Augurian is proud to announce that two of our Augur’s have recently joined the Boards of Directors of organizations they have a passion for. We sat down with them and asked them both a few questions about their new volunteer roles, why they chose the organization they did and what they’re most looking forward to.
Megan Upperman
1) What is the Board of Director’s you’ve recently joined?
I’m the membership chair at Together Digital Twin Cities Chapter. They used to be called Women In Digital – that was the name of the group when I spoke there earlier this year!
2) What does the organization do?
Their purpose is to help connect women in cities with local chapters who work in digital and create connections that allow us to share knowledge, resources, opportunities, networks and information. The idea is that we can use that to elevate each other into better positions – when we’ve got more equitable leadership in our local scene, we’ll be able to do great things like close the wage gap!
3) What drew you to want to volunteer your time in a leadership capacity for this organization?
I’ve been going a bit rogue and putting together a few initiatives on my own in the last year and I have a really strong desire to do things on a larger scale. Whether it’s access to free menstrual supplies in offices or standard paid family leave, those are things that we all deserve and I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to help affect that kind of change in the community, not just in my immediate work environment.
4) What are a few of the cool things you’re looking forward to accomplishing while on the Board?
Our first major action item is to put together a big event in March for International Women’s Month. We’ve got a couple smaller events just for our members leading up to it, but I’m most excited about our bigger March event because it’s open to non-members. Most of the details aren’t ready to share just yet, but to sum it up: studies full of data, women’s rights, local action items, great speakers and an amazing crowd of Twin Cities digital mavens. Keep an eye out for more information if that sounds like something you’re interested in!
Outside of that, I’m just really looking forward to collaborating with some awesome local women and building my network. As the membership chair, my main goal is to get to know people that would get some value out of a membership and help them figure out how to fund it. I’m really focused on diversifying the group because they’re so great at power-sharing. They support each other in finding new roles, getting promotions, asking for raises, improving their company culture and all kinds of great things. I want to see that extended intersectionally to welcome more of the women and nonbinary people in the Twin Cities who don’t see themselves well represetned (yet) in the rest of the organization.
Micah Perzichilli
1) What is the Board of Director’s you’ve recently joined?
Minnesota Search Marketing Association aka MNSearch. I joined as the Membership Director – same as Megan 🙂
2) What does the organization do?
MNSearch is focused on inspiring, educating and building our Minnesota community of search marketing professionals. Of the local marketing and digital marketing organizations we have the most narrow focus and our content is specific to search marketing. MNSearch holds monthly events where people from agencies and in-house teams come together to network and learn from the monthly speaker. Additionally, MNSearch puts on the MNSearch Summit, which is attended by search marketers nationally and internationally.
3) What drew you to want to volunteer your time in a leadership capacity for this organization?
I joined MNSearch in 2012 while I was in college, back when Panda and Penguin were wreaking havoc in the world of search. I was immediately drawn to the community and it was an integral part of my early development in the industry. When I found out the Membership Director position was becoming available I instantly jumped on it. I have a tremendous amount of appreciation for this organization and want to use my ability to attract and bring people together to grow our community and our talent in Minneapolis more broadly.
4) What are a few of the cool things you’re looking forward to accomplishing while on the Board?
At a macro level I am really interested in building up our digital marketing community in Minneapolis. I would like to create partnerships with other organizations (like Together Digital) that allows for greater awareness so everyone interested in the industry has the resources and connections to be successful regardless of which organization best suits them. My hope is that we are able to create a stronger connection with universities, hiring managers and recruiters to build awareness and get people plugged in. For MNSearch specifically, I would like to find ways for our community to be leveraged more by our members whether it be mentorship opportunities, small groups or something similar. If I could accomplish both of those things during my term I would consider my time spent on the board a success.
