BoG Day in the Life: Getting to Know Some of Our Directors!
Interested in being part of BoG leadership? Wonder what some of our leadership does within Bits of Good? Say less! Here are some interviews hosted with our incredible directors.
Suhyun Yun
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I am Suhyun, the Executive Director at BoG! I work with the 14-person Executive Board to oversee everyday operations in all committees and departments to ensure we are working towards the long-term goals of BoG.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“In the previous semesters, I was a Product Manager for Product Maintenance Team and then the GT Scheduler Team. I had a lot of fun in a project team collaborating with developers and project leadership to build our product vision into life. I also had a great experience being mentored by directors in the Product department, who taught us the principles of Product Management and helped foster a supportive environment amongst fellow Product Managers.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“Community Volunteering Day! Community Volunteering Day is a semester event hosted by our Nonprofit Partnership Committee to visit a nonprofit in person for a group volunteering shift. During my first semester in BoG, we were invited by Trees Atlanta to plant trees at Piedmont Park. The experience reminded me how much I used to love community volunteering before I moved to Atlanta and rekindled my interest in local community involvement.”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“My term as an Executive Director is until end of next semester, which is also my last undergraduate semester. After that, I guess I'll be an active Alumni in the BoG Alumni Network Group.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
Exec Director Sync: “Natasha, our Associate Executive Director, and I meet 2-3 times a week to discuss projects, member performance, meeting planning, logistics, and external communication.”
Department/Committee Director Sync: “On a biweekly basis, I meet with directors of Design, Operations, Marketing, and Brand to align on their initiatives and exchange feedback. Natasha checks in with the rest of the directors.”
Exec Board Meeting: “Natasha and I prepare the agenda for and lead the weekly meeting with directors of all departments and committees.”
Project Standup: “Every week, the project-facing exec will go over each project team and review the status and direction of the projects.”
General Meeting: “Natasha and I prepare the agenda, slides, and announcements for the General Meeting every Tuesday.”
Online: “I try to respond to slack messages and emails within 24 hours.”
Shadowing: “Natasha and I occasionally shadow department, committee, and project team meetings.”
Zarya Ajasin
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I'm Zarya, the current Director of Design at Bits of Good. I work to mentor new designers and provide resources and support to all of our designers to center strong design and user experiences for the products we produce.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“During the first semester of my freshman year (Fall 2020), I joined BoG as the first cohort of the organization design boot camp and then joined the Social Impact Committee at the Hack4Impact national level, working on organizing an impact-focused speaker series for Bits of Good and the other 15+ similar chapters around the country. The following year I tried my hand at the development bootcamp and then joined as a product designer in Fall 2022.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“One of my favorite BoG memories was when I attended the first in-person demo day after the pandemic back before I joined as a product designer. Being able to talk with so many members about their projects and just hear how palpable their passion was for the work they do, made me so excited to join the organization and contribute to the impact that we make. Since then, I've attended several demo days and had so many more impactful memories, but this was the first time I realized that this was a community that I wanted to be a part of.”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“With me approaching my last semester of undergrad, I don't have that much time left but during my last semester, I hope to find some way to impact the organization materially. After I graduate, I hope to look back and feel proud of the work that I've done and the memories that I have made.”
Describe the day-to-day of what you do within BoG!!
“On a day-to-day basis, I spent A LOT of time on Slack communicating with my fellow department and executive collaborators about the status of projects and the overall organization. I also spend a lot of time on Figma either giving feedback on the work that our designers are doing or working on that weeks design workshop. The rest of my time involved talking with designers, design operations, and project teams in general on how we can best utilize our resources and tools to support them in the work that they do.”
Eunice Kim
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I'm Eunice, the Director of Nonprofit Partnership. I work with the rest of the exec board to ensure that Bits of Good runs smoothly throughout the semester, but my primary focus of work is on mostly anything related to nonprofits, such as nonprofit outreach, PRB, and Community Volunteering Days.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“Yes, I have! I've been in BoG for three semesters now and in my first semester, I was a nonprofit partnership coordinator. It was a really fulfilling role, especially since I was able to connect and onboard one of the nonprofits we're currently working with, Angels Among Us! I think this experience really pushed me to apply for Director of NPP later. In my second semester, I was an Operations and Community Coordinator. I think this role was pretty different from my time as a NPP coordinator, since it was a bit more of an internally-facing role. As an Ops coordinator, I helped to plan community events and learned more about how BoG runs as a student org behind the scenes.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“Honestly, my favorite memory within BoG just happened this past Saturday (11/04/23)! We held a Community Volunteering Day with Canine Assistants, one of the nonprofits we're currently working with. I think it was awesome being able to see how a nonprofit that we're working with is making a difference in the world and that helps us to stay motivated to continue to help them! It was also nice being able to play with puppies :)”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“I'm honestly not too sure! My role as Director of NPP will be ending in the spring semester, but I haven't thought of any concrete plans yet.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
“The week normally starts off with our Exec Board meetings on Monday where all of Exec Board meets to discuss standup, any updates or pressing matters we need to discuss, and an overall agenda that Suhyun and Natasha write! We have our general meetings on Tuesday and after the general announcements are done, I meet with the rest of the NPP committee to discuss updates and action items for the week. As part of NPP, my team and I reach out to nonprofits through cold emails or cold calls to find new partnerships for BoG. Usually, there will be a quota for cold emails that each committee member should reach for each week. When committee members get a response back and begin working on their product proposals, I give them feedback and help them write and polish them. Outside of committee work, I plan Community Volunteering Events and help coordinate other nonprofit communication. I also meet with Natasha biweekly for our Exec Sync, just to give her a more one-on-one updates on how things are going!”
Isabella Piboolnuruk
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I am one of the two Associate Directors of Design. I help oversee the Design department, including product designers, design operations, and design bootcamp. In short, we just make sure that all of the bootcamp and the projects are on the right track and getting the most out of their experiences at BOG.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“I have been a product designer and part of design operations. I learned so much about product design and working with a team as a product designer, and made a lot of friends among my team and other designers. I really enjoyed being a part of a project with a real life client, knowing that my work could make a big impact on other people. Design operations was also really fun because I had the opportunity to work closely with the executive board and see how things work behind the scenes, but still participate in design activities. I learned a lot from essentially being able to shadow the executive board and help out the designers with their projects.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“I have two: one would be the first project I was on called Helping Mamas. The entire team was really friendly and we had a lot of bonding events. I was also partnered with a designer much more knowledgeable than me so I had the opportunity to learn a lot from them. It was a great introduction into what BOG was all about and it made a really big impression on me. The second one would be volunteering at Trees Atlanta in 2022. I got to meet a lot of other BOG members and work with them to plant trees around Piedmont Park. It was really hard, but really rewarding once we were finished, and I had so much fun with everyone!”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“I am actually graduating this semester, but I guess I still do have goals for the future of BOG. As a member of exec, I had the opportunity to help guide the product designers through their projects and facilitate growth among them as designers. With that said, although I will not be physically present in BOG next semester, I hope that the designers take the experiences they had this year and use them in the future. To sum it up, my future goal would be that my impact at BOG remains long-lasting, even after I am here.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
“A usual day-to-day for me typically consists of a lot of meetings with my fellow Design Department Exec, Zarya and Zeyna, or the entire Exec board where we discuss the state of the current projects and other current and future initiatives going around BOG. When I am not doing that, I might be reaching out to some of the designers just to check up on how they’re doing and how their project is going. Another activity that I could also be doing is planning the workshop or activity for the weekly design critique session.”
Manu Gupta
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I am the Associate Director of Engineering at BoG, responsible for ensuring the successful execution of engineering projects. I collaborate with various teams to align technical vision and provide leadership and communication support in project management. Currently, I'm focused on a significant project that involves enhancing our technical infrastructure to meet the organization's growing needs.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“In the past, I served as an Engineering Manager for PMT, GeorgiaCORE, and Fair Districts, roles I enjoyed for the ownership of technical vision and the leadership and communication experience they provided. These experiences were pivotal in preparing me for my current role.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“My favorite memory in BoG is attending Demo Days, where I learned about different projects and engaged in valuable conversations with colleagues, gaining deeper insights into the organization's work. It's not only an excellent learning opportunity but also a chance to network and collaborate with fellow team members.”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“Looking ahead, my future goals in BoG include staying involved, initiating exciting engineering initiatives, and providing support wherever needed to contribute to the organization's growth and success. I'm particularly excited about the prospect of starting innovative engineering projects that align with our mission.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
“On a typical day, I attend various meetings, shadow Engineering Manager teams, manage projects, work on engineering initiatives, and address immediate challenges or issues. This daily routine ensures the successful execution of our projects and the alignment of technical vision with our organization's goals, all while contributing to the smooth operation of our engineering efforts.”
Samrat Sahoo
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I am director of engineering - on a high level, I lead engineering and ensure all of our departments - which includes our project teams, engineering ops, and the dev bootcamp - are doing well. As for what I am currently working on - with the bits of good semester coming to an end in a few short weeks, I am ensuring that our recruitment process goes as smoothly as possible which entails reviewing apps, conducting interviews, and sending decisions.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“Prior to becoming director of engineering, I was a developer on Nationals Nonprofit Portal for 2 semesters, an engineering manager for Healing4Heroes for 1 semester, and associate director of engineering for 1 semester. Each experience had its positives! Being a developer was really fun in the sense that it gave me an outlet to leverage my technical skills towards something truly meaningful. As an engineering manager, I enjoyed having more technical ownership over the products we built - it really enabled me to blend my technical and leadership skills together, which I think isn't an opportunity that comes around often. As associate director of engineering, it was really exciting being able to start and lead greater org-wide initiatives while also learning so much about Bits of Good and the engineering department under Sharath (the goat engineering director!)”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“Reflecting on my time at Bits of Good, it's really hard for me to pinpoint one memory because everything I do with Bits of Good means so much to me; it truly is one of the few things in life that keeps me happy. Because everything Bits of Good related means so much to me, I'd like to highlight a more non-traditional memory that not everyone might consider their favorite memory - that is Engineering Recruitment. Every semester engineering gets hundreds of apps across all its roles. Of course, we need to review all of these apps which generally leads to multiple long days and nights of reading essays, scoring applications, interviewing. Now if this sounds painful - it's because it is. But this high-stress period is also one of my favorite times during the school years - it's the times when I'm able to connect with others on engineering the most, especially my other directors. It's not every day you bond with your other directors on a 4 AM discord call ranting about the number of applications while on the verge of falling asleep, trying to decide who you want as part of the Bits of Good engineering community - so yeah, it's painful but it's because this is a shared pain that makes it that much more meaningful for me.”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“Because this was my second semester on engineering exec and I've experienced most of the engineering roles at Bits of Good, I'll be stepping down and transitioning into something a bit more relaxed for the time being (probably engineering ops or lurking as a floating dev but my future is still to be determined). That said, having been in Bits of Good for five semesters now, it's hard for me to say what exactly I want to do next - I feel like I've accomplished a lot of what I wanted which includes things like contributing to project teams, leading a team, and starting org-wide initiatives. I might not have any concrete future goals for now but I'm ambitious and know that this probably isn't the end of the line for me quite yet.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
“My day-to-day varies widely depending on the time of the semester! Being director engineering tends to be very front-loaded (i.e. onboarding leadership and planning for the semester) and backloaded (i.e. planning how to wrap up projects and get ready for demo day) with our work. Throughout the semester, the work is generally relatively relaxed - it mostly entails checking in with engineering managers, dev bootcamp leadership, and engineering ops leadership periodically. We also have biweekly engineering manager meetings where we have engineering managers showcase their products. And of course, the role is quite collaborative so there is always a lot of cross-departmental collaboration with other departments, especially product and design where we concurrently plan for the future of Bits of Good!”
Hailey Ho
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I am the Associate Director of Engineering. Along with the other Engineering Execs, I lead engineering and ensure the smooth operation of our sub-departments. I am currently focusing on recruitment and writing up/reviewing some project proposals for next semester.”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“Before this semester, I was a developer on AccessH2O & Healing4Heroes and an engineering manager for GT Scheduler. Each semester was a new learning experience for me. I learned basic backend development skills in my first semester, then ventured into cloud storage in the next. Then as an engineering manager, I had complete technical ownership over the new features that we were building for GT Scheduler. I learned a lot about system design and how to lead a diverse group of great developers. The experiences were very instrumental in preparing me for the current position.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“I had so many great memories, but I'd say the best one was Demo Day with GT Scheduler in the Spring. We got pulled into an emergency migration of a very core GT Scheduler's component, so we had to pivot and use our entire Demo Day for the migration. The migration needed to be done in 2 weeks, but the developers finished all the engineering work in just 2 days. Although challenging, I had a lot of fun leading and supporting them through the migration. I also received from my Product Manager and the then Exec Board at planning the logistics for the migration. I was again amazed at how great and supportive BoG people were.”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“I will stay as Engineering Exec and I look forward to the initiatives that the department has started this semester. We will be doing some very exciting projects (so much that I want to step down from Exec to be a developer on those), and I am very excited to be providing support or guidance for these projects.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
“It really depends on the time of the semester. But for routine responsibilities, I have a weekly Exec Board meeting where I sync with other departments and discuss any events, initiatives, or issues that need our attention. I also have a 1:1s with my assigned Engineering Managers to keep track of their progress and provide help if needed.”
Nithya Kasaraneni
What is your role in BoG, and what are you currently working on?
“I am currently the Director of Operations and Community at Bits of Good! I am currently working on demo day, one of the biggest events we have every semester. Demo day is when all our project teams display all their hard work they have done during the semester and operations oversees all logistics and arrangements for demo day to run smoothly. We handle set up, planning, and making sure demo day is a fun event our members enjoy so operations will be working on that for the next two weeks until demo day!”
Have you held any previous roles in BoG; if so, how were those?
“I used to be operations coordinator before I became a director. I really enjoyed being an operations coordinator because we got to do all the fun things BoG has to offer such as planning community events for our members. Operations does all the background work for the organization, and it was amazing to see what goes on behind the scenes. It’s awesome to see operations hard work pay off when we see our members having a really good time at meetings and events. I had a lot of fun being an operations coordinator, which is one of the main reasons why I became Director of Operations because of the amazing people you work with on the operations committee.”
What’s your favorite memory within BoG?
“My favorite memory in BoG was my first-time attending Launch Party! Launch Party is the first event of the year where all our previous and new members meet each other and get to know who they will be working with for the rest of the semester. It was fun talking to everyone and having a good time with your department/committee. It really sets a positive tone for what BoG is as an organization and it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know everyone. I knew during Launch Party that I would really enjoy my time in Bits of Good.”
What are your future goals within BoG?
“One of my major goals has always been making sure BoG members have more opportunities and social events to meet new people! BoG isn’t only about building amazing projects but it’s also about community and meeting people with like-mindsets. I want to increase the amount of networking and social events next semester, so BoG members have more opportunities to meet new people within the organization and to get to know each other interpersonally especially with members in the different departments and committees in BoG.”
Describe the day-to-day for what you do within BoG!!
“On a day-to-day basis I do multiple different tasks associated with the different aspects of operations. On certain days, I have a sync with the exec directors to catch up on things happening within BoG and anything operations is currently working on. I take care of overseeing finances so checking Engage and spreadsheets to ensure we have everything ready in terms of expenses and budgets ready for potential events. I have a meeting with the operations committee, and we talk about what we plan on getting done for the week and most of the time it involves event planning and preparing all logistics and information needed for the event. I also oversee management and documentation for members which is something I am consistently monitoring. One of the cooler parts of operations, especially being a director, is that no week is the same as the other since we constantly have something new going on for operations so on a day-to-day there is a lot of variety. You are always learning something new which is my favorite part of my role.”
To our amazing directors, you guys make BoG wonderful, and you all are a light to this organization! Thank you for all you do.