We’re profiling each of the students from the June program of the Orbital 1Kand their amazing projects. If their stories resonate with you, sign up for our mailing list so that you can be notified of future 1K programs.
Laura Patterson aspires to do something that helps close the achievement gap. She's also super invested in finding the best turkey burger in New York City. For the 1K program, Laura launched a Kickstarter campaign for Nomprofits, a dinner party series to connect young professionals with fantastic nonprofits who need their help.
Hi Laura! What are you most excited about with regards to your project?
I am really excited to meet new and interesting nonprofits. In the fall, I volunteered with a wonderful organization called the Opportunity Network after having stumbled upon it randomly and ended up having a great time mentoring two high school students. I'm hoping that through this experience others will find out about equally gratifying opportunities to support great organizations.
What was the hardest part of launching for you? It's scary asking people for money! It feels like I'm running for Student Body President when I'm not sure if others will buy into my platform. It hasn't gotten easier as I've reached out to more people, but I'm hoping to get to the point where I don't actively hate it.
What’s your biggest takeaway from the 1K program? The most important thing I've learned is to create the space for you to do your best work. It is so easy to get distracted by life—I tend to overbook and do too many things at once. Paring down and figuring my priorities was something I had to think about a lot during the project given the tight timeline. I wasn't the best at it, but I do think I'm learning to be more considerate of my own bandwidth and realize that there are only 24 hours in the day (and eight should solidly be booked for sleeping).
Get your ticket to the first Nomprofits here!