Celebrating 10 Years of the Fellows Program: Carolina Fojo
Carolina Fojo
Fellow from 2009 to 2012, in Rockville, MD
Bon Appétit campus attended: Washington University of St. Louis
Current job: User experience research manager
Skill/wisdom you gained from the Fellowship: An ability to communicate effectively with people from all walks of life. And presentation skills — the ability to take complex topics and distill them in a way that makes sense to many audiences.
Did the Fellowship shape your career choices? I now have a strong preference for roles that enable me to build new things with little structure. I love the ambiguity and creativity of “We want this to be better, but don’t exactly know how.”
Then-Fellow Carolina Fojo (left) in the Gallaudet University garden she helped start with the Bon Appétit dining team in 2012
Memorable experience as a Fellow: Working alongside the Gallaudet University football team to establish their first on-campus garden. I remember looking up and thinking, “How the heck did I get here?” I knew nothing about gardening, football, or the Deaf community. To this day, that project remains one of my favorite things I’ve worked on.
Advice for current food-activist students: You’ll burn yourself out if you try to fix everything that’s wrong with our food system. Instead, pick an issue (or two!) that you are particularly passionate about, and do those really well.
Read more Fellows 10th Anniversary interviews: