Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Hello! My name is Elena Orellana, I attend Grand Canyon University in Arizona. I am majoring in Justice Studies in hopes to eventually go to Law school. The Fellowship program at the Columbus Foundation is an amazing opportunity that I have the privilege of participating in this summer. My host program is the Franklin County Agricultural Society, also known as the Franklin County Fairgrounds. The Franklin County Fairgrounds have been operating for over 100 years hosting both yearly fairs and year-round community centered events that both bring the community together and allow local businesses and community members to give back to the surrounding community. The fair is not only a recreational experience, it is a century old tradition that promotes local agriculture, community engagement and economic stimulation within the surrounding community.

My very first day was Monday the first of June, which began with orientation at the Foundation where I was able to meet several amazing people who are each participating in different non-profits. Dr. Lomax gave us a short introduction on who he was, and what the Fellowship program was and how we could maximize our experience. After orientation we were each sent to our prospective workplaces to begin the second part of our day.

Upon arrival to the fairgrounds I was given a tour around the entire area where I was able to see the extent of the fairgrounds and just how big it really is! I was then introduced to the staff and began setting my office space. The first week of my fellowship was spent learning how to navigate the systems, meeting other employees, helping process sponsorships and membership purchases. I was even able to attend a meeting where we brainstormed ideas to enhance the Fair’s social media. The office is a quiet, relaxed environment where individuals are tasked with various roles each working toward one main goal, a successful fair. As the fair gets closer I am sure we will get much busier, for now, I am just learning the basics which include processing checks, selling memberships and advertising for the upcoming fair. I am so excited to see what else I will be doing as we get closer to the fair. 

~Elena Orellana

My first week of my fellowship was wonderful! I started the week with orientation at The Columbus Foundation, where I had the opportunity to meet my fellow cohort members and learn about the work they will be doing this summer. Connecting with other young professionals in Columbus was encouraging, and it was inspiring to hear how they are navigating their early career journeys.

Shortly afterward, I participated in my first onboarding session with SEA Change, my host organization. During training, I met with my supervisors, who provided me with the knowledge and resources needed to be successful in my fellowship. I also had the opportunity to have lunch with my team and learn more about their roles within the organization and how each person contributes to SEA Change’s success.
Throughout the week, I was introduced to several new platforms, including Monday.com, Givebutter, Thinkific, and others that I will be using during my fellowship. I have already begun working in Monday.com to review SEA Change’s onboarding process for new employees, identify redundancies, and explore ways to make the transition process more efficient for both the organization and its new hires. I have also started reviewing program curriculum materials to identify opportunities to improve content and information delivery.

Within my first week, I have already gained exposure to both operations and marketing analytics. I attended a marketing work session where I learned new terminology and concepts that helped me better understand the analytical side of marketing. For example, I learned about a metric called cost per click, which measures the average amount SEA Change pays each time someone clicks on one of its advertisements. This is just one example of the many new concepts I have been introduced to.
Reviewing onboarding processes and identifying inefficiencies has given me valuable insight into the field of operations, an area I am particularly passionate about. I am excited to continue learning about both marketing and operations while strengthening my technical and professional skills throughout the fellowship.

The Columbus Foundation 2026 Summer Fellowship application is open from November 20, 2025, to January 5, 2026!

This 10-week (400 total hours) paid Fellowship starts June 1, 2026 and ends August 7, 2026. Fellows are matched with a nonprofit based on interests, skills, and the nonprofit’s specific needs or objectives, and are required to attend five professional development sessions culminating in a mandatory end-of-summer presentation on August 7th.

Eligibility:

College junior, senior, May/June 2026 graduate, or a graduate student in the fall of 2026 and have graduated from a Franklin County high school. OR College junior, senior, May/June 2026 graduate, or graduate student attending a Franklin County college or university. Highly desired qualifications: A strong academic record (preferably a 3.0+ GPA); and strong English oral and written communication skills.

For 2026, a special partnership and eligibility extension will include Junior and Seniors from Denison, Kenyon, and Ohio Wesleyan.

Click HERE to access the application. Open from November 20, 2025, to January 5, 2026!

My last week with LifeCare Alliance was truly bittersweet. Because I actually began my internship three weeks earlier than planned, all of my blog posts have been a bit delayed, but I was lucky enough to extend my time here by those extra weeks. That meant I could dive into even more projects and experiences than I ever expected.

After completing the first Meals-on-Wheels customer journey, I began work on a second customer journey for the Meals-for-Kids program. For this, I interviewed eight staff members and one partnered YMCA site, created playback sheets from the interview transcripts, and helped craft the problem statement. I also developed two mock personas, a driver persona and a YMCA staff persona, that will be used in a future journey-mapping activity at a half-day session.

I also had the chance to create 12 different marketing materials for our Winter Gifting Program, aimed at inspiring donors to sponsor clients and encouraging volunteers to help make crafts for the annual gift bags. In addition, I developed three targeted mail pieces for the Savor and Select home-delivered meals program, designed to re-engage former LifeCare clients. Each was tailored to a specific audience: pet owners, individuals in the farmers market program, and general clients.

Outside of marketing work, I attended both the Volunteer Appreciation event and the Conversations with County Commissioner Erica Crawley luncheon at Carrie’s Cafe. I also took a memorable day trip to Camp Hamwi in Danville, Ohio, where I toured the camp, ate lunch with the campers, and assisted our head of marketing in interviewing campers for future testimonials.

This summer has absolutely flown by, and I’m sad to be saying goodbye to such an incredible organization filled with the most dedicated and kind-hearted people. Working alongside my colleagues at LifeCare has been such a joy, and I will truly miss everyone. I hope to return in the future and continue serving the community in such a meaningful way.

I want to thank The Columbus Foundation for giving me the opportunity to work with an agency I’ve admired for so long. I also want to thank my fellow interns for being such a supportive and inspiring group, our learning seminars were always a highlight. And most importantly, thank you to everyone at LifeCare Alliance for making me feel that my contributions this summer truly mattered.

See you later,
Kat

I cannot believe this week was my last at Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services! The summer culminated in the Youth Summit this Friday, which was amazing. 

The week before the event was hectic and exciting. We placed supply orders, met with the Collaborative Board for the last time, and coordinated with the venue manager at OSU-COTC. On Wednesday I packed goodie bags in the afternoon with water bottles, immigrant welcome kits from Seeds of Caring, and age-appropriate books. We set up as much as possible ton Thursday so that the volunteers could arrive bright and early at 7:30 on Friday with no hiccups. It was amazing to see all my work come to fruition with the Youth Summit on my last day. The kids were so excited and proud of their performances. 

My experience at ETSS has taught me so much about the nonprofit sector, the city of Columbus, and myself. My supervisor Sarah Huffman has been an amazing mentor.  I kept a running document of questions and notes jotted down throughout the week to ensure I got the most out of our meetings, and that document is currently 31 pages long. 

I also worked closely with the Advancement team to do some fundraising for the Youth Department. I was nervous about this aspect of the internship because I have never thought of myself as a “salesperson” and I’m generally uncomfortable when asked to convince people to give me things. However, the Advancement team was incredibly helpful. I eventually memorized my pitch and got comfortable taking no’s. I’m proud of my contributions to ETSS this summer. I raised over $5,000 in in-kind donations, applied to 2 grants and made a list of several more that the Youth Department will apply to in the fall, organized our 2 back storage rooms and inventoried everything, which took SEVERAL days, and created a folder of template documents for planning next year’s Youth Summit.  

What has been most meaningful about this experience? 

• I absolutely loved the nonprofit environment and found it highly motivating, especially getting to interact with the people we’re serving and base our services on their ideas and feedback. The field trips with the kids were always the highlight of my week. 
• I met with many community partners to coordinate workshop details for the Youth Summit and began to understand all the amazing organizations that make up the nonprofit landscape of Columbus.
• It’s been valuable watching how our organization and our community partners have navigated the uncertainty of funding both federal and private right now, showing me the importance of flexibility and hope.
• I’ve learned so much about how nonprofits function, program administration, event planning, and fundraising through ETSS and the Columbus Foundation Learning Sessions. I’m definitely interested in nonprofit work in the future, and I would love to learn more about program development and grantmaking. 

Thank you, ETSS! Thanks, Columbus Foundation and Dr. Lomax! 

All the best, 

Sanay 

This week was very emotional for me. It was my very last week working with The Overwatch Partnership. I mainly worked on my final presentation. I also ended my time with OWP by finishing my grant research and updating my word document for the last time. I met with Eric Gentzel over a Microsoft Teams call one last time. Over this week, I did a lot of reflection. I am very proud of myself and how far I have come. I never looked at myself as intelligent before, and I never realized I could be professional. This internship taught me that I can be both. I didn’t realize how much work I actually put into this fellowship. I did a lot of researching, event planning, networking, communication, interviews, and more. I worked a lot with Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Teams. I got to know the other fellows and create friendships with them at the excursions, such as the Rick Ross concert. I talked to Dr. Lomax about being a professional musician and he gave me great advice. I took notes and gained a lot from the learning sessions we had every other week at The Columbus Foundation. I have learned so much about nonprofit work and how it functions as a business with unfortunately much less resources and funding. There is so much work that goes into running a nonprofit organization. After this summer, I am very secure in my aspirations to get a Master’s Degree in Social Work and to work in the nonprofit sector. I am so excited for the future and I am grateful to The Columbus Foundation and The Overwatch Partnership for giving me this amazing opportunity and experience. I am so excited for the future and I am thankful for those of you who read my blog every week! 

Until we meet again,

Kindall Benjamin

Hello everyone,

We have now made it to the final week of the fellowship. I cannot believe that ten full weeks have gone by already. Ten full weeks of meaningful work, lasting connections, and experiences and knowledge that will last a lifetime.

This week, I wrapped up all my tasks at the MAC and made my goodbyes. I was honestly sad to say goodbye to all the people I have worked alongside this summer and to walk away from the desk that I called mine. I switched out the last old logo sign in our ceramics room, I folded brochures for an upcoming tabling event, I made my last trip to drop off marketing materials to a business in Worthington, and I helped start the Annual Fund Back-to-School Mailing process. The new year is beginning to really kick-start at the MAC with summer programming now done, and even though I will not be there during the year as a staff member, I am happy to have contributed to work that will continue to move forward and thrive.

We also had a busy last week at The Columbus Foundation. On Wednesday, we had our last Summer Fellows Learning session where we talked about transformational leadership, merging nonprofit organizations, and how nonprofits are like businesses. On Thursday, we had a networking session, and then on Friday we had our Summer Fellowship Closing Luncheon at The Columbus Foundation! Our various host sites and other stakeholders got to come and help us celebrate the summer! Even though I was pretty nervous about my Pecha Kutcha presentation, I am so glad I got to share what I have been doing this summer in a broader more visual sense. I am so proud of my fellow peers and their accomplishments this summer! Everyone did an amazing job on their presentation, and they really let their talent, passion, and leadership shine through. I am so happy I was with this group of girls this summer, and I wish everyone well in what they do next. I know it will be amazing things!

I am so grateful to The Columbus Foundation for providing this amazing opportunity to me this summer. I cannot imagine not having had this experience because I know it will be pivotal for me moving forward, within the nonprofit sector and moving forward as a young professional in general. The fellowship has not only taught me the highs and lows of the sector, but it has also further emphasized the impact of good work and being a “transformational” leader. I am excited to apply my new sense of leadership and skills in life moving forward. I am also grateful for my wonderful host site, The McConnell Arts Center! I first want to thank all the people who hosted me this summer at the MAC from the Executive Director to the Front Desk Associates. Their kindness and generosity to me this summer, in letting me really get the full nonprofit experience, was such a gift. I secondly want to thank everyone I directly and indirectly came in contact with through the MAC, from volunteers, to board members, to community leaders, donors, patrons, etc. Thank you! I also want to thank Dr. Lomax for his leadership and for his commitment to our fellow group this summer. Thank you!

Goodbye for now!

Graci

Hi All,

It’s officially the last week of my fellowship, which means that today is my last day with Huckleberry House, and this is my final blog post! As I reflect on the past 10 weeks, which I still can’t believe have flown by so fast, I am in awe of how much my professional and personal life have changed and so grateful to the Huck House team for supporting me these past few weeks not only as a their summer fellow but also as a young person figuring out what I want to do post graduate school.

It was truly a pleasure to come into the Administrative Office every day and help Huck House serve the young people of central Ohio, right up until the final moments of my last day. As a result, my final week was filled with “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s” tasks such as following up with potential partners so they knew who to contact after my last day and compiling all the SROI and individual impact data I had collected into one document. However, I also got to have some fun and enjoy one of Carol’s delicious cupcakes at my surprise last-day celebration.

Lastly, the Advancement Team and I had a meeting to ensure they have access to all the reports, spreadsheets, resources, emails, contacts, etc., I have gathered over the past 10 weeks which I hope will prove useful in the coming weeks as they wrap up Safe Place material distribution, start training our new partners, and stragetic plan for the coming years. In my opinion, how a person or organization handles a transition/exit period says a lot about them, so I wanted to make sure I was proactively future-planning for the team who have been nothing but helpful and caring to me.

In closing, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Columbus Foundation for this opportunity and to the remarkable team at Huckleberry House for making my fellowship experience so rewarding. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for both me and Huck House in the coming years!

All the best,
Emoni

Hi everyone! I am extremely sad to say, but this is my last time writing for you all. My time at Netcare and The Columbus Foundation is officially coming to an end, but it has truly been the most incredible 10 weeks. I have learned so much about marketing, from learning how to use a CRM, to sitting in on board meetings, and I can’t wait to take all this knowledge to my future experiences. 

With it being my final week, I spent a lot of my time at Netcare just wrapping tasks up. I finished some of my mini projects that I had been working on throughout the 10 weeks and my mentors and I went through everything I had done. We talked through my accomplishments and areas of improvement, and transferred all of my material to them for a smooth transition. My extremely sweet mentors even took me out to lunch to celebrate and my last day consisted of bittersweet goodbyes with the rest of the staff.

This week was extremely active at The Columbus Foundation with a learning session, a networking dinner, and our final presentation plus luncheon! The learning session and networking dinner were both incredible experiences getting to hear from leaders and socialize with former fellows. I learned a ton from both of these experiences and I am looking forward to also taking the knowledge that I learned at The Columbus Foundation to my upcoming endeavors. 

We ended this week with our celebratory luncheon! It was such a fun time having both of my mentors there to support me and it was so fascinating to see what all the other summer fellows had been up to. I loved getting to gush about Netcare and tell everyone about all the exciting things I have been up to with the organization.

Overall, this summer has been such a phenomenal experience. My mentors have been the sweetest and most inspirational leaders and I am leaving this internship with a new desire to work in marketing and in the nonprofit sector. I hope you all enjoyed reading these as much as we enjoyed our experiences with our host sites.

Best,

Anaika