This summer, we welcomed Anni Nikolovsky to our team as Communications Specialist, supported through the Canada Summer Jobs grant. Anni is entering her third year at the University of Ottawa, studying Public Administration with a minor in Business Management. For a student on that path, a summer at a small, community-based nonprofit offers something a classroom can’t: the chance to see how policy, communications, and public service actually move through a community, one program and one person at a time.

That showed most clearly in her work with our Period Promise Hygiene Cabinet Program. Anni led the communications plan and campaign rollout, including a kickoff on Menstrual Health Day – but she didn’t stop at messaging. She got into the field herself, handling deliveries, helping coordinate cabinet locations across the county, and laying the groundwork for a future women’s health forum at Trinity College School, her own alma mater. It’s one thing to study public administration in theory; it’s another to knock on a door, find the right cabinet location, and understand firsthand why access and dignity can’t just live on a page.

She brought that same hands-on approach to Backpacks for Kids – helping deliver donation boxes, working onsite on packing day, and supporting distribution from our office. For a student used to research and coursework, there’s a different kind of learning that comes from packing a backpack for a specific child and knowing exactly where it’s headed.

Anni also worked closely with our Executive Director on organizational policy, an experience that let her test her academic training against the real, sometimes overwhelming work of running a small nonprofit – where a policy decision has to hold up not just on paper, but in practice, in a community that knows and depends on this organization.

That’s the kind of experience the Canada Summer Jobs grant makes possible: not just a paycheque, but a real seat at the table, early enough in a student’s career to shape how they think about public service going forward.

Anni brought a ray of sunshine to our office this summer. Her energy, positivity, and vivacious spirit left their mark on everyone here, and we know she’s headed for great things in her education and beyond.