Our web developer, Cindy Phan, is the last member of the ShareProgress team to be profiled on the blog! Cindy shares some tips on transitioning from a totally different field, and then benefits of living in San Francisco’s Sunset District.
Where do you live? What do you love about it?
I live in San Francisco in the Sunset District. I get a lot of “Wow, that’s far” comments from people, but it’s everything I love in a place — it’s quiet, amazing Asian food, with Golden Gate Park just a five-minute walk away, and I can see the Pacific from the corner of my street.
What do you do at ShareProgress?
I’m a web developer at ShareProgress, and when the chance arises, I also do design as well. I was fortunate to have met Jim, our CEO, who knew I was interested in diving into doing more web development and design work, and offered me the job.
What work were you doing before this that prepared you for your role here?
I come from a pretty random background, and actually did research in a biological lab for 3 years — imagine test tubes filled with blood, DNA extraction, lab coats, and latex gloves all the time. I then discovered it wasn’t for me and began working in the nonprofit/social sector space as a Project Manager. All these roles helped me learn about a lot of great organizations and issues people are working on, and gave me an appreciation for the different approaches and theories behind their work. This is especially useful now because ShareProgress has a lot of different clients, but they all work with the same theme of moving society forward.
What’s your favorite part of working at ShareProgress?
Definitely the team and the culture. Everyone is lovely and open, and willing to support each other in whatever endeavors they find themselves interested in. It’s a place that really cares about who you are and what you want to be, and not the other way around.
What’s one piece of advice you would give about what you do?
My one piece of advice is always grow, expand your mind, and try something new — for your organization and for yourself. Things in this world are changing so quickly that the best way to grow is to learn about it, push back when you need to, then grow a hybrid model of what there now is and who you are to help you get to where you want to be. The power of technology can be frightening (A.I. overlords) but if harnessed correctly and for the right reasons, can help us grow more as a people and society.
What’s your favorite thing on the internet right now?
https://www.facebook.com/
A project started by an amazing person in New York whose trying to give a bit more personality and story to people, giving them a platform to share what they want.
As always, feel free to share your comments and questions below. We’ll be back on the blog next week with an update on where we sent donations from our annual giving program, so watch for that coming soon.
Comments