Hello everyone!

I am finishing up my fourth week at the McConnell Arts Center (MAC)! This week has been a wonderful week as I have had many opportunities for learning and professional growth. Read on for some highlights from each day this week!

On Monday, I attended a virtual webinar through Nonprofit Learning Lab called “Leading for AI: The Three Mindsets for Thoughtful Implementation”. This webinar and its speaker encouraged participants, and their nonprofits, to approach AI as you would approach any experiment for a science fair, with a series of simple experiments, playfulness and curiosity, and messy discovery keeping in mind the various mindsets that can either encourage or block AI utilization. On this day, I also had the chance to meet with the MAC’s Executive Director and another colleague to talk about anything nonprofits. This was an opportunity for the ED to pour out all her knowledge from years of experience and for me to absorb that knowledge for myself and ask any questions. This is something that we are planning to do regularly, and I look forward to learning from her and getting to apply knowledge I have learned in previous nonprofit management classes. The last meeting of the day provided a time to ask last minute questions and to work out any kinks surrounding the final process of switching over the MAC’s booking and event management software.

On Tuesday, I attended a meeting in preparation for the MAC’s participation in the Columbus Book Festival where the MAC will be hosting a booth. We talked logistics and general information surrounding the festival and staff shifts for working our table. On this day, I also got to sit in and help (the Executive Director and the Development Coordinator) review, edit, and submit a final report for a grant that the MAC had previously been awarded for the MAC’s Cultural Connections series. Afterwards, I went with the Development Coordinator to La Chatelaine to start a catering order for an upcoming event called Farm to Fashion.

On Wednesday, I started my day at The Columbus Foundation where we had a very inspiring and thought-provoking discussion. We watched a TED Talk given by Gitte Frederiksen called “Great Leadership Is a Network, Not a Hierarchy” and we learned the importance of leading as a community and the power of asking questions, being vulnerable, and being kind. We also got to personally reflect and then talk about the following question: how do you intend to leverage your power, purpose, passion, and positioning to affect change in the areas of human activity you care about?

On Thursday, I attended a whole staff meeting. The first topic of discussion was the Worthington Arts Festival that occurred two weekends ago. We talked about what worked, what did not, and what we would want to change. It was great to hear everyone’s feedback, especially about the successes and the positive feedback we got from the community. On this day, I also started a project in which I was asked to do some research about a performing arts group that is having a hard time attracting people to their performances. I was asked to write up some information about the group’s upcoming performances and create some biographies for the performers that can be used to help promote the group and the programming they will do at the MAC.

Today, Friday, was a very full but very fun day! I got to attend an event hosted by The Columbus Foundation in which Giving USA presented their Annual Report on Philanthropy for 2024. I really enjoyed the opportunity to be in a room full of people passionate about nonprofit work while at the same time getting to review last year’s data and reflect on trends. Later in the afternoon, I also got to attend an Association for Fundraising Professionals Small Shop Meeting. The topic was Planned Giving and I learned a lot about bequests, endowments, trusts, etc.

Overall, I have had a very productive week, and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given to engage in the sector, network, and reflect on personal growth.

Talk to you soon!

Graci