Mallory Woodruff grew up in Oklahoma City where she spent a lot of her childhood on a swim team and volunteering.
In high school, Mallory volunteered for over 1000 hours and earned the Gold Presidential Service Award three years in a row.
She volunteered for several organizations but mostly spent time supporting youth programs, like Boys and Girls Club, because engaging with kids infused a sense of fun into the work.
Mallory found School for a Village after completing a fellowship in a public defender’s office. While she was there, she helped build a holistic defense unit, which connected clients to resources to address their needs (e.g. housing, treatment, transportation). After her fellowship, she began seeking out more communications and capacity building work in public service.
Mallory was excited to discover School for a Village because she studied in education and child development in college.
She applied to be S4V’s Communications Director and met with Anjali (shoutout to our CEO) to learn more about S4V’s work. After speaking with Anjali, Mallory felt more inspired and passionate about S4V’s mission to improve STEM education around the world. In particular, Mallory loved how S4V prioritized the insights of the people they served.
“If you want to make a meaningful and sustainable difference somewhere, you need to center the people that you want to help. They will be the experts that understand the community needs and systems best.”
In her spare time, Mallory loves spending time in and around water – swimming, going on boats, and tubing. She even went winter bathing in Finland, but she didn’t find it very relaxing. She also loves thrifting, and she’s learning to alter her own clothes. “I really like doing small projects, like hemming my pants, replacing buttons, and repairing rips, because you get to extend the life of your clothes and personalize them a little more. I also made a really ill-fitting shirt, and I haven’t reattempted to make something from scratch yet.” Mallory also spends her free time cooking and listening to music. Mallory’s go-to comfort food is musubi, and she also loves kimbap, pho, and fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce. “I love cooking. I try to find ways to recreate my favorite takeout at home. As for music, my favorite song right now is probably ‘I Got a Name’ by Jim Croce. I really like his songs because his lyrics are so honest.”
Mallory loves sharing stories about the students and the schools S4V serves, finding it inspiring for herself and potential donors or volunteers.
Since joining the Communications team, Mallory has enjoyed creating content about S4V’s projects for our social media posts and blogs. Mallory also enjoys supporting S4V’s grant application process because she gets to lay a foundation for future S4V projects. She looks forward to continuing to support S4V as the Communications Director.