Margie Dillenburg

1.

Going into college, I didn’t have an end goal career-wise, so I decided to just study things that were fascinating to me—this eventually led to me majoring in peace studies and minoring in ceramics.

2.

After graduating, I went to a couple of interviews with consultancy groups and quickly decided that a big corporate job was not for me.

3.

I was inspired by a friend to become a teacher—we moved out to California to teach under the direction of a man who wanted to start a school, but the whole thing ended up being a scam.

4.

Fortunately, the University of San Diego decided to help train us to become teachers, and I was able to get my teaching credential.

5.

I worked as a middle school teacher by day and then continued to take classes at night, which led to me earning a master’s degree in leadership studies.

6.

After I quit teaching, I reached out to the founders of Invisible Children to see if they needed help—their organization aims to free children forcibly recruited by armed forces in Central Africa.

7.

Invisible Children asked me to join their staff as one of their starting members—I'm now the chief operations officer and movement director, overseeing all of the organization’s domestic operations.