University of Florida Department of Agricultural Education & Communication

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Spring 2012

Professional Portfolio

Table of Contents:

Resume 3

Evaluative Report 4

Internship Projects & Designs 8

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives." Willa A.

Foster

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Tiffani Nikole Luckey253 Park Ave.

Palm Beach, FL 33480 (772) 341-2925

tiffani.luckey@gmail.com

Objective: To use my skills and further my educational goals while gaining valuable work experience that will be of mutual benefit to my employer and me.

Education: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Major: Communication and Leadership Development

Minor: Nutritional Sciences

Grade Point Average: 3.00/4.00

Graduation Date: Spring 2012

Professional Experience: Food Server May 2009- January 2010 Ballyhoo Bar & Grille Gainesville, FL

• Provided excellent patron experiences through phenomenal customer service, evidenced by high number of regular patrons requesting to sit in my section.

• Consistently exceeded sales goals by effectively managing sections and multi-tasking. • Recognized as "Lead Server" which includes mentoring and training new servers, as

well as accounting for all wait staff sales and receipts at least three shifts weekly.

Administrative Assistant August 2006- May 2008 Par One Construction Stuart, FL

• Assisted in the daily functioning of the business by answering calls, taking notes, typing up proposals, filing, organizing, and cleaning.

• Dealt with a large client base through personal attention, quality service, and consistent follow-ups.

• Wrote persuasive letters and documents, frequently influencing decision makers. • Involved personnel in goal sharing, resulting in dramatically increased productivity. • Enhanced managerial skills by handling account relations and solving clerical

problems. • Marketing • Online advancements through social networking • Event planning

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Leadership & Service: National Club Member August 2010 UF Leaders and Communicators of Tomorrow Gainesville, FL

• Developed career training and valuable guidance while attending monthly meetings showcasing professionals in advertising and marketing careers.

• Brainstormed ideas fro recruiting new members while furthering business speaking skills during the membership committee breakout sessions.

Evaluative Report

As my internship comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on the knowledge gained and

skills obtained. On the first day of my internship I believed that good leaders weren’t the ones

who attend managerial courses and training days, but yet certain individuals who portray traits

in which come naturally and instinctively. With a new understanding of leadership theory I now

see that not everyone can lead; a person is either born a leader or has the ability to learn to lead.

Regardless of gender, a person who performs the role of influencing others to

achieve certain goals and objectives in a group, organization, or community is in the practice of

leadership. Although I agree that leadership style is interchangeable upon the organization or

environment, it my opinion certain traits, skills, and behaviors practiced by leaders should

always remains constant. My ideal leader would display self-confidence, inner strength,

enthusiasm, charisma, communication, integrity, a positive attitude, inquisitive knowledge, and a

clear understanding of performance factors dependent upon the circumstance. In addition to

these certain traits my leadership philosophy is tied in with my with my top four personal

values, including loyalty, trustworthiness, honesty, and finally caring, because if you don’t really

care for people then you can’t have the right motives to be a good leader. I believe that

leadership is a journey that consists of followers and leaders that provides vision and direction in

achieving a common goal.

The process of leadership revolves into a balance of work and personal success, while

gaining and displaying integrity in personal and professional development, respecting leadership

from different perspectives and ways of knowing, and listening with respect and gratitude to

other’s. Leadership affects teamwork, improvement, communication, and performance and

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requires vision, organization, integrity, communication, and execution. Leadership is inspired by

great ideas and great beliefs. Every leader needs a solid leadership philosophy, supported by

strong beliefs, that guides a leaders behavior and action.

In my definition of a leader there were certain characteristics I used to describe an

effective leader including self-confidence and inner strength. Leaders believe in their ability and

power to influence others even if they consult others for opinions, they stand by their final

decisions and judgment. Leaders should not be afraid of dealing with difficult situations in order

to achieve their ultimate goals and objectives. It is important to have a strong mentality about

everything, find justification for any doubts. Along with self-confidence and inner strength come

enthusiasm and charisma. Since a leader must inspire and motivate others to perform to their

best, he/she should possess the kind of drive that moves people. People do not perform to their

best if the leader is not hard working and charismatic enough to create the kind of passion that

gets the work done. The next skill is absolutely essential for any position involving another

person, and that is communication. A leader should be a good communicator, both in writing and

in personal interactions, such as meetings, public speeches. Ideas, visions, goals, and must be

presented with clarity. This requires a person with good communication skills.

When your personal values are clear and you are conscious of them, you create a solid

foundation for leading. Assumptions are ideas that are assumed or believed to be true. As a

leader it is important to understand what assumptions fuel your leadership thinking. Often

leaders are not aware of the assumptions because they are operating from certain paradigms that

will not allow them to see assumptions. Reflection into one’s leadership is an excellent way to

uncover assumptions. Beliefs are ideas that we hold to be true; they shape our realities. If a

leader believes that the only individuals in an organization that can make decisions is the

management staff, then that belief will influence how the leader treats others. Beliefs can also be

unconscious; they are for us a habitual way of thinking and acting that it doesn’t cross our minds

that our beliefs may be prohibiting us. I have obtained such knowledge through many personal

experiences in which I have dealt with leadership hands on.

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Starting my internship, I wanted to experience a different work environment than my past

professional experiences and apply the knowledge I have learned while at the University of

Florida. Interning at the American Red Cross was a great opportunity to learn more about

holistic health and disaster preparedness while also innovatively incorporating technology,

communication, and fundraising development. The Red Cross is a very structured organization,

and because they are worldwide they need to have similarity throughout the chapters. Next in

America, you have the National Headquarters, this is located in Washington D.C. and they

govern all the Red Cross chapters in the United States. Then there are the local chapters

throughout each state such as the one I am currently interning with, American Red Cross of

Gainesville under the North Central Florida Chapter. As an intern I reinstated the following

values here at the Red Cross: We reaffirm our commitment to the Fundamental Principles of the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and applied the five values of compassion,

collaboration, creativity, credibility, and commitment that are essential to our continued success

in meeting our mission. We are dedicated to improving the lives of those we serve and to

treating each other with care and respect. We work together as One Red Cross family, in

partnership with other organizations, and always embrace diversity and inclusiveness. Last, we

also always hold ourselves accountable for defining and meeting clear objectives, delivering on

our mission and carefully stewarding our donor funds.

It was exciting to collaborate with professionals at a highly recognized health

organization, but it was also very intimidating. Luckily, most of the staff and students at the Red

Cross were very understanding and accepted me through this process of trial and error, but it

was without a doubt one of the most stressful parts of my internship experience. Throughout the

program, I benefited from a substantive professional experience as well as exposure to critical

issues in nonprofit management and the nonprofit sector. By taking part in this experience,

students greatly enhance their chances for securing employment at an organization or

corporation after graduation. Overall, I was able to gain new insights and perspectives on my

own leadership philosophy as well as substantial gain of interpersonal reflection.

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Each intern has a variety of projects and responsibilities determined by the department

for which the intern works. However, all interns are responsible for demonstrating a strong work

ethic as well as keeping their supervisor informed of their personal work progress. I have always

felt that I have very good "people skills." I know that I belong where I am and that I have

worked hard to get there and this is where I draw my confidence. When you are in the work

place you need to be confident and poised in your relations because if you are there, it is more

than likely that you did something right to be there. When you have confidence in dealing with

your clients and colleagues you will be respected and that is a very important quality in the work

place. Being an intern there will be those tasks that seem "low level" but somebody needs to do

it, such as addressing envelopes or putting together packets. These jobs need to be done and I

am committed to doing them right because they are all apart of the process even if it is cleaning

the kitchen and office.

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops,” said Henry B.

Adams. If I could change one thing about my internship, I would’ve allowed myself to gain

more influence and increased over-all communication throughout the Chapter. Although I’m

glad I had the opportunity to get to know and grow within the organization over time, I think

working full time would have helped me feel like I was a true member of the staff rather than an

intern they have on the side. Something success can’t go without is communication and an

essential component lacking in my situation was maintaining constant and concise

communication with my director, Melanie. National in Washington creates templates year round

of public relations pieces to be used by the local chapters. The templates can be easily modified

for the chapters, but sometimes problems do occur. Melanie and I have run into some of these

problems while creating some press releases and event templates but it was very easy to call

over to "brand central" and ask them to help us fix our problems. Communication with the

media then to distribute our public relations pieces is as simple as attaching it to an email and

selecting emails of local media outlets that we wish to send it to and clicking send. Overall my

internship allowed me to possess the following skills:

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• Utilized computer skills and was able to create and design collateral materials for

our fundraisers as well as press releases and newsletters. • Examined and resolved situations by developing and executing new plans,

methods, and inventive procedure as whole.

• Planned, directed, and managed designated projects.

• Ensured that objectives were accomplished in accordance with outlined priorities. • Analyzed results of operations to discover more efficient ways to utilize

resources.

• Coordinated the successful simultaneous development of several projects.

• Delegated responsibilities and designed time schedules. • Negotiated contracts that ensured quality.

• Reviewed project status reports during each operational phase.

• Prepared weekly project status reports for management.

My internship experience with the Red Cross really helped give me a better idea of what

it means to truly work within a professional health organization. I know I have the skills of

resourcefulness and creativity, and was able to enhance them with this position. My skills were

challenged, but without being challenged I would never have gotten the experience that I have

thus far. I understand the communications end of public relations but I have thoroughly enjoyed

working on our events that we have produced. Overall, I’m very glad I had this internship

experience with the American Red Cross and I feel like I am better prepared for whatever comes

next in my career as a community health professional.

Graphics, Logos & Design

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Celebration of Taste Brochure – Designed on Adobe InDesign ! 9

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“Celebration of Taste” Centerpiece Design

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Fundraising Collateral Materials

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