This past fall semester, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Ready Set Push, a nonprofit organization truly dedicated to uplifting the moms of Atlanta. Ready Set Push has a variety of impactful programs that help mothers get the resources, education, and support they need. One I worked a lot on was the MAMMA (Metro Atlanta Mother’s Milk Alliance) program, which helps ensure families have safe, reliable access to human donor milk. Some other programs include virtual Breastfeeding Education Classes, Lactation Consultations, Postpartum Support Groups (Ready Set Latch Cafés), Certified Breastfeeding Specialist Training Programs, and Community Events. As an operations intern for Ready Set Push, my main focus this semester was streamlining and improving the foundations of each of these programs.
Ready Set Push is preparing itself to onboard more volunteers in the Spring and therefore needed help standardizing operations and simplifying ineffective processes. This is where I was able to contribute most of my efforts! I helped create many Standard Operating Procedures, so that future volunteers have the information they need to successfully contribute to the organization’s mission. For the MAMMA program, I automated email responses, waiver completion, and virtual scheduling to improve milk donor and recipient intake efficiency. I also created streamlined methods to capture participant data for the various programs on Google Forms and Sheets. I then established a Google Classroom for the Breastfeeding Education classes - so that assignments, resources, and the virtual classes all occur in a centralized location. Next, I built several infographics on Canva to promote the Breastfeeding Education classes and for participants to check-in through at the Ready Set Latch Café post-partum support groups. Finally, my last project included helping build and support the organization's Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign!
I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be so involved with Ready Set Push this year. Throughout this experience, I worked one-on-one with the founder and executive director, Kiana Ayers, and she is just so amazing! Kiana has been super compassionate, flexible, enthusiastic, and such a joy to learn from and collaborate with. She provided me with so much support and trust throughout this journey, bringing me into her organization completely. She gave me the space to bring my own ideas into each project and allowed me to implement them how I saw fit. It was due to Kiana’s clear confidence in me that I was really able to flourish in this role and develop my operations management skills. However, this experience also taught me so much more than regular business skills…
Before this fall, I had no idea what motherhood entailed. As someone who’s certainly not a mom and has not really interacted with many new moms, I never knew the challenges and complications that so many mothers have to fight through. This experience was extremely educational and taught me about various lactation issues mothers commonly experience, the impact of post-partum blood pressure issues, the lack of education/milk access for new and expecting mothers, and so much more. I am so deeply motivated and inspired by Ready Set Push’s mission and can’t wait to continue my work with them next semester.
As someone who has always been eager to remain involved in nonprofits and further my social impact on the community, this experience was everything I could have wished for and more! So of course, if you feel inspired by Ready Set Push’s mission and want to help support mothers in need, please donate!
This reflection is part of Georgia Tech’s Social Impact Fellows program, offered through the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact (ILSI). This program connects students with nonprofit and community organizations in Atlanta for semester-long, hands-on project experiences designed to foster co-learning, social responsibility, and personal growth. To learn more about program details and application information, please visit our program webpage.