weeks ago, Nori told me that to her, experience in the Non-profit Organisation world was invaluable regardless of what career path you choose. At sixteen, with no solid career path ahead of me, I am going to agree completely with her, and I think a lot of it is down to you guys at FON who’ve made my two weeks at FON what you wouldn’t normally expect from work experience; chilled out, fun, and overall just great.