Tiffany Chow
Director, New Partnerships
Roadtrip Nation
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Knew I liked being a part of something bigger than myself and traveling, but no clue otherwise.
Took some time to figure it out, and saved a ton of money, by going to community college first.
Chose to study international relations, thinking I could combine my interests by working for the UN.
Learned through college, grad school, living in DC that I didn't want to work for a big bureaucracy.
Fell into a job in space policy, working for a small cause-oriented foundation.
Loved traveling the world, evangelizing the foundation's mission and fostering cooperation.
Wanted to move back to the West Coast, had to choose between space sector or something cause-related
Decided to support a cause I believed in & use my relationship-management skills at Roadtrip Nation.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Career
Director, New Partnerships
I help build partnerships that support the career exploration mission of Roadtrip Nation.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Non-Profit Organizations
Business
Upholding a Cause and Belief
Day to Day
Half the time, I get to travel around the country attending conferences, evangelizing the Roadtrip Nation mission, building new relationships, and visiting potential partners. The rest of the time, I work with a broader team to architect new partnerships, discussing what the projects could include, and coordinating them with our active projects / partnerships. I also oversee the creation of concept and proposal materials, and stay in touch via phone calls with our potential new partners.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for professionals
The work I do requires skills that can be developed in a lot of different, seemingly unrelated places. The ability to article and advocate for a cause, forging and maintaining relationships, persuading people to work together on a common project, facilitating team buy-in - these skills are all necessary for business development and strategic partnership work, but can be acquired and honed in a variety of ways. The key is translating your prior experience into a business development role.
Recommended Education
My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"Business development is basically sales, and sales is for pushy / greedy / skeezy people."
