What Giving Tuesday means to our Dropbox for Good SF Lead
Tags: Dropbox, Givingtuesday, Giving, Holidays, Happenings

Giving Tuesday is not just a day — it’s a movement that encourages giving and generosity around the world to help kick off the holiday season. Although this tradition looks a little different this year, we’ve received overwhelming interest to take part in this year’s virtual drive. To learn more about Dropbox for Good (DfG) and our commitment to spearheading the ECS holiday drive, we caught up with DfG SF Lead, Nune Mesropyan. Since 2014, Dropbox has participated in a holiday gift drive with Episcopal Community Services (ECS), an organization that provides essential services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

What team are you on, and how did you get involved in Dropbox for Good?

I’m on the Email & Lifecycle Marketing team. Being able to give back through my company was actually one of the things that drew me to Dropbox, so after I settled into my role I started attending DfG events. I really enjoyed them and was encouraged by our amazing Social Impact team to get more involved. So last year I joined the Impact Week planning committee, and at the start of this year I joined the DfG SF Leads team as an Internal Operations Co-Chair. I work with my Co-Chair Karen Basta to manage comms about DfG across various channels, spearhead certain volunteer opportunities, and assist the larger DfG leads team with their projects. My growing involvement with DfG has felt very organic and I’ve been really fulfilled by each additional step I’ve taken.

How do you define holiday giving? What does Giving Tuesday mean to you?

To me, holiday giving means using our privilege to help balance the scales, even if just a little bit. It means sharing some of the hope and cheer that is so strongly associated with this time of year, and that a lot of us take for granted. Giving Tuesday is one great way to do that. While giving back is always a good idea, picking a specific day makes it easier for people, and the impact can really be magnified. This year especially, the need is so great. A lot of us are spending less money on holiday traveling this year, so I’d encourage all of us to take some of that money saved and donate it to help families have basic necessities like food and shelter this holiday season.

Tell us about your experience with ECS. Why is it important we do this?

I worked with ECS for the first time last year as part of Impact Week. It was my first time organizing a volunteering opportunity at Dropbox in conjunction with an external org, and I loved seeing the impact we can make when we pair Dropboxers with organizations that have expert knowledge in a specific cause. I think it’s important we keep working with them for two main reasons. One, I think it’s important to deepen existing relationships with our partner organizations. Two, I’m a big fan of how they operate their services. They let the people they’re helping say what they need, as opposed to making the decisions for them.

What would you to say to other Dropboxers looking to get involved?

Attend events (it’s especially easy right now when everything’s virtual)! All of our events put on by all of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are genuinely all SO good. And if you go to one that really strikes a chord with you, talk to the people that organized it and get involved! Especially in our current virtual environment, there is always a need for volunteers to help put on events like these to support the causes Dropboxers care most about.