Katerina Lake, a new sport and exercise psychology graduate, currently serves as an assistant program manager for Camp Female empowerment and Wellness initiative (Camp WeFi) with Youth Enrichment Services (YES).
YES is a nonprofit organization that aims to design and implement educational opportunities for minority and underserved children living in public housing and economically disadvantaged communities.
In her role, Lake manages older Learn and Earn female employees, who in turn act as mentors for middle-school-aged girls at the camp, as well as overseeing health, food, sporting equipment and supplies, and transportation to activities.
“Overall, I aid in supporting our youth in sport engagement and help to encourage our mentors to provide wellness information and interactions with our younger participants,” explains Lake.
Lake was directed to the program by Dennis Floyd Jones, CPASS sport management associate professor and YES executive director.
“He informed me about a position at his non-profit to help with the development of a sport mentoring program for female youth of color. I decided to come assist this program after graduating this past May,” Lake said.
Lake opted to accept the job while considering various graduate degree opportunities. She is finding that her internship is helping her sculpt her future.
“I am making sure I’m purposeful this year in thinking about what path I want to take,” said Lake. “I knew taking this internship that dealt with more community outreach was a little out of the realm I thought I would be in, but with each day I’m gaining more appreciation for what it takes, and it is adding yet another option to my future plans.”