Intern Update

This month has been a busy one! Not only has school started, but also we have been hard at work planning events and research for the semester at Anzar.

I am planning, with the help of Danielle, an Interfaith Holiday Celebration, which will be held on November 21. We are contacting several religious student organizations at the University of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas to provide speakers who will talk about the importance of religious tolerance. We thought it would be appropriate to talk about the similarities of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism during the holiday season. We are also partnering with my choir, the University of Pittsburgh Women's Choral Ensemble to provide music that represents different cultures around the world. We have contacted other performance groups on campus and hopefully will be able to partner with them as well.

On the research front, I will be working on some sort of bigger report that will be completed by the end of the spring term. It will have to do with nonprofit success measurements and/or the shift in nonprofit models to a more business model because of funding resources and the changing economic climate. There is a lot of information to gather on these topics so my exact focus has not been pinned down as of yet.

I am excited to be working with Anzar and really looking forward to seeing our events through fruition!

Fall 2009 Intern - Barbara Ballard

My name is Barbara Ballard and I am one of the interns for Anzar Exchange in the 2009-10 school year. I am from Bethlehem, PA, and am now a junior at the University of Pittsburgh. I am majoring in Sociology and Anthropology, and minoring in Social Work. I hope to be involved with non-profit administration, specifically development (fundraising, events, etc) after I graduate.

I was attracted to Anzar because I was intrigued by its multi-faceted missions and initiatives. I also liked that it was a young non-profit run by young people, and that the internship positions would be more free form and a place where I would be able to hone my skills in the non-profit world by doing and not just watching. I am hoping that throughout this year, I will be able to help Anzar raise funds by planning events such as the bingo night and perhaps a silent auction, as well as plan events for the community to help them become educated about foreign cultures.