Margie Dillenburg
COO & Movement Director
Invisible Children
San Diego, CA USA
“Let your life speak.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationMargie Dillenburg
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
Going into college, I didn’t have an end goal career-wise, so I decided to just study things that were fascinating to me—this eventually led to me majoring in peace studies and minoring in ceramics.
After graduating, I went to a couple of interviews with consultancy groups and quickly decided that a big corporate job was not for me.
I was inspired by a friend to become a teacher—we moved out to California to teach under the direction of a man who wanted to start a school, but the whole thing ended up being a scam.
Fortunately, the University of San Diego decided to help train us to become teachers, and I was able to get my teaching credential.
I worked as a middle school teacher by day and then continued to take classes at night, which led to me earning a master’s degree in leadership studies.
After I quit teaching, I reached out to the founders of Invisible Children to see if they needed help—their organization aims to free children forcibly recruited by armed forces in Central Africa.
Invisible Children asked me to join their staff as one of their starting members—I'm now the chief operations officer and movement director, overseeing all of the organization’s domestic operations.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Graduate
Leadership Studies
University of San Diego
Leadership Studies
University of San Diego
Career
COO & Movement Director
I oversee domestic operations for a media company that shares untold stories of war-affected children.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Non-Profit Organizations
Film
Upholding a Cause and Belief
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
Let your life speak—that is, pay active attention to who you used to be before the world started shaping you. I think deep down we all know who we're becoming and what we should be doing. If you pay too much attention to the process and the things that happen to you, you become more of a reactive person instead of who you were meant to become.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Parents:
"Working for this start-up non-profit is not a good idea."
