“It makes it pretty easy to get out of bed in the morning to know that I'm helping to support the work of MSF [Doctors Without Borders],” Nonprofit Management alumna Kat Read says in the following interview. The organization for which she works as a Development Associate, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), provides emergency medical treatment to those affected by crises such as the Ebola outbreak and the Syrian war.
Read, a former art museum administrative coordinator, had known that she wanted to transition to a fundraising role. She wanted to help people “support the causes that they loved and to help facilitate the generosity of people to make positive change in the world,” she says. Upon exploring the possibilities for fundraising programs, she discovered the master’s program at Columbia, applied, and got in.
“When I started the program, I didn't work in fundraising,” she says. However, thanks to resources in the Nonprofit Management program, Read found out about an opportunity at MSF. “I actually transitioned to my current job while I was in the program,” says Read.
But more important than career opportunities was the chance to learn from professors who were also practitioners. “Being able to learn from people who were experts in their field...was the most valuable thing for me.”
Read graduated in October and continues to work for MSF with the Foundations and Corporations teams. “I'm helping in some small way to contribute to the efforts of our organization,” she says, “and that makes me really happy.”
Can you tell me a little bit about your cohort? What were the other students like?
There were a lot of people who were career fundraisers or who were going through career transitions. They wanted to take time off to spend time with their children or just wanted to shift their careers and wanted a fundraising master's program to get an edge in their new career choice. It was pretty diverse cohort. It was interesting to hear about people's goals and how their experiences informed their perspectives.
Once you were in the program, what did you feel was most valuable to you?
Having access to professors who were practitioners was the most valuable thing to me. They had not only the academic background but also the on-the-job experience, which brought to life the texts that we were reading.
Were there specific professors or classes that you felt were particularly helpful?
I think the Foundations class that I took with Robin Rosenbluth was really a wonderful way to learn about the breadth of fundraising. I loved that the class was small and that our professor encouraged us to learn from each other in the cohort. I also really enjoyed my seminar course with Doug White. Doug brought in special guests to tell us about their experiences in the field. It was a great opportunity to read texts that guide our understanding of governance as well as hear from experts who had firsthand experience with the subject matter.
How did you balance work and school?
I was working the entire time that I was in the program. Having night classes was absolutely essential in being able to continue working and pursue a master’s degree at the same time. It was a master's degree at a rigorous university, but the professors were understanding about our work/life balance challenges.
When did you start working for MSF, and what kind of work do you do at that organization?
I started working at MSF in late 2012. I am a Development Associate. I work with the Foundations and Corporations teams, and I also do administrative work and other projects for the Director of Development. My job is never the exact same thing every day, which is really cool.
Most importantly, my work helps an organization that I believe in very deeply. No matter what I'm doing, I remember that I'm doing that task in the service of our mission and that I'm helping in some small way to contribute to the efforts of our organization, and that makes me really happy.
What was it that you were passionate about that led you to the nonprofit world?
It makes it pretty easy to get out of bed in the morning to know that I'm helping to support the work of MSF, which is a really amazing organization. My passion is to help facilitate positive change in the world. And I think that fundraising is the way that I was meant to do that.
