Adoptions From The Heart hosts internships for college students or college graduates that want to learn more about working as a marketing professional in the adoption community. Trainings are usually done in person at one of our local offices, but AFTH has decided to move their internships remotely since the pandemic started. We are so proud of the women that we have chosen to be part of our team this past spring and will continue to work with us this summer. These are the women behind the social media posts, blogs, family articles, events, and many more behind the scene roles. We want to take a moment to highlight them and the work they do for our agency.
Kevonne (Kay) Bennet
She is AFTH’s Public Relations and Events intern. She has been working with Adoptions From The Heart since Fall 2020. Kay is from the Greater Philadelphia Area and graduated Fall of 2020 with a major in Corporate Communications from Penn State University. She picked her major because it allowed her to tailor her courses to her desired career path. In Kay’s program, she could learn about everything from social media to crisis communications.
Kay applied to AFTH’s internship because she felt it would allow her to develop her skills in a real-world environment. She also wanted to learn more about the world of adoption, having witnessed it as an outsider. Since Kay started working at AFTH, she has learned so much about adoption.
“I would say I have learned that adoption is not one-size-fits-all. Every adoption looks different, even if you are an adoptive parent seeking to adopt again or a birth parent placing another child.”
Kay’s favorite part of the job is seeing the things that were once just ideas or plans come to fruition, whether it is a birth parent story or social media campaign. In the future, Kay plans to work full-time in public relations and marketing. After working at AFTH and doing volunteer work, she would love to work for a nonprofit.
Alyssa Mullarkey
She is our Public Relations and Marketing Intern and has been working with AFTH since the beginning of 2021. Alyssa is originally from Philadelphia but now lives in rural South Jersey. She graduated from The College of New Jersey back in 2020 and majored in Interpersonal Communications. Alyssa spent most of her high school career obsessed with all the writing classes. When it came time for college, she settled on Communications as it offered such a wide variety of writing-focused career paths.
Alyssa was excited to apply for the AFTH marketing position. When she got a callback, it wasn’t what she expected. Alyssa wasn’t offered the job she interviewed for; instead, she was offered an adjacent position focusing on Public Relations. Right away, She knew this position was a much better fit for her and would allow her to do more of the writing she always craved.
“Going into AFTH, I knew very little about adoption other than what shows up in movies and tv shows… I wondered which kind of agency I would be working for. To my relief and delight, AFTH is one of the agencies that deserves every kind word its clients bestow. I never expected myself to care as much for the agency and its clients as I do now. AFTH offers counseling, resources, and understands while adoption can be a joyous occasion for adoptive parents, it is also a time of deep loss for its birth parents. I always thought adoption was just about making the best choices possible for a baby, but it’s so much more than that. Adoption is about providing support to each of the triad and building relationships rather than tearing them apart.”
Alyssa’s favorite part of the job is when she gets to connect with our clients and listen to their stories. One of her favorite stories so far came from working with a beautiful young couple. They volunteered to talk about their journey from an infertility diagnosis to choosing adoption to build a bigger family. The best part of the job is watching people come together for one another, whether it’s staff supporting staff, the team supporting clients, or clients supporting clients. There is strength in leaning on one another.
Alyssa is not entirely sure what the future holds after AFTH, but she grateful for the opportunity. Every day she learns something new, and she builds more skillsets. She is more confident now that she has more real-world experience under her belt. She looks forward to the future and the challenges and opportunities it holds.
Janel Mallon
She is AFTH’s Marketing and Events Intern, and she has been working with us since the beginning of 2021. Janel is from Wantage, New Jersey, which is a small town in North Jersey. She graduated this May with a B.A. in Public Relations from Rowan University and has one more year to finish her M.A. in Strategic Communications. Alyssa chose to study Public Relations because it’s a combination of a creative and strategic thinking mindset. She gets the opportunity to write and plan events but also performs research.
Janel applied to AFTH’s marketing internship because she wanted the opportunity to work for a nonprofit. Nonprofit Public Relations always interested her since you get the chance to wear a variety of hats. At AFTH, she gets to assist with event planning, generating social media and blog content, a little bit of advertising, and try her hands at video editing.
“Before working with AFTH, I had a minimal understanding of adoption. AFTH taught me the beauty of open adoption. One of the first projects I worked on was the Heart-To-Heart with Birth Parents event, and it was so meaningful. I was able to hear from birth mothers and understand their journey. There are so many complex facets of adoption that I can learn a new part of adoption every day. Through the internship, I have gotten an inside view of each sector of the adoption triad, which I previously did not know about. “
Janel was apprehensive about going into a remote internship because she did not know what to expect. She found the internship to be so rewarding because of the relationships she gets to create among the other interns, the marketing team, and other members of the AFTH family. At this internship, you get to work with various individuals, from social workers to birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families. Janel feels like her supervisors Mayra and Kristy both care so much about the agency and the interns’ lives. She likes that she is allowed to explore any route possible in the marketing department.
In the future, Janel hopes to continue to work in nonprofit public relations. She is thankful for the knowledge AFTH has given her to thrive in her future career. The caring, family atmosphere is truly special to AFTH, and she hopes to carry the lessons and characteristics of AFTH as she continues into the world.
Keri Friedman
Keri is Adoptions From The Heart Donor Relations and Marketing Intern. She has been working at AFTH since the beginning of 2021. Keri is from Nashville, Tennessee. She is a Psychology Major at Rhodes College and will be graduating in the 2021 fall semester. Keri picked psychology because she is interested in human behavior and researching ways to help people achieve positive well-being.
Keri decided to apply to the AFTH Marketing position because she was interested in learning more about marketing, donor relations, and fundraising for a nonprofit organization. Additionally, she is an adoptee. She was interested in learning about adoption experiences other than her own.
“I have learned so much about adoption since I started working with AFTH! Specifically, I have learned a lot about birth parent experiences and the importance of raising awareness for birth parents. I have learned a lot about the adoption process and the positive impacts of open adoptions for adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees. And I have learned a lot about how adoption has impacted people’s lives in so many ways, inside and out of the adoption triad.”
Keri’s favorite part of the job is researching various topics in adoption and pregnancy and ways adoption agencies help in many aspects of the adoption triad and learn more about donor relations and fundraising for nonprofits, specifically for an adoption agency.
Keri’s plan for the future is to continue working in the nonprofit sector (focusing on the adoption community) and then get her master’s degree in social work with a concentration in adoption counseling.
