Nonprofit Manager Highly Recommends Volunteering

Name: Clare Gordon Bettencourt (she/her)

PhD: History, University of California - Irvine, 2022

What was your main area of research?

I studied 20th century pure food legislation in the United States. My general focus was food history in the United States, and my exam fields were U.S. History and World History.

What is your current job?

I am the Communication & Advancement Manager for History San José in San José, California.

I do marketing (social media, e-newsletter, press releases etc...), fundraising (donations, grants, etc...), and event support (event planning, promotion, etc...).

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I'm still very new, but I love the collaborative environment of History San José, since academia can feel isolating sometimes.

Also, having the chance to get the public excited about history, and work to secure funding for initiatives/projects is very gratifying.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

So many! I think that learning how to do research, seeing connections in data, and developing compelling narratives helps me with the marketing and fundraising components of this job. Additionally, opportunities I had as a grad student, such as serving as a Social Media Editor for the Recipes Project (an interdisciplinary recipes publication) helped me build my resume while I was a grad student.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

Beyond my graduate training, working several non-academic positions in higher ed helped me learn about development, and volunteering for the board for a local history organization helped me be qualified to move into nonprofit work.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

The jobs board for the National Council on Public History https://ncph.org/

PhD graduate ➡️ Resident Director (alt-ac role) ➡️ concurrently volunteering for the Preservation Action Council of San José ➡️ Communication & Advancement Manager for History San José

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Join the board of a small local nonprofit that interests you!

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

When I started my PhD in 2015, I was open to all career paths, not just academia. As I went through my program, I started to feel like I would be a failure if I didn't land a tenure-track position. I also came to LOVE teaching and really hoped to pursue a teaching role. Nevertheless, I went on the job market in 2019, and struggled to land a role until 2022, when I started working as a Resident Director.

While the nature of the job market made the decision for me, I am super happy about where I ended up.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

I understand that volunteering your labor is not always feasible for everyone, but I would recommend it if you can. My volunteer work at the Recipes Project and the Preservation Action Council of San José started as a labor of love, and turned into helpful experiences that were important stepping stones to my current role.

While it's been tough at times to balance full-time paid work with volunteering, I'm glad I did. My Recipes Project volunteer work and Preservation Action Council of San José work averaged 2-10 hours per week, depending on the week, and I didn't do both at the same time.