Meet Our Board: Brienne

Categorized as: , , , on May 26, 2018.

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Here Brienne is with one her classes in South Korea

Editor’s Note: So it looks like Brienne is next in line for our video blog series on our Board members! Brienne graduated from Guilford College in 2012 with a degree in Economics and Peace and Conflict Studies. She is currently an English teacher in South Korea, where she has lived for the past 4 years. She began working as a Board member for Skees Family Foundation in late 2013, and since then has added Program Officer to her job titles. Brienne does a lot of administrative work and research for Skees Family Foundation, as well as blog writing and communications. Brienne’s passion is working in international economic development, so working with SFF has been an extremely valuable experience and has reaffirmed her desire to become a working member in this field.

 Brienne Skees, Program Officer and VP of Research and Data Management

Let me just start by saying that I love the work that I do with Skees Family Foundation. Since I was young I have felt a need to help others who were not as lucky in the birthing pool as I was. I know I am incredibly lucky and was given so many opportunities just because of factors I had no control over–race, socioeconomic class, genes. None of this had to do with me, yet because of this, I was awarded all of these opportunities that so many others, both in the U.S. and around the world, will never have access to. After this realization, I knew that this had to be what I did with my life. I had to try to make these opportunities available to people worldwide. It isn’t just my passion, it’s my responsibility.

In comes Skees Family Foundation, our lovely and tiny family foundation. My aunt, Suzanne, launched our foundation based on essentially the same motivations. SFF works in poverty alleviation through education and jobs creation programs. Yet another privilege that was awarded to me: a job opportunity directly in my line of work! Below you can see a video regarding some of my most important work: researching and vetting potential grantee partners.

As I mentioned in the video, I have seen so many amazing organizations and people in our field that even in these dark political times, I have hope. We’ve come across some very effective changemakers, which you can read about on our Causes page. Additionally, if you are interested in learning more about our grantmaking and selection process, you can look on Grantmaking page.

I am so grateful for the opportunities I’ve been awarded and for the work I’ve been able to do with SFF. I look forward to all the new partners I will get to meet and seeing what new directions the field will take.

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