We recently spoke with Tiffany Cheung, a year one student currently studying BBA at The University of Hong Kong. She was an intern at Foundation for Shared Impact’s Community Connections Program, which connects skilled corporate professionals with high-impact organizations.
Read the interview to find out more about the behind-the-scenes work of the Community Connections Program, and how it helped Tiffany understand more about what it means to create a shared impact.
Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself? Which year are you in and what major are you studying? What do you do to relax or self-care?
Hi, I’m Tiffany and I’m a freshman currently studying BBA. An interesting fact about me is that I’m the Vice-Chairperson of the French society, but I know zero French.
For relaxation, I go to the rocks near the sea and I just daydream. Watching the grandpas go fishing is somehow relaxing. As for self-care, I love spending time with my family.
Why did you apply to FSI? What is unique about your particular company?
I actually first heard about FSI from my hallmates. Out of all the companies, I chose FSI because it seemed like it had a really clear model for helping like-minded people.
Through joining Impact Lab, I wanted to gain internship experience as I had none before. I wanted to build on my professional skills like communication and organization. Impact Lab gave me a great opportunity to build on both of these things to improve my skills, and also learn more about different charities in Hong Kong. I’ve always wanted to volunteer or know more about how I can contribute back to the community.
Tell us about your experience at Impact Lab thus far. What are your roles and responsibilities in FSI?
What we do at the Community Connections team is to connect corporate professionals with charities or NGOs through skills-based volunteering opportunities, and one of them is the Connection Session. We look at what charities need and match them with employees at our corporate partners who want to volunteer the skills to match those needs. It’s just a lot more efficient procedure for both the corporates and also the charity.
As a Community Connections intern, I do a lot of drafting, sending, and replying to emails. I also prepare presentations and some of the social media designs. I was responsible for a breakout room in the last Connection Session, which was good self-fulfillment and also a sign of growth. It was a happy moment in the internship experience.
What is your one major takeaway from the Impact Lab experience? If you had previous internship experiences, how is Impact Lab different from them?
Impact Lab is my first internship. My biggest takeaway from this experience would be the people that I met. I’ve created a strong bond with my supervisors, Claudia and Andrea, and also my colleague, Phoebe. We even joined an out-of-Impact Lab competition together. Skills-wise, I’ve gained leadership, decision-making, and organizational skills through communicating with professionals and charities alone and replying to them.
How has this experience benefited your personal growth? Has it influenced your way of thinking about creating social impact, whether personally or through your future work?
Originally I thought that each charity had its own goals and they worked on them alone. However, this experience gave me a whole new perspective on how charities can help each other. I also learned about how individual professionals can use their professional skills to volunteer and help society without needing to be just working in their office. Instead of waiting for their company to make a change, they can find volunteering opportunities themselves. There’s a more direct way of helping.
If you could solve any one world problem/issue, what would it be? Why?
I want to solve all of the world’s problems but if I have to choose one, it would be world hunger. I believe that when people are less hungry, they’ll have more time and brain energy to focus more on the important things. Also, not being hungry anymore minimizes the anger in people.
How are you dealing with the new Covid restrictions? What is the main thing that you have learned from the pandemic so far?
I’m more of an outdoor girl. I like to hike and do other sports. But ever since Covid, I have spent more time with my family, which I’m grateful for. That’s probably my biggest takeaway – just spending more time with family.
Who do you think should take the Impact Lab Course?
Frankly, I’ll say everybody. I think that everyone can find and build on at least one soft skill or hard skill throughout this experience. More specifically, the course is more for people who care about the community, or just want to know how they could help Hong Kong within their own power and time.
What is your advice for future Impact Lab students?
Just take on any challenges. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone as that is how you grow. Personally, that is how I learned my new skills as a first-time intern. Challenging yourself is how you master your new skills and grow from the current version of yourself.
