Welcome Small Family Fellow, Christian Knightly
The Freedom Cafe is grateful and excited to be working with Christian for his summer fellowship. Here’s a bit about Christian, the fellowship, projects goals and why he pursued working with The Freedom Cafe.
What is the Small Family Fellowship:
The Small Family Fellowship is an internship/fellowship program provided by the Department of Civic and Community engagement of the University of New Hampshire. The program is new and serves to provide opportunities for students to use their learned skills from classes and apply them to a variety of local groups, businesses, and organizations. The fellowship allows students to combine their studies and passions with community service and practical work experience. In addition to the specific skills I develop through my role at The Café, as a part of the Small Family Fellowship Cohort, I will earn a professional development badge in Communication and present at an end of the summer showcase.
Why did you want to work at the Freedom Cafe:
To be entirely honest, I started working here at the beginning of my Sophomore year because I was looking for a fun job that paid decently. I was completely uneducated about human trafficking–to me it was something far away from us…something that happened to other people and not those in my own community. Bryan and the numerous other impassioned and hardworking individuals at the cafe opened my eyes to the drastic inequalities we face in the world–I was shown that people are exploited everywhere, even down the street from me. But I also learned that no matter if someone was on the other side of the globe or right next door, we as individuals can do something to combat slavery and end human trafficking, one conscious cup at a time.
Tell us about your summer project goals:
My advantage here comes with the fact that I already worked at the Freedom cafe throughout my Sophomore year so I have been able to come in and hit the ground running. The Cafe is undergoing a lot of rapid change this summer and we are doing everything possible to prepare for the start of the new school year. It is my goal to streamline and standardize all of our major processes and allow the easy onboarding of new staff/volunteers as well as new concepts and ideas. I am working on creating a new series of introductory and explanatory materials that will expedite the training process. I am also working with Bryan directly to clear bottlenecks as well as engaging in active marketing and community outreach. These institutional changes will allow us to face the new school year with confidence and vigor. I am excited to see what I can achieve this summer.