A Look Into Government Agencies, Nonprofits and Travel with Alma Freeman
Alma Freeman, Communications Program Manager at StopWaste, joined UF PRSSA on Feb. 5 for an interview. Freeman shared her insights on various topics such as the work she carries out at StopWaste, the similarities and differences between working at a nonprofit and a government agency and the significance of traveling and working abroad.
StopWaste is a local public government agency that serves a total of 17 cities in Alameda County, California. Their primary mission is to work with schools, residents and businesses to reduce waste. As Communications Program Manager, Freeman oversees all digital communications for the agency, which includes social media, channel strategy and electronic communications. Additionally, she works closely with program managers to develop goals, audiences and messages for public campaigns. She also works on internal communications, which includes board relations and high-level messaging. Freeman is currently working on a county-wide multimedia campaign that aims to help residents reduce food waste.
Before her work at StopWaste, Freeman worked for The Asia Foundation, a nonprofit international development organization that is dedicated to improving lives across Asia. Pulling from her personal experience, she shared the difference between working at the two organizations.
“Nonprofits in general have to make really hard choices in terms of resources and budget, and that impacts how you work,” Freeman said. This is not necessarily a bad thing however, as Freeman expressed that it will give you responsibility, room to grow and the ability to take on new projects, which is something she appreciates about her work in nonprofit.
On the other hand, a similarity that Freeman found through her work at a government agency and a nonprofit organization is working with government elected officials. Despite working with government officials, StopWaste and The Asia Foundation worked hard to not appear as an advocacy organization. Especially in highly sensitive areas of Asia, Freeman always had to consider the impact that the foundation’s written and verbal communication could potentially have.
“You have to really know how to frame your message and find your voice sometimes more as an influencer and not as an activist,” Freeman said. “This is something to consider if you want to do social justice or environmental work.”
A big part of Freeman’s career as well as her personal life is travel. The early days of her career consisted of a lot of traveling. She shared some tips on how to market yourself to employers after having spent time traveling.
Freeman believes that starting young helps. By entering the workplace young, she had more freedom to travel and explore different job opportunities. She advised not to take more than six months to a year for traveling. What helped Freeman was taking a gap year to travel, then immediately entering the workforce again under positions that were relevant to the career path she was heading toward.
Freeman also emphasized the importance about being open in interviews. It is crucial to relay to possible employers that you were thoughtful about taking this time off and that you wanted to take the time to build certain characteristics about yourself.
Finally, Freeman encouraged UF PRSSA members to travel, as it can make you a more mature person, a better listener, and can ultimately build your character in a way that a job can’t.
We thank Alma for sharing her knowledge with our chapter. Connect with Alma on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/almalfreeman/.
Written by Paola Ojeda-Villegas