Member Spotlight: Elizabeth Nyang

August 2004

Elizabeth Nyang came to technology when she started her career with the federal government as a technical information specialist.

"I used DIALOG, an online database system, to do research at the General Account Office (GAO) for 18 years. I built my first website when I worked at GAO."

At the end of her government career, Elizabeth worked for the International Center at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) where managed a website for the International Center.

Elizabeth has a diverse background with a master's degree in Library and Information Sciences (MLS) and a master of arts in Counseling. She started the DC Web Women Library and Information Services Lunch Bunch and was the coordinator for several years.

Over recent years, Elizabeth helped several organizations develop their online presence.

"As a volunteer, I built websites for Children's Fund. Children's Fund is a nonprofit organization in Northern Virginia that was started in 1996. I built their first website and it was my first time working with frames. I also built a Website for Today's Family and the Children's Creative Response to Conflict (CCRC). Today's Family is a small nonprofit organization I founded in Montgomery County, Maryland that teaches job and life skills to low-income youth."

"The Children's Fund Website was my favorite because it had lots of nice graphics. The Today's Family Website is also a favorite because it had pictures of the youth participating in the Summer Computer Camp program."

Worthwhile work is not without frustration. "The host server went out of business and I lost all of the code. I recently rebuilt this site."

But, Elizabeth has discovered another realization. "The most important thing is that I am working for myself."

After teaching communication and job skills workshops for 8 years to different community organizations, Elizabeth was ready to try her professional gifts in another way.

"After I received my MA in Counseling, I wanted to give educational group sessions to help people manage life issues."

Elizabeth's business plan required teamwork. "I teamed up with two experienced counselors, and we came up with a plan to present workshops and retreats."

"My most innovative project is the Journey to Self Understanding Website (http://www.todaysfamily.org) which I build for my freelance work. We give workshops and retreats in the Maryland area and are planning to give our first retreat in Costa Rica in January 2005. The site has pictures, documents, a movie and forms. I spent a lot of time on the design and I get a lot of compliments."

The workshops and retreats are designed for schoolteachers, school counselors, parents, youth, children and young adults. Targeting these audiences takes a multi-faceted strategy.

"I use the Journey for Self Understanding to market our workshops and retreats. This is my first attempt to market over the Internet and it has been a real learning experience."

Spending time developing such worthwhile sites has been a challenging and rewarding experience for Elizabeth.

"We have brochures and flyers that are not posted to the Website that we send out to schools, after school programs, and professional associations. Our most challenging marketing project is our January 2005 retreat. We will hold a self-exploratory retreat for Women in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. We have ads and links on JourneyWoman.com, retreatfinder.com and retreatsonline.com. We are surfing the net a lot looking for partners and Websites to exchange links with. "

Elizabeth's goals extend beyond her current achievements. She would like to get her doctorate degree from the American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University and to become a licensed counselor.

"After I get my license, I want to open a small practice and continue to give workshops."

Contributed by Mary Fumento

Curious to see who our previous member spotlights were? Check out our archives!