Amota Ataneka in front of the Red Cross Center in Ohio

Summer Travel Grant 2016 Recipient

Amota Ataneka

USSP

My summer travel consisted of a trip to the American Red Cross Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Chapter (Ohio) for my practicum, that is a mandatory part of my Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) Program at UH Manoa. I joined the disaster volunteers management team which gave me the chance to recruit, monitor and deploy qualified volunteers to natural disasters across the U.S. Two natural disasters in particular were the West Virginia and the Louisiana floods, which happened between July and August of this year (2016).

The purpose of the practicum was to observe different leadership styles and various aspects of organizations, that we learned in class. With the title, “Disaster Workforce Management Intern Assisting the Disaster Cycle Services Manager,” I was able to work closely with the CEO of the Chapter and other high level, paid staff members, which allowed me to learn, first hand, certain management and communication skills, and to understand the reality of nonprofit operations. On one Friday, I managed to join local volunteers who installed new smoke alarms at homes in the Northern Kentucky area, which is part of the national fire-escape campaign of the American Red Cross. I planned to do a thesis research on nonprofit campaigns’ effectiveness and this grassroots experience greatly helped me to frame the research. For all of that, I am grateful to the EWC Alumni Association for helping me out financially. Mahalo nui loa.

The East-West Center Association (EWCA) and the EWCA Hawaii Chapter provided Travel Grants ($500 each) to 10 current East West Center students for the summer of 2016.