Febin Bellamy, a senior at Georgetown University, is the founder of Unsung Heroes, a nonprofit that features service workers on college campuses in man-on-the-street-style Facebook interviews. This year, Bellamy is working with a dozen schools to launch their own chapters of the storytelling platform. Here’s what he’s learned about staff shoutouts.
Q: Why did you decide to start Unsung Heroes?
A: One day I started a conversation with a custodial worker in the business school that I would see all the time. I learned that we had a lot of similarities; for instance, we both wanted to be entrepreneurs. I wished that all students could get to know these workers, so I started informally interviewing 100 dining workers and other support staff.
Q: How has the organization impacted the community?
A: I surveyed students to find out if they had been changed by the stories, and the response was overwhelmingly yes. A lot of workers tell us that students have been going up to them more and saying thank you. You see a friendlier environment.
Q: What have you learned about how to successfully highlight these workers?
A: The first time we meet them, we don’t just start asking them these crazy questions. It’s really about building a relationship. We are trying to go beyond “Talk to me, so that I can get a good story, get all the likes and move on.” Let them know your goal is to highlight them and their amazing work. It also adds authenticity that students are the ones engaging the project.