LGBTQ+ Resources

Description of the video:

Hello, my name is Mara Bernstein. My pronouns are she her hers. I am an alum of Indiana University, Bloomington. I earned my Masters of Arts in anthropology in 2012. My career journey has been interesting. I've done a few different things so far. I started off being very academically oriented. I was very interested in anthropology and doing research and teaching and publishing. I spent a few years in that space working towards a PhD. I ultimately did not earn that PhD, but I did earned my master's. I went on to do Student Services at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, specifically in the admissions office. So I've had an interesting view of the legal profession and also the law school space, helping people figure out if the legal profession is right for them and then helping them through that process of applying to law schools, figuring out the tests and the scores and all of that, all those fun, interesting things. So I did that for a few years and I really enjoyed the student academic services side. Then I took a little bit of a leap. And I went over to the alumni relations, fundraising and development side. And I worked at the Indiana University Foundation for a little while. So instead of working with students and young alumni and prospective students, I was now working with alumni who are much further along in their careers and their lives who were ready to give back to Indiana University in really large, significant impactful ways. When I worked at the Indiana University Foundation, I was working with a team of people working with alumni and supporters of Indiana University who were doing transformational giving. So some of these largest gifts, as well as our international alumni who were all over the world. After that opportunity, I then moved over to Indiana University Libraries and I was working with the amazing librarians and archivists that help all the things function on the IU Bloomington campus. I was helping coordinate events as well as our annual giving fund. So helping to connect alumni and supporters to different parts of the library to support them. Usually with donations, smaller ones, but still very important, impactful ones. And that was just a wonderful experience as well because librarians and archivists are just fantastic, wonderful people. Currently, I work for an organization called Breakthrough Collaborative. It's a non-profit that works in the equity in education space. So I support executives in the national office. Breakthrough Collaborative is actually the sort of national hub of a federated model of affiliates. And there are affiliates in 24 cities across the US. And what these breakthrough affiliates do is provide two really important things. Programming for students, middle school and high school students, to just pause on learning loss over the summer, but also be prepared to finish high school, be prepared to apply for college, be successful, getting into college and completing college and being ready for whatever is next. So it's very student-centric program. The other important piece of what Breakthrough Collaborative and all the breakthrough affiliates do is addressing the Teacher Pipeline in teacher preparation. And so we have teaching fellows who are usually current college students who come in and are teaching those middle school and high school students. So it's an amazing model where we have near peer teaching and learning happening. And those teaching fellows are also supported by instructional coaches. And so folks are really getting a sense of what teaching is and how to do it well, how to be well-resourced and build community around it. And the Breakthrough Collaborative has been around for about 40 years. And we're really seeing, we're really moving the needle on equity in education and getting really wonderful people involved in teaching, both in the classroom and as advocates for education broadly defined. So I've done, I've been revolving around education for my whole career in some way, shape, or form. And there have been ups and downs, but it's been a really good overall.

Description of the video:

So at Indiana University, I met a lot of wonderful people. And it's really been the relationships and the people that have helped me move along at every stage. I want to say that every interaction was a wonderful, positive, happy, joyous interaction, but that's not accurate. There were some moments that were really difficult and really challenging and they were not fun in the moment. But what I have learned to do is to pause and ask, what did I learn from that situation? What did I learn from that person in that moment? And how can I carry it forward? And so those moments are there. And they've really prepared me to be a kind and thoughtful person. They've helped me be a very caring, outgoing person. But to also be very aware of what other people need at different times and what also what I need at different times. So the people at Indiana University, the ones who I've connected with very effectively, who we do really great work together, they're here, they're on campus because they care about what they do and they want to see others succeed, whether it's at Indiana University or elsewhere out in the world. And so that's, that to me is what IU has been important for.

Description of the video:

If a student came to me and asked for advice about navigating career choice, one of the things that I would share first is it's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to fail. It's okay to try something and take a pause and assess and step back and say, You know what, this isn't working. This isn't a good fit. And do your best to learn what you can from that situation and figure out where the next best step is. I was originally at Indiana University to earn not just a master's degree, but also a PhD. And it was really difficult several weeks when I realized and was told and decided to not pursue that a PhD. It was hard because it had been like years of driving towards a goal. And I had a great community of people that said, you still accomplished a lot. You've learned so much, you've built so many relationships, you've had an impact, you've earned a master's degree and you're gonna be okay, you're gonna go on and do other things. And it's been it's been more than okay. It's been, it's been wonderful. Life is, I'm okay. So what I want people to know when you are like 21, 22, 23, is just try something, go all in. Do your homework, be prepared, be open-minded, but also be ready to say, this isn't working. This isn't a good fit or not meeting the standards that have been set. And I need to go find a different environment or a different team where I am gonna be successful. I am gonna make a positive impact. And all those things are okay. We don't really talk about failure or not quite succeeding. We don't really talk about that enough. And so I just want people to know. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to feel like you're failing in the moment because you're not a failure. As a human. You're not a failure long-term. So try things out and pick yourself back up if you get knocked down.

Description of the video:

So I'm going to talk a little bit about my past and my parents, wonderful humans. My dad was a social worker and my mom was an elementary school teacher. And they were amazing and wonderful and did all sorts of great things for our family and our community. And the people that they worked with in their in their jobs and their careers. They always said to me, "You can be anything "you want to be, anything. There's no limit. "But don't be a teacher or social worker." And I always kind of wished that they had never said that, but it's okay because I'm still I've come back around to education and I am impact- I'm working in the education world. But I wish I had known at the beginning of like going to college and going to grad school that I could have said, "Thank you mom and dad for "this love and support. "But I think I want to go be "a teacher and/or a social worker." So I wish I had known it was okay to do that. A slightly more applicable to other folks. One thing I wish I had spent more time getting into at any point before now is understanding project management and getting into project management and understanding the theories and the tools behind it. And then also all of the technology that goes into supporting project management. I've had to learn it on the fly. And I feel like there were opportunities to learn it in a little more calm sort of way. So I definitely recommend taking the time to learn about all the different project management tools and theories that are out there. Because you will use them, you will apply them.

Description of the video:

So the next question is, what does belonging look like for you in the workplace? This is a really important question. It's a question that I have asked everywhere that I've worked. And I've worked at a few different parts of Indiana University. And sometimes in those different places at Indiana University, I felt like I didn't belong, and I had to point that out to people and ask them to do some work. Because I said to them if I feel like I don't belong and I'm telling you, I guarantee you there are people that feel like they don't belong and they're not telling you. And we're missing out. We're losing out on really wonderful contributions from all different kinds of people. So for me, belonging in the workplace means that you can bring yourself to work in the way that feels best to you. So if you want to be very open about all these different parts of your life and your past, and and your personality and your identity that is like accepted and appreciated. But also if you want to be a little more quiet and reserved, that that is also accepted and appreciated. Belonging in the workplace means that I see people who-I see and work with, people who are like me and also are not like me. And that we can talk about and discuss and celebrate differences. But we can also get the work done really effectively. And that no one's experiencing microaggressions or macroaggressions. But that there is space for everyone to bring their best selves to work. That's what belonging in the workplace means to me. I'm really fortunate to be working somewhere like that right now. Again, Breakthrough Collaborative is an amazing non-profit that works in the equity in education space. If you're looking for an example. Breakthrough Collaborative is a space in which we are working towards very actively and effectively, having a really wonderful sense of belonging in the workplace.

Description of the video:

My identity, all the different identities that I carry and hold and celebrate for myself. They have had an impact on my career choices. So I am Jewish and part of the Jewish tradition that I grew up in. It includes celebrating education, celebrating and encouraging discussion and thinking and grappling with ideas and wrestling with them and seeing all sides of a situation or an idea and thinking through how it impacts the individual and the family and the community. What does it mean to be a community and do all these things? All of that is baked into the Jewish tradition that I grew up with and that I follow. And so it feels to me a natural fit that I studied anthropology, that I now work in education, that I'm volunteering with the IU LGBTQ+ Alumni Association. It's all tied in together for me. In addition, I identify as a pansexual woman. And there is a really amazing, wonderful history to people who are in the LGBTQIA+ community. We have, there are so many different kinds of folks within that community, but I think one of the themes is always challenging folks around us to think outside of a binary, to think outside of, yes, no, black, white, 1, 2, 0, 1, whatever. And so to be a part of a community that is always accepting of what's out there. That is always looking for ways to make it more inclusive, more colorful is wonderful. And it helps me look at the world and interact with people in a more inclusive, open-minded way. So being Jewish, being queer means that I want to be around certain kinds of folks. And so it makes certain life choices a bit easier because it becomes clear to me like this workspace or this group of people, they're my people, or that group over there. Those are not my people. Being Jewish and being queer is just a really wonderful thing because it's baked into our culture and our history. That we are inclusive, we are created, we are innovative, we care about other people, we care about community. Um, and so it just helps me see who my people are and who my people are not. And it's been really wonderful. It's meant that I've met a lot of people who are like me, but also a lot of people who are not like me. And I feel like in the workplace, I've been a part of achieving really amazing things and creating really amazing events and opportunities and spaces. And it's been really important.