After stumbling across For Here, Please on a Facebook post, I was immediately drawn to its mission of moving East Bay businesses towards zero-waste practices and encouraging the Oakland entrepreneur community to adopt greener policies such as offering employees equitable wages and sourcing from small local vendors. I quickly contacted the founder, Vanessa Pope, and after an email exchange, she invited me to visit her at the For Here, Please Oakland storefront and office (MudLab) for an eye-opening conversation in which I committed to an unpaid internship. I began working closely with Vanessa in the MudLab storefront to develop action plans for local businesses seeking to adopt ethical and sustainable practices. My daily responsibilities included community outreach, organizational tasks (including tracking past projects and the progression of our current initiatives), promotion, and social media management. I have played a key role in implementing low-waste business models in seven downtown Oakland businesses by communicating sustainability goals directly to store owners, tailoring material quantities, creating consumer-driven incentive models, and conducting needs-assessments for optimal program productivity. Interning for For Here, Please has enhanced my understanding of business relations and given me exposure to practices that motivate consumers to engage in conservation behaviors.
This internship entailed upwards of 20 hours throughout my Junior year, and I met so many business owners and Oakland community members in the process. Overall, it was an extremely rewarding experience and I hope to return to Mudlab soon!
This internship entailed upwards of 20 hours throughout my Junior year, and I met so many business owners and Oakland community members in the process. Overall, it was an extremely rewarding experience and I hope to return to Mudlab soon!