Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

I’ve said this the past couple of weeks, but I still can’t believe the fellowship is soon coming to an end. I’ve been working hard to wrap up my final report and putting the finishing touches of other projects. It’s been an amazing experience to get a first-hand view of what it is like to work full-time at a nonprofit organization.

I started off the week by going to Prevent Blindness Ohio to meet with their President and CEO, Sherill Williams. I met with her for a couple of hours to discuss the information management system research I have been doing at her organization and reveal to her some of my key findings. She has been at PVO for a very long time (I forget exactly, but I believe it was something between 20-30 years) and it was great to get her input on the things I observed. I gained some valuable information on how their organization has been able to be so successful, as well as some advice about the nonprofit career world in general.

I told her about the fellows learning session where we talked about how storytelling is the key to nonprofits, but she was able to further analyze that it all starts with valuable data when it comes to telling a story. With GroundWork group’s information management tool, Prevent Blindness Ohio is able to gather the information  necessary for telling the story they need for grants and donors. Without the ability to track how many people you served, see which county they reside in, see their demographics, or other key information, you are unable to construct the story of your nonprofit. Data is the key to storytelling.

Tuesday, I had the chance to go to a Civic IMS Users group at Easter Seals in Hilliard. Users of GroundWork group’s Civic tool got together to learn about how other nonprofit organizations use the tool.  It was a good mix of people who were new and wanted to learn more and people who had been using the tool for over 20 years. The only surprisingly thing to mention was that all the attendees were women!

For the rest of the week I sat in on meetings, started putting together some things for the final presentation, and worked more on my report. It’s nice to see everything coming together, but I’m trying to make sure I don’t burn myself from only working on one thing for the whole day. I’m realizing this summer the important of multi-tasking. Having multiple projects going on at the same time helps mix up the work day and make time fly.

Last summer, I had the privilege of working for the Department of Administration in my hometown of Tallmadge, Ohio. There I learned valuable lessons about how local government functions — in relation to the citizens and in relation to other levels of government. The federalist system of government we have here in the United States inhibits local governments to apply for federal and state grants in order to fund certain projects such as building a new school or repaving a road. During my time at the City of Tallmadge, I learned a great deal about this process from the local government perspective but now at Clean Fuels Ohio, I get to see things from the other side.

Here in Ohio we have the Local Government Innovation Fund (LGIF) — which allows the state and various organizations like Clean Fuels Ohio to partner with local municipalities in order to fund development projects. Recently I have been putting together profiles for local governments around the state, looking for potential partners for Clean Fuels Ohio. We have already partnered with local municipalities such as Hamilton County and the City of Toledo. Prior to this experience with Clean Fuels Ohio I was not aware of how much impact the nonprofit sector has on these local and state government interactions.

Partnering with local governments and the LGIF, Clean Fuels Ohio is able to promote efficiency for vehicle fleets — saving money for local governments already on tight budgets. The LGIF promotes service sharing and cost-saving measures through the use of grants, loans, and scholarships. Clean Fuels Ohio takes great pride in being able to connect local governments to these sources and we are extremely excited for future partnerships.

This past week was great!  Just a refresher for you all, I work with the YMCA’s of Central Ohio.  There I develop and implement programs for their Kid’s Time.  Their Kid’s Time is a paid member service that kids ages 6-12 are able to participate in.  I develop and implement programs on a weekly basis at the North Branch YMCA and the Gahanna Branch YMCA.  Pretty cool, huh?

The program that we did last week was called “Build it Yourself”.  It was a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time.  Kid’s had the option to play with brand new play dough, legos, train tracks, and a few other things.  The whole idea behind this week was to allow the kids to use their creativity to build objects of their interest.  After about an hour or so, the kids, myself, and my helper went outside to play for the last hour.  I treated the outdoor play time as a reward.  If the kids behaved really well inside and participated, then we were able to go outside.  I decided to do this because we have been having bad weather for the past two week, and they were definitely ready to run around in the sunshine!

This upcoming week we will be doing a “Summer Celebration”!  It is our last week in the Kid’s Time Summer Series.  I am so excited for the celebration!  We will be doing a craft, water balloon toss, kick ball game, and of course, a summer treat!  I am definitely sad to see the series end, where did the time go?  I learned A LOT this summer about myself, nonprofits, and kids’ interests.  Stay tuned for my next blog!  I will be wrapping up the summer and telling you all what I learned.  Don’t miss it!

I am currently sitting at my desk, in between editing multiple video projects, and I had a sort of “awakening”.  It is just now dawning on me that I am finally a working professional. I know, I know, that sounds slightly unusual to say out loud, but it’s true.

At the beginning of this Fellowship (NOT INTERNSHIP) I felt as though I was just another college student who was putting on a tie in the morning and simply acting like I was a grown up.  Even when you are twenty-one years old you still have moments where you feel much younger than you really are.  I mean just yesterday it feels like I was in high school and still wondering what college I would be attending.

But here I am.  I am sitting at a desk with a cup of coffee, a list of emails to respond to, and coworkers surrounding me that rely on me to do my best work day in and day out.  At this time last summer I was sitting at a desk much like this one I am in now, yet it could not have been more different.  Last Summer I was in the shadows, watching, observing, and quietly obeying.  I did not have responsibilities or even daily tasks.  I was a mere existence at a company that was so big that I was simply a number and a paycheck.

The Columbus Foundation has done something with this Summer Fellowship program that many people do not realize is so important: they actually value college students.  They look at this group of young adults and see more clearly then just potential, they see a person that is prepared to change the world today.  At my age, the only question I get asked by adults is “What do you want to do after college?”… AFTER college? What about right now?  Why do I have to have three degrees in hand and be older than my parents to finally be able to make a difference in the world?  The Columbus Foundation is so proactive with everything that they do on a day to day basis that they may not realize how incredible this opportunity is that they are giving us.  We are now working professionals.  We are now leaders in our field.  We are now changing the world.  In the world of non-profits there is no time to wait and plan for tomorrow to be the day something gets done.  So here we are, thanks to The Columbus Foundation, with an opportunity and responsibility to make the world a better place. TODAY.

Over the past seven weeks, I have had the opportunity to experience the internal workings of a nonprofit childcare center and have made considerable strides in developing a volunteer program for the organization. During the past week, I have been able to witness the Columbus Early Learning Centers from a slightly different angle by attending the CELC’s monthly development committee meeting and board meeting. The focus during the development committee meeting was primarily on fundraising, and how to ensure that the organization meets its fundraising goals by the end of the year. However, since a major component of development is volunteering, we spent about fifteen minutes diving into the work that I have been doing with the program. It was great to hear their feedback, both positive and constructive, about the work that I have been doing. Although the flow of the full board was much faster paced, I still had the opportunity to share the work that I have been doing and receive feedback from the full board.

Reflecting upon these meetings, I believe I have had two big takeaways. First, my thought process up to this point as I have been developing the program was centered on how volunteers can help the day-to-day operations of the facility run more efficiently. However, attending the board meeting has allowed me to step back and consider how the work that I am doing could better align with the overall, long-term goals of the organization. For example, since the meeting, I have been considering ways in which volunteers could help the organization meet its fundraising goals. As a result, I am working on ways to target corporations and groups within the community, in addition to the college students and individuals that I have been targeting all along. By shifting this focus, I am hoping that additional fundraising channels will open, and that I will help enable the development committee to be able to achieve its fundraising goals by the year.

My second takeaway was an increased understanding of how a professional, nonprofit board operates. Although I am involved in the leadership of several organizations on campus, the atmosphere of the room was considerably different at the CELC meetings. Particularly, there were differences in how the board members communicated as far as assigning action items, maintaining respectful communication, and handling dissent. I am hoping that I can apply some of what I learned at these meetings in those leadership organizations in which I participate. Therefore, in the end, my participation in these board meetings has allowed me to reflect upon my work both inside and outside the organization.

In order to best serve people, requisite knowledge and understanding of that people must first be obtained. Much like a doctor cannot best treat and aid a patient without knowing his or her health record and status, an immigration attorney cannot reach their maximum potential for serving clients without first gaining an understanding of their condition. In this vein, my supervisor has furnished my cubicle with two books in hopes of cultivating this necessary sense of understanding. Each of these has proven to be one of, if not the most didactic aspects of my fellowship thus far this summer.

Each book focuses on one major immigrant community in the United States, including Columbus, and their collective struggle: the domestic pressures that catalyzed the mass exodus from their native countries. Antonio’s Gun and Delfino’s Dream by Sam Quinones illustrates the plight of the rural Mexicanos, the scintillating draw of migration to the United States, legal or otherwise, and the effects of the mass emigration, both direct and collateral, on Mexico and its people.

What is the What by Dave Eggers highlights the excruciating journey of one Sudanese boy from his home, to menacing refugee camps, and ultimately to a hostile home in the fabled land of America. These books are entrenched in real stories, directly from primary sources, and paint painfully lucid pictures of immigrants and their circumstances in the US. The land of opportunity, seen as a reprieve from their home countries by immigrants, a sort of paradise on Earth, is riddled with obstacles and unseen difficulties for migrators. Language is a natural barrier, rampant racism and hate crimes are not; unfortunately, most immigrants are subjected to these ugly realities, and they ultimately serve as catapulting stones that shatter the mystical view of sublimity many immigrants construct of the United States before their arrival.

Empathy is intrinsic to virtually every nonprofit organization; but empathy is not enough to appropriately serve others, to truly help ameliorate their adverse condition. Extensive knowledge of the community in need is imperative. Gaining this knowledge and subsequent understanding takes time and effort, but similar to the work a doctor invests in learning about his patients, those serving others must invest in educating themselves on their targeted communities. Sometimes, it is as simple as reading the right books.

I had a fantastic week.  Wednesday was so much fun.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and learning about the CEO of the Columbus Foundation, along with the presentation on brand. I think I could have listened to the CEO talk about himself for hours. The conversation on brand was interesting for me because I found the questions easy to answer – what do you do? how do you do it? why does it matter?  MAW has one goal we all work towards. I think we would all answer those questions the same. It will be interesting, going forward, to work at a different non-profit and see if I can answer those questions easily.

ECDI was so cool.  The building had an amazing vibe and everyone there was so friendly.  I’m so impressed by the work that they do. It was fun to meet the other fellows supervisors. My boss was unable to intend so I brought along my boss from last year, John. The food truck food was delicious so I tried to sell him on the idea of getting a food truck to our office.

When I got back, I saw our MAW CEO and asked him a quick question about our relationship with other wish granting organizations, only to end up chatting with him in his office for half an hour.  We talked about the 5 year plan and he showed me how he talks to donors by having me act as one.

Also, I completed my first draft of a guide to analyzing costs.  I created it to standardize the way costs are looked at going forward. Currently, I’m having an intern use it to create a cost analysis comparison between June of this year and June of last.  I have already analyzed June, so I’m able to compare her results to mine to see what I need to tweak on the guide.  It took me easily three weeks to really feel like I had the hang of what I was doing so I can’t imagine it’s very easy for her right now. I’m very grateful for her help.  I went to check-in and ask how it was going.  I hope to have a final draft by the end of the week.

The revisiting of the Ask The Land survey is going great! Since my time here at Shepherd’s Corner we have had the following people do resurveying:

1. Allison Shaw, Colleen Sharkey, and Stephanie West surveyed birds, and they are all with the Metroparks

2. Jim McCormac, and avian expert for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, also conducted a bird survey

3. Mark Dilley, founder of MAD Scientists, surveyed plants

4. Jenny Adkins, who works for MAD Scientists, also did an extensive plant survey

5. Aaron Laver, employee of MAD Scientists, and Hunter Ardvey, intern for MAD Scientists, surveyed amphibians, fish, and invertebrates

6. Dan Boone, a retired arbologist and current botanist, surveyed plants

7. Jeff Bates, instructor at Columbus State, did soil analysis throughout the different patches of land

The turn out so far has been really impressive, and it is great to see how willing people are to lending their time to help with this survey. It takes a team of experts to put this together, so I say thank you to all of those that have, and will be surveying! This week I will be doing a fungus survey with Jim Davidson, a wildlife and fungus expert. There are so many different fungus that have sprouted up over the last couple of weeks because of all the rain. So while the rain is a nuisance for many humans, it is a gift to many plants! Just walking around on my own I have come across at least 10 different kinds of fungus, and that is only on one of the three paths that I can take. I have identified one type as Turkey tail (pictured on right), and another kind called Coral fungus. The eyelash fungus was out during camp week, but I think that with everyone walking over it that it has gone away. However, it will be added to the final list of fungus because it was present at one point this summer!

This is where it pays to always keep a close eye on the surroundings, and not just when the specific survey times come. Environments are constantly changing, and not necessarily on a large scale, but the small scales… like flooding one day and not the next due to the rain. These changes cause living things to adapt, such as the mushrooms sprouting when it’s wet, and not when it’s dry. Looking at these, sometimes over night changes, are going to be extremely helpful during my final reflection on how the addition of buildings around Shepherd’s Corner is affecting the wildlife. Just over night the trails scenery can change, and I can only imagine how much difference a few years worth of change has made.

I am a big believer in the power of perspective.  The catch to this is not just the power of your perspective, but the understanding in others perspectives.  I will fully admit that this is really hard to do at times, for many reasons.  One reason may be your personality type.  Another could be an overall lack of experience.  Also, your upbringing and the values instilled within you.  Nothing that I am going to be sharing today goes quite that deep.  Rather a different perspective that I experienced this week at my fellowship with the YMCA’s of Central Ohio.

I was sitting at my desk early in the week, and a little girl came into our staff room.  She said “I hurt”.  As you can tell, she was very young, probably no older than five years old.  On top of age, she also had a speech impediment.  Come to find out, her name was Delaney and she is adopted.  She is a pure joy and has a beautiful spirit! This little girl came in and showed me her arm.  She had some sort of allergic reaction all up her arm and it looked painful!  At that moment, the staff was going to start their weekly meeting.  I asked if Delaney could hang out with me until her mom got there.  I was incredibly blessed by that little girl’s presence for almost an hour!  We colored and chatted about her day.  It was awesome!

How does this deal with perspective?  Well obviously, the perspective of the pain the little girl was in would not be fun.  More importantly, I pictured the staff members who work there year round on a regular basis.  They exhibit so much patience and love to children just like Delaney every day!  One of the YMCA’s biggest goals is to delight families.  This is how families are so delighted at the YMCA’s of central Ohio.  Staff members and camp staffers always serve and love on children… even when they don’t feel well!  Needless to say, it was an inside look at the lives of staff members… It provided a different perspective!