Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Hello again! This week at OYO has been all about creating alignment between platforms, between projects, and most importantly, between us and our audience.

With the season announcement post ready to go, I focused on making sure the launch feels seamless across all touchpoints. I met with Mike, our website contact, to update both the ticketing and season subscription links, ensuring that everything from the social post to the email to the site connects smoothly. Our goal is to reduce friction so that when someone sees the announcement and wants to learn more or buy tickets, it’s an easy and intuitive process. It’s small details like this that help us build trust and momentum as we roll out the season.

Beyond the rollout logistics, I’ve been thinking ahead. I’ve started planning flyers and social media content for our Children’s Dance programming, hoping to get a head start on outreach for that series. Since this program serves a different audience (families, young dancers, and new community members) it’s important that we tailor our messaging early. I’m excited to start brainstorming visuals and tone that feel warm, energetic, and kid-friendly while still aligning with OYO’s overall aesthetic.

This week felt like a quiet but important pivot. From just getting everything in place to truly thinking like a communicator: How do we guide people through the season? How do we spark curiosity and make every post, link, or flyer feel like a doorway into the work we are doing?

As the weeks go on, I’m continuing to look for ways to not only promote, but connect and to make sure each piece of content speaks to the people we want to reach.

This week at The Overwatch Partnership, I had a number of tasks to complete. The main one was to create an Excel sheet that complied all the responses I received from the mentors and mentees I emailed. So far, I have heard back from a lot of the mentors. I was really glad to see that their feedback was mainly positive! A lot of them said that their communication and relationship with their mentee was going very well. One mentor expressed that they would like to talk to other mentors to share experiences. This would be helpful for the mentors so that they could learn methods that do and don’t work when it comes to supporting their mentees. Unfortunately, another mentor has been having consistent communication issues with their mentees. Reading all of the responses made me realize how important gathering feedback is. There is always room for improvement, and you should always look for ways to make things easier and more beneficial for all parties. 

Another task I had this week was to create a mentor playbook. The playbook is meant to be an outline that they can reference or follow during the 9-month mentorship period. It will be especially helpful for first time mentors. I have never created a playbook for programs before, so I did a lot of research and looked and preexisting playbooks to help me create one for OWP. I really enjoy doing these kinds of tasks. It makes me feel like I am really making a difference and helping people. I am still researching grants that OWP can apply to. It has been really hard trying to find grants that are local to Ohio. Overwatch does not fit a lot of the specific requirements to receive a lot of local grants, but I am still trying very hard to find some! I see how hard it is for small nonprofits to receive funding. And unfortunately, with the way things are going I don’t think it is going to get any easier. 

To end on a high note, I also created a document containing the responses I received from each board member I met with. They all aspire to grow OWP so that many more veterans can receive mentorship and support. One even had the idea to provide support to military families as well, which was something I hadn’t even thought of. I am really excited to see how Overwatch grows, even after I am no longer a Fellow. 

Thank you for reading, 

Kindall Benjamin 

Hi Everyone!

This week at Green Columbus was eventful, I attended my first board meeting and litter league night. I also published the tree giveaway sign up sheet on the Green Columbus website, which means that the giveaways are right around the corner!

The July board meeting was on Thursday night at the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District office in a fancy meeting room so I felt very professional. I got to meet the majority of the board members at the meeting and see how a board meeting is conducted. A consultant for Green Columbus was also at the meeting and it was so interesting to hear about all of their ideas for Green Columbus. I also learned that most boards follow Robert’s Rules for voting and introducing motions.

Green Columbus is preparing for its annual tree giveaways in the fall and is hosting giveaways at three different locations throughout Columbus, so I applied for permits for two of the locations. I had never applied for a permit before so it was good to get the experience. I also reorganized the tree giveaway links on our website and published the sign ups for the giveaways which was really exciting because residents can now start signing up for trees!

This week showed me how much work and planning is required for nonprofit events to be successful and support the community. Even for smaller organizations, it is no easy feat to plan successful events year after year. Like Dr. Lomax said in this week’s session, nonprofits and philanthropy are how so much aid is provided in the U.S. because for so many issues like healthcare, the environment, and housing there isn’t any policy protecting an individual’s right to healthcare, housing, or a clean and healthy environment. This makes the work that Green Columbus does even more important and I’m grateful to have had this opportunity to help.

Until next week,

Emma

Good afternoon, Fellows!

Though I’m a day late in posting, I didn’t want to miss the chance to share the amazing work happening at Big Brothers Big Sisters this week!

One of the most impactful experiences I had was attending an event called “Big Affinity.” This gathering celebrated long-term mentors—those who’ve been part of BBBS for 2 to 15 years—who have gone above and beyond in supporting their Littles and exemplifying the core values of mentorship. While attendance was optional, I eagerly volunteered to assist my team and gain insight into the unique challenges and triumphs experienced by these mentors.

My role involved welcoming guests, guiding them to the proper conference spaces, and serving as the lead note-taker. By the end, I had compiled three pages of valuable discussions, suggestions, training ideas, and constructive feedback. The event was deeply insightful and offered a wealth of ideas for improving mentor support.

Learning from Leadership

As part of my internship, I’ve been meeting one-on-one with BBBS staff to learn more about their roles, skills, and journeys within the organization. In earlier weeks, I connected with several Match Support Specialists. More recently, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with the leadership team, and these conversations have been incredibly eye-opening.

During our first learning session, we heard a powerful concept: Leadership means people follow you because they want to, not because they have to. This idea, along with the principle of exercising “power with” instead of “power over,” has stuck with me—and it’s evident that many BBBS leaders embody this approach.

Nearly every director and coordinator I’ve spoken with began their journey as a Match Support Specialist. Their growth stories emphasized two key lessons:

1. It’s okay to start small and grow over time.
2. Give yourself grace—growth takes patience, humility, and a willingness to receive feedback.

We also discussed the challenges of leadership, especially around conflict resolution. Many shared how learning to navigate conflict has helped them foster stronger relationships and more resilient teams. Whether in the nonprofit, corporate, or community sector, developing these interpersonal and leadership skills is essential to building a healthy organizational culture.

One program lead shared a powerful comment that stuck with me: “Match Support Specialists are the heart of this organization. Without them, we couldn’t do our jobs.” That sentiment captures the passion and dedication running through every level of BBBS.

Looking Ahead

Soon, I’ll be visiting our Delaware office for more shadowing and collaboration with the enrollment team in Franklin County. I’m especially excited to support efforts to welcome new volunteers into the BBBS family.

Even though this internship is short-term, I feel deeply connected to the mission and the people here. I’m eager to keep learning and contributing however I can.

Cheers to Week 6—onward to Week 7!

This week at Zora’s House gave me valuable insight into the inner workings of nonprofit development, programming, and team collaboration. One of the most impactful experiences was attending a meeting focused on impact evaluation and assessment. I’m learning how essential data is not just for internal understanding, but also for external needs like grant applications and donor reporting. What stood out most was the opportunity to give input on revising the participant survey. I offered suggestions to make it more inclusive of the diverse identities of the people who will be taking it. We also discussed formatting decisions to ensure the survey is user-friendly and accessible. It was exciting to be part of a conversation where inclusivity, clarity, and impact all intersected.

I also spent time learning more about the Wealth Builders program. This initiative supports women of color in gaining financial knowledge and building long-term stability. I observed how intentional the program is not only in content but in the community it fosters. Zora’s House provides a space where participants can feel safe talking about money, asking questions, and setting financial goals without judgment. It’s a powerful reminder that financial empowerment is deeply connected to emotional support and belonging.

In preparation for the Columbus Book Festival, I helped the team get materials ready for our tabling event this coming weekend. From organizing printed materials to checking off logistics, it was a hands-on experience that reminded me how much thought goes into public outreach. I’ll report back next week on how the event went!

Lastly, I attended part of an all-staff meeting focused on how Zora’s House uses Asana as a communication and task management platform. I learned how each program and event is broken down into action steps that keep the whole team aligned. It helps everyone know what needs to happen, who’s responsible, and how to keep things moving even when schedules change.

This week gave me a fuller picture of what it takes to run an organization with care, strategy, and community at the center.

Until next time,

Asia

Hi everyone! I just finished a super super exciting week at the Center for Disability Empowerment!! The past six weeks my time with the CDE has been dedicated to planning the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and tonight the event finally took place. It was so rewarding to see everything I have been working on come together. Over the last six weeks I have been in contact with countless sponsors and sat on many virtual Planning Committee meetings, and tonight I was finally able to meet with all of these people in person. Everything with the event went smoothly, and I felt that all the hours of preparation and planning really paid off.

For the first hour of the event I was at the registration table helping to check guests in and get them their nametags. I was happy with this position as I got to interact with all of our guests at the event and see the diverse range of individuals who were choosing to spend their evenings celebrating the ADA. During the program, we heard the essay contest winners read their essays as well as a keynote address from disability advocate Rebecca Cokley. Even though I have been working with the CDE for six weeks now, I learned so much about the struggles of the disability community this evening. Whether it is personal, systemic, or political struggles, there has been true determination and resilience in the disability community to continue fighting for their rights. Rebecca Cokley is an incredibly inspiring individual who has dedicated her career to disability advocacy, and it was amazing to hear all the change she has incited for the disability community throughout her career. During her keynote address, Rebecca made sure to highlight the community aspect of disability advocacy, and called everyone at the event to action to fight for the livelihood of disabled Americans. It was clear that everyone at the event felt a sense of community and strength in all coming together tonight. 

I am so pleased with how the event went this evening and I feel so grateful that I got to be a part of it. I have learned so much more than I ever imagined I would, both about professional event planning as well as about what it means to be an advocate.

Until next week,

Rachael McCague

Hello everyone!

I have now reached the end of week 6! This week has once again been made up of various responsibilities and activities, and I would like to give you a glance into all of them!

On Tuesday, I dedicated time to preparing our marketing cart for the Columbus Book Festival, which has been a multi-day process. I specifically readied season brochures, folded children’s brochures, and packed materials I have been collecting on my desk neatly into the cart. Some such materials that can be found in the marketing cart include MAC stickers, two kinds of brochures, exhibition postcards, kids coloring sheets, etc. On this day, I also got to do a direct press communication with CityScene. I sent them our responses to the prompts they had emailed, connected to the Performance Review, and I attached a photo. Overall, I really got to focus on Marketing and Outreach this day which has been a nice learning experience. 

On Wednesday, I started my morning off at The Columbus Foundation. We had a session dedicated to Fundraising and Philanthropy, a subject that I have found myself becoming increasingly interested in within Nonprofit work. Our two speakers were Emily Savors Senior Director of Grantmaking at The Columbus Foundation and Ruth Lomax Senior Vice President and Executive Director for City Year Columbus, and they both provided us a wonderful opportunity to not only discuss the positives surrounding fundraising and philanthropy but also the harder things surrounding both. Later on in the day, I got to participate in our second MAC on the Road tour at the Columbus Museum of Art. All participants had the opportunity to take part in a docent led tour of the museum. As someone who has visited this museum on several occasions, I enjoyed being able to learn something new, whether that was connected to a backstory of a piece of art or being challenged to not only consider the art but what it is framed in. I also got to enjoy the company of our participants who themselves are passionate about the arts. In the evening, I and a few other fellows attended a Columbus Clipper game, and I enjoyed the chance to connect with my peers and get to know them more.

On Thursday, I started the day off with a meeting with some MAC staff where we learned how to use an app through which we can make merchandise sales at the upcoming Columbus Books Festival. A little later in the day, we had an all staff meeting where we mainly discussed how the organization would like to pass on convenience fees and tax when it comes to ticket purchases, for example. I ended the day with a gallery/exhibition opening- my first one at the MAC! It was nice to learn about what goes into having a gallery opening from the concessions, to hiring a musician for ambience, to prepping the overall building. It was lovely to get to see people enjoying the beautiful artwork of Linda Hutchinson, whose exhibit titled In Good Company lined the MAC’s hallways, and Said-Oladejo-Lawal, whose exhibit titled My Voice and Dance, lined our main gallery walls. Said-Oladejo-Lawal was in attendance himself, and it was nice to hear how art, for him, gives him freedom to express his thoughts, a type of song and dance on canvas.

Today, Friday, I spent some time both in the morning and the afternoon, going around to various classrooms and getting pictures of the various instructor camps that are going on, for marketing purposes. Some such camps that the MAC offers includes creative writing, sewing and fashion, ceramic hand-building, comic creation, paint/ink, digital art, etc. It was fun to get to experience the atmosphere of each class, interact with the kids and instructors, and get to see a younger generation engaging in the world of art in its various forms. Today, I also had another Nonprofit Chat with our Executive Director and another colleague. Our topic of discussion was The Greater Columbus Arts Council. One other thing we did today, in preparation for the Columbus Books Festival, was to pack up the MAC Shop merchandise to be transported to our booth site. 

Overall, it has been a productive and engaging week, and I look forward to attending the Columbus Book Festival Saturday and Sunday!

Talk to you soon, 

Graci

Hi All,

Today, I am wrapping up my birthday and sixth week with Huckleberry House! Overall, I would say this week was a rather productive one as I finished calling all of our 135 current Safe Place partners and started working with the outreach team to order and distribute the proper Safe Place signage and materials to the partner sites that need them. Although I am still waiting on a few current partners to call me back, I am happy to be moving on to part two of my big project, as that will free up some time for me to work on other things, like updating the Safe Place training manual and reaching out to potential new partners.

Also, in between all the phone calls and emails, I was able to finish updating Huck House’s Case for Support! As I mentioned last week, I really enjoyed getting to use some of my research skills for this project, so I decided to take on another research task Carol had. My new research project is to find info on both the long-term individual impact and social return on investment (SROI) of youth using services like ours at Huck House versus entering the foster and/or juvenile justice systems. After an initial search, I found a lot on individual impact but not a lot of SROI analyses, so this might be an opportunity for me to crunch some numbers and see if I can approximate what an actual SROI analysis might reveal.

Until next week,
Emoni

Hi everyone! This week at ETSS Tewahedo Social Services, I worked on some more event planning duties as we get closer to the August 8th Youth Summit, which is officially less than a month away! Some of my tasks include: negotiating discounts from restaurants and place catering orders, analyzing our Summer Youth Enrichment Program site rosters and pairing cohorts from each site with age-appropriate workshops from various community partners, ordering branded merchandise and medals for the soccer tournaments, coordinating with the DJ to provide him with MP3 files of backing songs for the kids’ cultural dances, finalizing volunteer roles and creating a signup through our volunteer management platform, and keeping track of our event budget as new sponsorships and expenses pop up.  

Our Fellows Learning Session this week focused on fundraising, a topic that the cohort was enthusiastic to learn about. Emily Savors from the Columbus Foundation and Ruth Lomax from City Year graced us with their presence. It was fascinating to hear from both sides of the grantmaking process, with the Columbus Foundation distributing money from donors to nonprofits like City Year. Their insights are helpful to me as I gain fundraising experience, especially the old “fundraising is relationship-building” adage. I personally found it reassuring that even more introverted people can find meaningful work on the grantmaking side of things!  

A fun coincidence: On Monday, I met with a wonderful local artist Richard “Duarte” Brown, who will be offering a workshop for our Summer Youth Enrichment Program students at the Youth Summit. After I introduced myself as a Summer Fellow, he asked if I had seen his painting in the Columbus Foundation building, and I wasn’t sure. It turns out that I have been sitting directly in front of his painting at all our Learning Sessions!  

Until next time,

Sanay

Hi everyone! This week was definitely a more relaxed week at Netcare with no major meetings or big projects to finish. I spent a lot of this week completing tiny tasks from my checklist, while assisting my supervisors in their work.

I started off this week with continuing on our quarterly newsletter, focusing on the client testimonials. I continued to draft infographics and eye-catching material to boost our reach and awareness. I also did quite a few organization related tasks like redoing the folder with all of our logos and partners’ logos so that they were easy and quick to find, and adding community events we could participate in to our calendar.

I spent a lot of this week reading through an audit, which was incredibly interesting to look through as I have never done so before! We also started to promote an upcoming event where we are partnering with Aladdin’s. On July 29, a portion of the proceeds from dine-in and take-out food at the Grandview location will be given to Netcare, so please enjoy a nice meal there if you are interested in supporting us!

The past couple of days we had our Town Hall meetings, which are meetings with our CEO that give staff members the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about recent Netcare updates. This was very fun to sit in on, as I was able to see new changes in the nonprofit sector, as well as recent developments within our organization.

As this upcoming week approaches, we will continue to work on our large project of increasing engagement on our social platforms through short videos. We spent this week curating a list of questions to ask our staff and donors, and will be starting interviews soon. We have also started to look into video-editing software and how we want to make our content more fun and interesting for people of all ages.

Overall, I had a great time working on many different tasks and am looking forward to our work over the next few weeks!

Best,

Anaika