Winifred Olliff, Intern For Collective Roots

The child of two dedicated educators, Winifred attended the Aube Tzerko Piano Academy of New Roads School.Though her serious musical studies began at the late age of 14, Winifred competed alongside pianists with more than 4 times her experience and won numerous awards and honors, succeeding through focus, dedication, creativity, intellect and sheer force of will. Upon graduation, she pursued a rigorous program of study in Music and Ancient Greek Literature at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She graduated with honors in 2006 and moved to Chicago, where she played a critical role as Passenger Services Coordinator with Thomas P. Gohagan & Company, a company that organizes educational travel opportunities for members of nonprofit organizations such as Yale Alumni Association, the Smithsonian, and National Geographic.

In March of 2007, Winifred left for Albania to begin service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Upon completion of her training in June 2007, she moved to Lezha, a developing community on the coast of northwest Albania. As a community educator in Lezha, she promoted peace and understanding through cultural exchange, raised over $10,000 in grants and donations to expand technology resources at a local youth center (in a community where the monthly average household income is less than $350), facilitated the successful run of a pilot Model United Nations program for high school students in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program, founded Lezha's first philanthropic organization for women and promoted its sustainability through the development of key administrative infrastructure, and promoted youth volunteerism and activism.

Winifred's experience as an educator includes consulting with the Regional Directorate of Education to provide training to staff and community members, leading trainings, teaching English as  Foreign Langauge in Albanian schools, designing and implementing her own innovative content-based curricula at Lezha's Cultural Center for Children, teaching English as a Second Language at the Southeast Asia Center in Chicago, serving as a volunteer docent at the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center in Santa Monica and more than 7 years experience teaching music performance and theory to both adults and young people in classroom and studio settings.

Winifred is currently working as an organizational development intern with Collective roots to deepen administrative capacity and promote technology-savvy organizational development. In addition to her position at Collective Roots, Winifred is working to promote the "Third Goal," of Peace Corps service by sharing her experiences in Albania with her new community and is working with Community Technology Network as a Volunteer Management Consultant. She is dedicated to Collective Roots' mission of promoting social justice through food systems change is pleased to be working with such a dynamic and innovative organization.

Winifred seeks career opportunities in the Bay Area. You may view her Linkedin profile by clicking here or email her by clicking here.