RRU student gears up with non-profit career opportunity
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A work-integrated learning experience at a Victoria, BC non-profit proved an eye-opening experience for a Royal Roads University student with international business experience.
Zohreh Aghaeinaieni, who is scheduled to graduate from RRU’s Master of Global Management Program in spring 2024, worked with Capital Bike, an advocacy organization promoting cycling in the Greater Victoria area with a mission to get more people cycling in more places more often.
A native of Iran who earned her MBA at Tehran’s Azad University, Aghaeinaieni worked for 12 years in the private sector as a project manager for telecommunications companies before she and her husband moved to Vancouver Island in 2022.
The changes in countries, educational focus and sectors — from private to non-profit — were all deliberate choices to expand her horizons, she says, noting she was eager to work with a group that is active in the field of building a green environment.
As part of her work-integrated learning opportunity with Capital Bike, funded by an RBC Community Integrated Learning Grant, Aghaeinaieni helped with the organization’s GoByBike Week, taking on the tasks of building sponsorship packages, connecting with local government officials and signing up sponsors.
“How people, community, society and government are supporting this non-profit is really interesting for me,” she says. She found that local mayors were quick to respond with endorsements.
Still, coming from the private sector, she was surprised at the disparities. For instance, when managing projects in her previous life, she had large budgets, ample resources and paid staff to handle many tasks, a different experience from watching every penny and working with volunteers who chip in to put up tents and set up displays.
“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Aghaeinaieni says. “And it’s working, because they care about this environmentally friendly activity.”
This prompted a change in thinking, she says, explaining that in her previous professional life, she judged if a project was successful from the monetary value it brought while “now, I evaluate it with how it helps and supports society.”
She’s also enthusiastic about her time at RRU. She calls her cohort supportive and says that as a group they had different cultures, different competencies, but gathered for a common goal. Even though she had already logged plenty of time in the workforce and had taken other leadership and management courses, “Royal Roads helped me to learn how teamwork works.”
Zohreh Aghaeinaieni’s work-integrated learning opportunity was made possible by an RBC Community Integrated Learning Grant.