Alumni Spotlights
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits AmeriCorps VISTA Program began in 2014 with only seven VISTA members and six host site organizations. In 2015 we grew to 11 VISTAs, and have welcomed 18 service members this year! Learn more about them in the spotlight stories below and Stories From Service.
Hello again, Gisele!
Gisele served in MCN’s 2014-15 cohort with Nexus Community Partners. In Gisele’s last spotlight, she had just graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Master of Social Work.
Meet Kaitlyn Szabo.
Kaitlyn was the AmeriCorps VISTA for Exodus Lending during the 2017-18 service year. It was there that Kaitlyn was able to apply what she learned in school to address social inequalities. As a VISTA, she developed procedures for analyzing reports, streamlined the internal data tracking process, and even created and launched the communications and fundraising plans.
Meet Hannah VanSant-Ouellette.
Hannah’s AmeriCorps journey started in Minnesota Math and Reading Corps as a Math Corps Member for the 2015-16 school year. There she had the opportunity to take on special projects, tutor elementary-aged students in math, as well as explore leadership opportunities.
Meet Jenna Yanish.
Jenna was a VISTA for HACER in the 2014-15 cohort. As a VISTA for HACER, Jenna’s main project was to develop a comprehensive five-year strategic plan to guide the organization and advance its mission.
Meet Amalia Centurion
In 2014 Amalia was looking to gain experience working with indirect services. While looking around, she found MCN’s VISTA program. After applying Amalia became MCN’s very first VISTA for the 2014-15 service year.
Meet Jess Del Fiacco.
Jess was the VISTA for the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) in the 2017-18 cohort. Like many VISTAs, she decided to stay in the local nonprofit sector after service. Jess now works at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance as part of the Community Broadband Network Initiative.
After only a year, MCN VISTA alumni are already making an impact in the post-service world.
Inspired by her year at Nexus Community Partners working with local immigrant and refugee communities, VISTA alumna Giselle Efon received her Master of Social Work with an emphasis in clinical mental health from the University of Minnesota this May. In December she will return to her home country of Cameroon for the first time since moving to the United States, where she will spend a month with the goal of better understanding her own roots and identity.
