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Development Associate & Project Mentor at Project Sugar

Development Associate/Project Mentor at Project Sugar

From September 2013 to August 2016, I served as a member of Project Sugar, a non-profit organization based in Vietnam & Singapore.

Roles that I have taken:

  • Logistics Volunteer (September 2013 – December 2013)
  • Logistics Manager (January 2014 – July 2015)
  • Development Associate & Project Mentor (August 2015 – August 2016)

Organization Overview

Founded in 2008 by a group of Vietnamese student at NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, Project Sugar is a non-profit organization which aims to support underprivileged children in integrating into the community and to help volunteers understand the true value of volunteering.

Project Sugar has four core projects:

  • The Route to Knowledge whose purpose is to improve the quality of academic education for children at shelter though 1-on-1 tutorship.
  • Big Summer Trip which gives shelter’s children spiritual values through active bonding games within 7-10 days in early June. This project is a collaboration between the Vietnamese team and the Singaporean team.
  • Mini Trips which are held during festive occasions (Mid-autumn festival and Christmas) and provide shelters with bonding activities, handmade gifts, and donation.
  • Sugar Camp which is a training program for campers wanting to work in Executive Committee.

Job Function

In my one-year term with the role Development Associate/ Project Mentor, I oversaw 3 areas including project enhancement, member training and mentoring, and risk management, basically everything that tied closely with the renewal and growth of the organization.

Project Enhancement

This is the area that gauged the most interest out of me as I was able to collaborate with both internal and external parties. As the communication with shelters is a critical part in functioning the whole organization, I worked closely with 12 shelter managers on a monthly basis to update them with our timeline, and areas that needed improvement so that Project Sugar could customize the projects to better fit the shelters’ needs.

In addition, I coordinated with 3 other associates to conduct analyses on the quality of 3 projects. Based on the results of the analyses, we compiled new guidelines for the projects, including changes in scope, timeline, human resources, and budget, that maximize the use of resources for the organization.

Collaboration with the Singapore team

Member Training and Mentoring

Working as a Project Mentor for 2 projects, my goal was to make sure that every member understands Sugar’s mission and receive adequate learning, training, as well as mentoring experience. Collaborating with 2 other project mentors, I have facilitated workshops on teamwork, leadership, project management, design thinking, fundraising and reflection skills. The workshops are conducted in the format of sharing sessions to create a family-like setting for the members.

Teamwork Training Session for the Organizing Teams of Big Summer Trip 2016

A significant change my team made to the organization was the introduction of a one-on-one mentoring program. Sugar’s previous approach to mentoring only includes big group meetings, which came out to be not too personal and ineffective since not everyone was available to attend. Therefore, on a weekly basis, other mentors and I would individually conduct skype calls with each member to get updates from them about their progress, listen to their thoughts on the project, solve issues, and deliver feedback to help them enhance their performance.

 

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