Population (or Ecosystem)

A lens through which to view your career.

The "population" or "ecosystem" lens refers to the people, animals, places, or things that you aim to help through your work. You may be drawn to work with single moms, immigrants, or foster kids, across the range of issues that impact their lives, or you may care about conserving a specific rain forest or desert.

If you've entered social-impact work through the "population" or "ecosystem" lens, your next steps may be:

• Discovering roles that people play to help your population or ecosystem;
• Finding organizations that serve your population or affect your ecosystem;
• Understanding what issues crop up within your population's communities, or within your ecosysytem.

Remember that even if the focus of your career is a specific population, you'll find a wide range of roles to play to benefit that population. For example, some organizations serve girls — but not all staff members necessarily work directly with girls. Likewise, organizations that focus on the Amazon rain forest may have some staff who primarily raise money and do not spend much time along the Amazon.

• BACK to the five lenses.