An Introduction to Caras Con Causa and our Scope of Work

The organization that we are working with is Caras Con Causa, founded in 2004 by university students. They are a multi-faceted non-profit that serves the community through their locations in Cataño and Guaynabo. Their three main pillars of focus are ecology, community, and education. Programs for ecology include wetland reforestation, water testing, and partnering with public schools. Community outreach may look like food banks, programs for the elderly, social work, and community assemblies. Education is highly important and focuses on the Rosalina C. Martinez public charter school, as well as their partnership with All People Be Happy, bringing some students to Pittsburgh! Education programs can include after-school schooling programs providing food and knowledge of sustainability and community and providing internship and career development opportunities.

The project we are working on regards social media plans to target potential donors to gain a recurring and consistent revenue stream. Currently, Caras relies on grants for its main operations and is looking to spread more awareness as well as diversify its revenue stream. Our target consumer segment is Puerto Ricans in the mainland US. We have conducted a social media landscape assessment, developed different persona development, as well as multiple matrices to optimize these platforms and the persona of focus. Through research and collaboration, we are now working on a donor engagement and conversion plan as well as content development for Generation Z on Instagram and Facebook.

Goals for the Upcoming Week in Puerto Rico

In just a few days, we will be departing for Puerto Rico! I have organized my multitude of goals, divided into different sections:

Communication and Project Deliverables: 

• Continue working through our deliverables
• Maintain a two-way line of collaboration with all of the people in Caras con Causa and All People Be Happy
• Gain feedback and update Michael Fernández Frey (CEO) on our current progress. We would also like to speak with him about how he came to Caras and the mission of the organization from his perspective.
• Collect multimedia to develop social media templates and resources for our project, including 

Broader Project Contextual Goals: 

• Stay up to date with the news there to better understand the political climate, the importance of our work, and navigate sensitive topics
• Hear from workers, students, and community members about their experiences and how Caras Con Causa has impacted them.
• Practice using Spanish in a business setting

Gratitude and Giving Back: 

• During our time there, we will be provided with housing, food, and guidance from Adrianna (the volunteer coordinator and social worker at this location). It is important to be grateful for these amazing opportunities to build connections and learn more about the world.
• Practice gratitude and give back to the community through our Scope of Work, volunteering with the school, food bank, and nursery work, and beyond.

Have Fun:

• Overall, maintaining an openness and excitement for trying food, partaking in cultural activities, visiting historical sites in Old San Juan, including visiting El Yunque (the only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest system), is a huge goal for all of us!

Potential Cultural Norms that Impact Business Process

As we head into a week in Puerto Rico, I recognize the importance of acknowledging cultural differences that may change the way we conduct business and ourselves.

The first is navigating language differences. The three of us speak little to no Spanish, which may lead to some misunderstandings or a slower communication process throughout our trip. While we do anticipate some of our points of contact speaking English, some people we encounter may not. However, I trust that allowing time for clarifying our business goals and progress will help us immensely. I also trust that conducting ourselves with kindness and warmth will open up a space to form important connections with people there.

Another cultural difference I anticipate may be the decision-making process. In the US, business may be conducted with a faster-paced and stricter timeline, viewing relationships in a more individualistic manner. In contrast, Puerto Rico may stress more top-down decisions, personal relationships, and a looser schedule than we may be accustomed to. We may learn the importance of maintaining a close connection with those we work with, alongside getting our deliverables done, which I believe is a great environment to ultimately learning the “why” behind our work. Overall, we can hope to learn to adjust our plans to meet our clients’ needs and to enjoy the process of getting to learn in detail about our impact.

Similarly, conducting business may be more formal in some respects than in the United States, such as how we are to address those who are senior, but also informal, such as discussing other areas of life and building trust before business, or possibly a closer physical proximity. I hope that on my trip, I can learn how to balance when formality or informality is more appropriate for the business I am conducting. 

I can rely on the fact that there may be cultural norms that are region-specific to San Juan, Cataño, and Guaynabo that we aren’t able to fully grasp until we experience them for ourselves. I am excited to learn what makes these regions unique from one another. Even if there are moments when I am unsure of how to conduct myself, I anticipate learning that sometimes, it’s okay to be uncomfortable: it means that I am growing by embracing uncertainty.

The Impact of Class Discussions and Readings

Here are some of the most impactful lessons from class that I hope to take with me for the upcoming week:

• From “Developing Intercultural Competence by Participating in Intensive Intercultural Service-Learning” by Nadia De Leon: the importance of mindfulness during our learning. During this active learning process, a study found that service-learning could actually foster dependency on the projects in the community, reinforce stereotypes or ethnocentrism in students, and increase feelings of guilt for the students. Ultimately, it is important to be able to take these factors into account when designing our deliverables and understand the larger picture of deconstructing stereotypes and other structures for a mutual understanding between us and the host area.
• From “Ethics in Project Management” by Craig Brown: treat people how they want to be treated, not just how you want to be treated. While it seems like second nature to empathize with others in our own cultural context, it can be easy to forget that what others experience and need can be different from our own. This means that cultural/personal differences may require different communication and implementation styles to create a safe environment.
• From “Comparing the Effects of Community Service and Service-Learning” by Lori J. Vogelgesang and Alexander W. Astin: Service-Learning stresses the Long Term and Enhances Intrinsic Motivations. Ultimately, the goal of service – learning is to bear the fruits in the long run within the community and us as we impact. This article showed that service-learning deeply impacted the students’ future plans, political questions, academics, and values and beliefs. In essence, our worldview will be shifted as we not only partake in learning about other communities but also integrate ourselves to do works within the community. One of the most interesting points that this article stressed was that the leadership outcome of students partaking in community service versus service-learning did not differ significantly. This suggests that individuals as leaders come from within – an internal intrinsic motivation to enhance our world view. While service-learning may structurally offer a more in-depth and long-term learning process, it is ultimately up to us to take charge of internal growth.
• From developing and presenting a cultural presentation of Puerto Rico: completing the cultural presentation on Puerto Rico really catalyzed me to think about the complex geopolitical climate that can be traced back to colonization and the Taino Genocide from hundreds of years ago. It was amazing to explore the different cultures that exist in Puerto Rico and also acknowledge how different politics impact the country currently.

Keeping the Importance of Caras and Our Scope of Work in Mind

The cultural presentation and personal research have outlined the recent impact of Hurricane Maria and its impact on the broader sense of the community and history of Puerto Rico. The recent events have currently risen tensions with PREPA, damaged the environment, weakened existing older infrastructure, and called for a debt restructuring under PROMESA (with controversial cuts to education systems, rising utility rates, and other public welfare disputes). Furthermore, there is a division within the country regarding advocating for statehood and sovereignty. This really put into perspective how important the work in Caras Con Causa is – they ultimately want to help people who need support during the navigation of difficult times and stress the importance of creating connections between the entirety of the community. Caras Con Causa seeks to intertwine its efforts in ecology, the community, and education, which have been essential to address the ongoing needs of the people. Our Scope of Work outlines the importance of reaching those outside of Puerto Rico and bringing awareness to the impactful and holistic work that Caras Con Causa has dedicated itself to. This project also hopes to decrease Caras’ dependency on grants, so that they may sustain themselves more independently in the future. I look forward to talking to community members, Caras, and beyond to get in-depth, personal stories of how Caras has impacted their lives.