Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Hello everyone! This week I got to opportunity to meet with a few people that have relations with Leadership Columbus. Over this summer, I have made it a personal goal of mine to meet for coffee with people in my organization or have worked with my organization. For me, networking has not been my strong suit throughout college. I would get nervous even sending an email to someone I didn’t know. I have used this opportunity during this fellowship to change that, and I am so glad I did.

The first person I met for coffee this week was Jay Delaney, one of the board members at Leadership Columbus. I had met and spoken with Jay on a couple occasions already but I knew I wanted to get together and talk more with him one on one. I may have mentioned this before, but Leadership Columbus only consists of 5 employees including myself, which means we get to work very closely with our board members. I have been so grateful to have met and gotten to work alongside our board members this summer. I have gotten to see the behind the scenes work and the collaboration between us and the board members. Alright back to Jay, him and I had some great conversations about work experiences and the opportunities that networking can bring. After an extremely interesting life that including some filmmaking around the country, he ended up here at Ohio State University thanks to networking he had done with people around Columbus. It’s always wonderful to talk with someone on the board about what made them want to join our board in the first place. For Jay, a Signature Program graduate of 2020, his experience with us was so wonderful that he wanted to keep it going and continue to offer us his help as a board member and I thank him dearly for all he’s done. I truly took a lot of our talks and what doors can be opened just by sending a mere email or meeting for one coffee.

The second person I met with this week was one of my more nervous asks. I had the honor of meeting with a 2008 Signature Program graduate, Columbus Business First 2015 40 under 40 recipient, recipient of the 2019 Columbus Foundation’s Spirit of Columbus Award, and the first female auditor of the City of Columbus, Megan Kilgore. I feel like I just wrote that as if I was announcing it like she was on the first tee of a major golf tournament. I am so grateful to have talked with her and got to learn all about her job as auditor. I honestly didn’t know what our city auditor does but after she explained it, it made total sense. We had some great conversations revolving around technology and data that our city is using to help guide the auditor’s office into smart and correct decisions. We then got into our values and why we enjoy doing what we do. I’m a big Columbus Crew supporter so I found this really cool and interesting, but her help with the Save the Crew campaign in 2019 was what helped make her a recipient of the Spirit of Columbus award in 2019. To me, it is still so cool to see how strong our community was at that time to work endlessly in order to keep the Crew in Columbus. I am so glad we succeeded. This city would not be the same without the Crew here, and I genuinely mean that. Back to our conversations though, her and I also had talked about the importance of networking and she even recommended me talk with some more people as well. I fully plan on taking her up on that and meeting with these people. For me, the best thing I can do going into my senior year at Fisher’s College of Business is to just meet with as many people as I can to see the various industries and what’s all out there, as well as expanding my networking circle. I truly thank her for taking the time out of her day to meet with me.

This week, other than networking, was a preparation week for our Central Ohio Leadership Academy that takes place all next week. I am very excited for it and I am excited to share all about it but you’re going to have to come back and tune in next week to hear about my time there. Also, thanks to all of you reading this, I truly appreciate those who do. To see people actually read this inspires me to give it the best I can, so thanks.

I’ll see you next week,

Austin Gray

Hi Everyone! A high-paced start to the week whisked away the lull of the previous two weeks as food insecurity worsened and more client families needed food pantry boxes. Fortunately, the food pantry partnerships went even better than expected. My weekly food box pickup orders at 12pm each Wednesday with a food pantry partner drastically changed the ease of deliveries to clients. Instead of waiting for one hour each day for 2 or 3 food boxes, I got 5 boxes packed into my car within minutes, which cut down my total time spent delivering boxes by about 5 hours. So, despite having what looked to be a near “chaos week,” similar to the one I had during week 2, the week went by exceptionally smoothly. During my last few weeks at CRIS, we anticipate having an influx of new arrivals, and I look forward to continuing these partnerships and seeing how new ones enhance our work further. I have loved the partnership-building process and am so happy to see the hard work pay off. Hopefully, I can forge more partnerships before my time with CRIS ends.

This week, I am continuing to work on the charity regatta social media campaign. The idea around the campaign was for our boat to make its way around Bridgeway, but viewers need to guess the location of the boat. Every week, there will be a riddle that is posted to our social media that hints at the location of the boat. Viewers would need to guess the riddle in order to figure out the location of the boat. For each person with a correct guess, that person will receive a ticket for a raffle prize. This week, I posted a riddle that would hint people to guess that the boat is with our Bridgeway facilities team. This lead to us getting more engagement on social media because more people are commenting in order to guess the location. However, our amount of donations have been stagnant so I am hoping that it leads to more people donating later during the month.

I am also continuing to work on my photojournalism project. So far, I have been able to shadow the crisis stabilization team. I was able to shadow a couple of team members during some sessions. My favorite session was aimed at reinforcing the behavior of stopping when someone yells “stop.” Some students experience a behavior that leads to them running to places where they are not supposed to go. During this session, staff ran along with a student within the school and practiced stopping with the student when one of the staff said “stop.” I ran along with the staff and was able to take photos of this session. Though it was challenging, I felt like the staff made the session fun for everyone involved. It was one of the most unique moments I had during my time at Bridgeway, and I also had a blast going along with this session. As I was taking pictures, however, I realized that the pictures are not able to incorporate the dialogues that are just as important as the imagery. So, I am going to try to include sounds from the moments that I capture into the project as well so that viewers can both see and hear the bonds that staff have with their students.

At the start of August, I am attending a leadership retreat. In preparation for the session, the organization that it is through asked participants to complete a DiSC assessment. It is a self-assessment tool used to fit a person into one of four dimensions of human behavior: dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness. Your responses also create a pattern that places people into more specific personality types. The results generally apply to professional settings, but you can interpret them to represent your personal life.

This week, I received my results from the assessment. My highest dimension is dominance, and my result pattern is closely related to a result-oriented profile. I am not surprised by these results because I am highly independent, frustrated with the status quo, opinionated, and change-oriented. Many of the descriptions of how I work closely align with myself. It was reassuring to know that I have the personality type to take charge, take on challenges, and work well under pressure. These are all aspects that I pride myself on.

Although I do enjoy being a dominant person, there are many mental obstacles that you need to overcome to work well with other people. I have always enjoyed independent work, but as a city and regional planning major, most of my assignments involve group-based projects. While I usually take on a leadership role, as noted in my assessment results, d-dimension personalities can be arrogant, competitive, and uncaring due to being honest, blunt, and flaw-finding. Those are some of my most significant weaknesses. I enjoy group work if my team has a strong drive and produces quality work. This past semester, I did find myself in the middle of conflicts on two separate group projects due to people not wanting to do their part. I cannot sit back and will call them out because I thrive on validated conflict. It is not great, but I do love to prove a point.

The assessment also reassured me of many weaknesses I identified during this past academic year. As stated, I am not afraid of conflict; however, too much can lead to negative group dynamics. I am learning to pick my battles and loosen my grip on control. It is difficult for me to take a step back because if something is going to have my name on it, I want it to (at least) meet my quality standards. We all have different standards, which is something that I have to accept.

Further, I mentioned that the assessment stated I can come off as arrogant or condescending. I already know that my delivery and wording are areas of problem for me. I can be blunt because that is how I talk to myself, but not everyone is ready for unsweetened truth. I need to keep patience and delivery at the forefront of my mind.

I encourage everyone to take a DiSC assessment because the results are quite enlightening and a great way to identify areas that need development. I want to see how we will utilize this assessment during the leadership retreat. 

Hi everyone! This week was probably the most stressful week of the fellowship I’ve had yet as I have some new projects I am working on in the coming weeks. In addition, there’s a multitude of things happening in life that have stressed me out, one being the state of politics. Through that these planes projects are welcomed as they keep my mind off everything else.

One of the projects I have been assigned is in reference to our StoryCorps project. I am leading the charge on outreach and communications to our donors and partners to get them involved in recording a story. What this entails is me drafting up emails and strategies in which our CEO can communicate to partners/ donors as well as them team. Recently, our Research and Advocacy manger recorded a “how-to record a story”, making the process even more seamless for people who want to participate.

The second project I was assigned was venue research. The Women’s Fund hosts their annual Keyholder event which had guest speakers that speak to the general values of gender equity. It was previously held at the Mershon Theatre on Ohio State’s campus, but the space is not conducive for the new feeling they want for Keyholder. I am doing some venue research on what places give them the best space and price for the new vibe they are envisioning for Keyholder.

Those two projects have added onto the Donor Survey project and supporting the team with any other projects, but is extremely welcomed and make me feel even more apart of the team.

Hope everyone stays stress free unlike me.

See y’all in the next one!

Kennedy Smith

As we close out week 6 most of the work remains the same. I am continuing projects like the Annual Impact Report, 30^th Anniversary Alumni Videos, Opening Day graphic, Back to School Drive campaign, etc. I also began working on the July Board Newsletter and the Red Jacket Bash campaign. 

One of the biggest changes happening at my site is the departure of our Executive Director Adero Robinson at the end of the month. Adero previously served as an AmeriCorps member with City Year prior to his role as Executive Director. It will be interesting to see how new leadership will affect City Year’s trajectory, especially since change is also happening at headquarters.

However, I wanted to take a step back this week and focus on why I applied to The Columbus Foundation Summer Fellowship Program. Like most rising juniors I was looking for an internship that would give me real-world experience in preparation for a future career in business. While I was initially searching for solely a marketing role, I quickly broadened my horizons to include other areas of business. 

As I searched I remember coming across The Columbus Foundation’s description of the fellowship. What really caught my eye was the mention of working with nonprofits in Columbus. I already had some experience volunteering as I had volunteered at food pantries, the Ohio State Annual Thanksgiving Dinner, and school events. I had enjoyed my time at these events, liked the idea of making an impact in my local community, and wanted to contribute to something greater than myself so I was sold. 

As I was browsing through the list of non-profits that The Columbus Foundation was partnering with this summer, I noticed City Year Columbus’s role description matched exactly what I was going to school for. I was incredibly grateful that I had found an opportunity that fit my skills so well and quickly applied. 

As I continue to learn more every day about non-profits, philanthropy, business, and marketing, I look back and am thankful I was lucky enough to get selected for this opportunity. I will make sure to continue to make the most of this experience.

This week at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center was a bit slower than usual as we did not have many events going on.

Monday and Tuesday, I helped out with the kids camp for 2nd-4th graders. One of the highlights was introducing them to our turtle, Ziggy. They were thrilled to pet him and learn about his habitat. Each day, we engaged the kids with different crafts, with the standout being cyanotype prints. This fascinating process involves collecting flowers and leaves, arranging them on light-sensitive cloth, and exposing them to sunlight to create beautiful prints. I think I was more interested in this than any of the kids were.

Additionally, the center welcomed a new art exhibit called “Birds, Butterflies, and Botanicals.” This exhibit features art quilts and needle felting, which creates a unique 3D effect. Whenever there’s a new exhibit, we host a reception that is open to the public. I helped set up for the event, which included a trip to Kroger for drinks and preparing charcuterie boards, chips, cookies, and beverages. Although I didn’t stay for the reception, I heard it was a huge success, with six pieces of art sold! This exhibit was supported by a grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. I made a social media post and wrote letters thanking them for their generous support, which allows us to bring such vibrant art to our center.

Wednesday was another highlight of the week, with a meeting at the Columbus Foundation. We met Elizabeth Martinez, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Nick Jones, VP of Community Wellness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It was inspiring to talk to such down-to-earth leaders. One key takeaway from the conversation was the difference between intent and impact, and how our generation feels immense pressure to “save the world.” They emphasized that we are young and don’t need to shoulder all the pressure at once. Instead, we should find pockets where we can make a difference because every small effort leads to change. It’s about community and starting conversations that can lead to bigger transformations.

Today, marked the last day of camp and because this group was older, we host a celebration lunch with their families. I was in charge of ordering the pizza and setting up for the event. It was a great turnout, with everyone enjoying the food and admiring the crafts the kids made throughout the week.

Hello! After another week, it’s great to write about my experiences here at Legal Aid. This week, work came back into its normal swing of things with the holiday week over and everyone back in office. I was able to get back into my normal routine in the office and work alongside my fellow clerks and staff, which I appreciate.

This week, we finally are starting to kickoff our “story bank” project, which will be a long-term (and hopefully useful) tool that has the potential to serve Legal Aid staff across its many teams for a number of different purposes. The basic idea is an easily accessible and navigable database of compelling and interesting stories from client experiences that might prove useful for some future need, whether that be for annual reports, social media, donor outreach, grant applications, community networking, or even the Ohio Poverty Law Center’s advocacy work. The point is to have all our usable stories with pictures, quotes, and written summaries in one place so that it could be easily pulled when needed.

However, before it could be used, a lot of work is to be done. Right now, in its earliest stages, I have been working through Legal Aid’s online records to compile resources located across many different places. Furthermore, building the actual structure of this bank needs to be done, along with making sure there is proper documentation for permission of use for every story listed, which is of top importance in this project.

Besides this, I had the opportunity to staff a table at one of Legal Aid’s outreach events. This time, it was another record sealing/expungement/reentry event held in Franklinton. It was a great experience to let possible clients know of our services and upcoming reentry clinics, which could be a life-changing opportunity for those who come. In the near future, I am excited to keep working on this story bank project, along with assisting in the early stages of promoting the Ohio Poverty Law Center’s 15^th Anniversary Event, held in September.