Career Center News
GVSU Career Center and Treetops Collective Create Online Resources for New American Women
November 09, 2021
By: Jacob DeWeerd
The GVSU Career Center is full of passionate, creative professionals who love working with students, faculty, alumni, and the Grand Rapids community. Career Advisor Lisa Orlando spends most of her time working with GVSU students, but lately she has been expanding the Career Center’s influence in Grand Rapids in a new way.
For the last year, Orlando has collaborated with Treetops Collective, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping new American women acclimate to the Grand Rapids area. Many of these new American women arrive in Grand Rapids as refugees or asylum-seekers from countries around the world including places like Rwanda, Nepal, Iraq, and Mexico. Treetops partners with women leaders and helps them use their existing skills to pursue their goals, showcase their talents, and transform communities.
“The women and teens have amazing skills, such as sewing and basket weaving that transform into products like totes, headbands and a variety of clothing,” said Orlando.
Orlando got involved with Treetops because of an email forwarded to her by fellow Career Advisor Rachel Becklin. In April 2020, Treetops was looking to create content related to resume-building and other career advising tools and reached out to Becklin to see if anyone from the Career Center was interested in helping out. Lisa saw the email and took on the job, which didn’t exactly go as planned.
Originally, Orlando was supposed to visit Treetops and give in-person presentations and lead workshops on resume building. When the COVID-19 pandemic became more serious last year, that idea was shelved indefinitely. Orlando and Treetops then decided to transfer the content to an online format so that it could be uploaded to YouTube and shared with the new American women at Treetops.
“We flipped from in person workshops on resumes to creating 16 instructional design videos that broke down the Career Planning Process into manageable pieces for them to use as a guide or roadmap for their career journey,” said Orlando. “The videos were uploaded to YouTube for translators and Treetops participants to have a virtual library of resources on self-awareness, career exploration, decision making, resumes, interviewing and LinkedIn.”
When the instructional videos were uploaded to YouTube, Treetops was able to utilize closed captioning and interpreters to translate the content into the many languages spoken by the new American women. Through donations from Tent Schools and several other organizations, Treetops secured laptops for all teen program participants who needed computers to access the videos and continue their schooling online.
Thanks to Orlando’s work, women and teen girls at Treetops now have access to resources and the guidance they need to navigate the world of work in a completely new country. Through the Treetops Concentric program, new American women and teen girls have opportunities to learn how to network through LinkedIn, market their skills, and create resumes that show off their unique talents and experiences.
"Lisa epitomizes partnership and advocacy, recognizing the unique strengths of the GVSU community and leveraging them to create impact and opportunity for new American youth,” said Treetops Collective Executive Director Tarah Carnahan. “Transforming our community into a more welcoming place takes each of us utilizing our own connections to influence others and create spaces of belonging.”
Also thanks to Orlando, new American women and teen girls know that she and everyone else at the GVSU Career Center are ready and willing to help them.
“Leaving their country, their culture, and loved ones behind to create a new beginning takes so much courage,” Orlando said. “This was another way to be a trusted advisor and share that GVSU is a safe place for them.”
Looking ahead, Treetops will continue to help new American women and teen girls through their unique, self-sustaining leadership model through the Concentric program. As more women arrive and get acclimated to the Grand Rapids area with Treetops’ help, they will become mentors and leaders for future generations of new Americans.
More information about Treetops Collective can be found at their website, www.treetopscollective.org.
By Jacob DeWeerd, GVSU Student and Career Center Communication and Marketing Intern