A Day in the Life of a Program Coordinator

So, I moved offices this week and I’ve officially put on my access and inclusion hat full-time. That’s because GOTR Triangle’s program coordinator, Hannah, is back from her extended leave of absence. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to fill in for her during this time. Not only was I able to help out my co-workers, but I learned quite a bit along the way! In just a few short weeks, I experienced the day-to-day work of a nonprofit program coordinator. You may wonder what that looked like:

• Volunteer relations took up about 75% of my time as “interim” program coordinator. Hannah’s primary role is to be the main point of contact for our volunteer coaches, so this entailed many (many!) emails – which, of course, were always prompt and friendly! I also assigned coaches to program sites, assisted in processing reimbursement requests, and reviewed background checks.
• I spent about 15% of my time working on site relations, which came in the form of scheduling practices at our program sites. Since GOTR relies heavily on schools to host our programming, I also worked directly with the Durham County, Orange County, Wake County, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school districts.
• General program support filled up the remaining 10% of my time. I worked closely with GOTR Triangle’s program director, Sharon, to ensure that the programming department continued to function smoothly even during Hannah’s absence.

Raceplanner, our event and registration software, was a key tool for me during the past few weeks. This powerful program allowed me to manage everything from coach and site applications to volunteer assignments. It also helped me to learn more about GOTR Triangle as a whole, because I was constantly able to explore large amounts of data for my reporting projects.

While it was a fantastic professional experience to actually work as a program coordinator for a few weeks, I’m excited to finally delve into my access and inclusion project. It’s going to be quite a ride over the next few weeks – I’m looking forward to seeing what I learn!

Before I sign off for the week, it seems fitting to talk about the GOTR value of “nurturing our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.” I was able to fill in for Hannah because I’m lucky enough to work in an office that highly values personal quality of life. Hannah came across an incredible opportunity to travel to Europe, Australia, and New Zealand – and the GOTR Triangle staff was so supportive in working with her to navigate the logistics of taking a full month off. Self-care is immensely important in the office – whether that’s by coming into work a bit late to finish a morning run, organizing yoga classes during staff meetings, bringing in healthy lunches for a co-worker’s last day, or simply encouraging time off to travel. I truly couldn’t ask for a better place to spend 40 hours each week!

The opinions expressed here are solely my opinions. Content published here is not read or approved by Girls on the Run® International and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Girls on the Run® International.