intern Archives - Kelly Fair | Speaker + Consultant

Inside the Corporate World: Tamia Davis at ThoughtWorks

on September 3, 2015September 3, 2015 By kellyfairthementor

This summer, three of our Polished Pebbles had the opportunity to intern at ThoughtWorks. Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program strives to teach young girls professional communication, behavior, and dress to thrive in future work settings. An important part of that learning process is being in a professional work setting. These girls were able to apply their Polished Pebbles knowledge in the real world. We are proud of our young women! And we want them to share their experience with you.

Tamia Davis

My internship at ThoughtWorks was truly amazing! It gave me insight into how a company runs from the inside. They really made me feel like I was part of their team. They gave us ID badges that we got to use everyday to enter the building. You never really know how something works until you have been placed in their shoes. ThoughtWorks, inside and out, is such an outstanding company and I’m glad I got to be a part of that experience with them! ThoughtWorks is not like any other company; they are unique and like no other. Everybody at the company is so friendly and did such a great job at making us feel welcome.

During my six week adventure with ThoughtWorks I learned a numerous number of skills, such as coding, sourcing, and identifying different law documents. We even got to learn about the duties of facilities, the recruiting and hiring process, and how the money and expenses of ThoughtWorks gets reported. The first three weeks, my schedule was to go to legal contracts, lunch, and then recruiting. The second three weeks, I went to finance, lunch, and then facilities.

The most exciting part of the whole experience was prompting my first test for the new hires! I also loved how we switched into the four different departments and got to bond and learn about those departments. Another exciting part of the experience was that at the end of the program…they let us keep our MacBook Pro laptops that we did all our work on! The most challenging part of it all was trying to see what I was going to wear everyday.

Polished Pebbles has really opened up another door for me and I am so thankful to be part of such a fantastic organization. They really helped me when it came to introduction and making myself stand out so that I could leave a good impression, as I did with ThoughtWorks. I built relationships with the people there and made sure they will remember who I am. Overall, I am really grateful that I got to be part of the ThoughtWorks internship. Thanks to Polished Pebbles, my summer has been absolutely amazing and truly unforgettable!

Thank you, ThoughtWorks for providing our pebbles with such rewarding experiences!

Tamia Davis: Inside Black Girls Lead!

on August 20, 2015August 20, 2015 By kellyfairthementor

Black Girls Rock hosted their annual Black Girls Lead Conference this summer in New York, NY. It is an international leadership conference for young, black women to “offer girls tools and resources to become leaders, innovate, and serve confidently”. With 65 girls present from the U.S.A., Ghana, South Africa, Canada, and the UK, we are excited to announce that one of our own pebbles attended the conference! Tamia Davis, Polished Pebbles mentee and current summer intern at ThoughtWorks, attended the four day leadership conference in New York. Big thank you to the Microsoft store in Oakbrook for fully funding Tamia Davis. She learned a lot about herself and greater society during those four days and has a lot to share with you!

How excited would you be if you got to participate in the Black Girls Rock Inc. Universal Conference–Black Girls Lead? Well let me tell you, it is exciting! I was among 65 girls accepted out of 500 applicants to come to New York and stay at Barnard college for their Black Girls Lead Conference. At first, I was scared because this was my first time traveling alone to a new place, especially one as big as New York. And not knowing anyone! All that fear went away when I stepped off the plane, I had a blast!

The conference was a panel of different successful woman who taught us how to love the skin we’re in. Through the challenges they faced in their lives, they didn’t let their skin tone stop them. The founder of Black Girls Rock! Beverly Bond is an amazing person and I had the honor to meet with her. I also met with other successful women, such as Ebony Rose and Glenda Smiley, Mikki Taylor, Michaela Angela Davis, Eva Marcille, Dutches, Angela Beyonce, recording artists Lil Mama and Rhapsody, spokesman Marc Lamont Hill, and many more. They gave us lessons on how to successfully live our everyday lives. We took a variety of lessons during the four days we were there. We took dance classes at Alvin Ailey studios with one of the dance instructors, we took a poetry class with Ms. Lyrispect, and even finance classes. In between each panel they strived to build each girls confidence by having us get on stage and telling us why we rock.

It was so much fun and I really enjoyed my time in New York! I built relationships with the counselors that were watching over us, as well as the girls that came together from all over the world! Many times Ms. Glenda and Ms. Beverly Bond would play around on the mic. They came up with raps and shared them with us. It was hilarious–they are really fun loving people. Ms. Beverly Bond gave me the nickname Law and Order because I often expressed my love for law. I also met people involved with the BET foundation, such as the president of media Louis Carr and powerhouse entertainment lawyer Lisa Davis. We were even challenged to complete a 40 day social media campaign with Tai Beauchamp putting up pictures or quotes uplifting black girls with the hashtag #BGRTaiChallenge the winner gets some mystery prize. Overall, my experience in New York at Black Girls Lead was truly amazing. I’ve built connections and relationships with successful, inspiring women. For every girl at the conference this was a dream. And I am so excited to thank Polished Pebbles, who was behind me every step of the way.

A Role Model on a Mission

on August 7, 2014August 7, 2014 By kellyfairthementor

By Tamara Meyerhoff, Polished Pebbles Intern

My mentoring responsibilities aren’t limited just to working with the school age -girls and female college students in Polished Pebbles. I also find a tremendous about of satisfaction mentoring college/graduate interns as well. I’m proud to share this blog post that was written by one of our summer interns Tamara Meyerhoff. Tamara is a senior at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She is majoring in Social Work with a concentration in Family Studies. This summer she attended the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture in Hyde Park. Through her classes she was able to experience the culture of Chicago, from the South Side to the North Side. Tamara also completed two part-time internships–one with me at Polished Pebbles, and the other with United African Organization.

Last week I brought to your attention the effect of the school to prison pipeline on black youth. The twitter conversation that followed brought up an important fact–mentoring alone is not the solution. As commenters have mentioned, there are systemic and institutional oppressions that are working against black youth, especially in the education system. It is intimidating to imagine tackling these large systems. We just have to remember that we make up the system, the government, the society. Changes starts with us. I strongly believe that everyday individuals are more than capable of inciting change. It takes energy, heart, and faith; but, it is possible. So, although small things, such as mentoring, may seem insignificant in the grand scheme, it is doing something. It is raising us out of our apathy.

Diane Latiker is a prime example of how a concerned resident, with an open heart, began to show the youth in her community the best of themselves. Kids Off the Block is located in one of Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods, Roseland. Diane works with the young men and women of Roseland to build a positive, safe, and creative environment for personal development. Kids Off the Block provides positive alternatives to youth to help them avoid the juvenile justice system. Similar to Polished Pebbles, she helps black youth see themselves in a new light. One that counters the harmful stereotypes. This self-esteem boosting mentoring style is not limited to organizations. It is something that all adults are capable of. Perhaps then, these children will move into another pipeline, the pipeline to careers. All children should grow up believing they have strength, endurance, confidence, and capability.