Sean Frey, '18

It is hard not to feel inspired when Sean Frey, ’18, discusses his ambitions. The Science Leadership Scholar hopes to affect positive change through a career in the nonprofit sector. This summer, Frey is gaining experience in nonprofit work through his internship at Goochland Free Clinic & Family Services (GFCFS).

“Everybody says they want to change the world, but very few will ever make a visible impact on such a large scale. But that’s not to say we can’t make a visible impact on a local scale,” says Frey.

GFCFS stood out to Frey because of the opportunity it provides to work directly with people in need. Frey notes, “I feel like my impact can be immediate and far-reaching here.”

Frey shares that GFCFS offers services from medical and dental care to domestic and sexual violence counseling to home repair to a food pantry. Because of these many facets, he is gaining wide-ranging experiences in nonprofit work, including running volunteer orientations, assisting in the food pantry program, producing promotional materials, and managing data.

“GFCFS has a holistic approach to caring for the underprivileged in the community, and that allows me to learn what goes into a vast array of social services, not just one or two,” says Frey.

As a Jepson School student, Frey is seeing many of the concepts he’s studied coming together through his internship experience.

 “I see certain theories and models of leadership at play at GFCFS every day, including transformational leadership, where a leader inspires their followers to complete a task through a moral cause. The cause of making sure every Goochland resident has access to healthcare and basic human services is an effective one for such a form of leadership,” says Frey.

Frey is pursuing a major in leadership studies and a double minor in mathematics and law & the liberal arts. Through his internship at GFCFS, the University of Richmond senior is seeing how he can use his education to achieve his goals.

“Since interning at GFCFS, I have seen how important data and mathematics can be to a nonprofit organization,”  says Frey. “There are plenty of numbers to analyze when providing care for people on a large scale, and I see that in my future.”

Frey, who says he wants his career to focus on improving lives and bettering communities, has gained experience that he says he can apply to this goal through any number of career paths or causes.

“I now have a diverse internship experience to go with my diverse major, and I truly feel that, because of this, I can pursue any career path I want to,” says Frey.