Hello,
My name is Cortney Roquemore. I am a senior at the University of South Florida St.Petersburg. I major in psychology. I am proudly doing my spring internship at (M.O.M.). (Museum Of Motherhood). M.O.M. is not just a museum, but it’s an empowering facility that shares the “information and education about the art, history, and science of motherhood from an international perspective.” My duty as an intern is to cultivate new relationships with people, institutions, and scholars in the St. Petersburg community. I will be inviting students from USF to come to M.O.M. for tours as well as utilizing social media to let people in the community know about this new incredible resource. I will also be learning about grant writing and crowdfunding for non-profits.
During the month of January, I will alphabetize and organize the library including the Demeter Collection of books and learn how to add resources to the museum’s scholarly collection. I will be adding this data to Excel. In February, I being my community outreach. The first week in February I will speak with some of my former professors and invite small groups of students (5 at a time) to come and tour the Museum. I will set up a schedule for this. On February 9th, I attend the Tampa Bay Breastfeeding Coalition where the director of the museum, Martha Joy Rose is presenting on the topic of racial disparities with regard to the visibility of breastfeeding in the public arena. Then, on Feb. 16th and 17th I will be helping out with the Annual Academic M.O.M. Conference. This conference, recently renamed the I :> M.O.M. Conference is in its second year in St. Petersburg. This year’s conference is going to be held on the USF campus in collaboration with the Women’s and Gender Studies Department of USF and made possible in part by a ResearchOne grant. This promises to be an exciting start to February.
After the conference is over, I will be learning all about how to lead tours of M.O.M. Then, I will be interacting with students who visit from USF (as well as the general public).
When March arrives, I will also be turning my attention to the business side of the museum and learning more about how a non-profit organization is properly managed. March 15th I will be attending a Greenhouse workshop (available for free through the city of St. Pete), on fundraising called “SPAA –Grant Writing/Development Research” from 8:30AM- 10:30 with Ms. Rose. On March 22nd I will participate in another workshop with Ms. Rose from 6:30-8:30PM on “How to be Successful Via Crowdfunding.” In between these workshops, I will be identifying one specific project we hope to raise money for.
April will be a good opportunity for me to synthesize the skills I’ve acquired after getting familiar with M.O.M.’s library and exhibition resources, leading tours, and participating in multiple workshops and events. I will use the remainder of my internship to work with Ms. Rose remotely (via e-mail and Skype) on fundraising initiatives for one museum project as well as curating and promoting social media initiatives. I will actually write one grant and create an online Crowdfunding campaign. My internship requirement is 120 hours. By working on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-5 or 6 PM (4-5 hours depending on the week, plus special events), I will easily be able to fulfill this mandate. This internship will help me form good working skills. I will have the opportunity to interact with my community. Most importantly, I get to learn more about the psychological aspects of motherhood!!