Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

I had the chance to return to my technical writer duties this week, which is something I haven’t done since the beginning of my internship. I truly miss how much I enjoyed doing it. Technical writing truly strikes a cord with me as I love examining close details and explaining what makes things tick to others. This time around, I needed to explain how the devices known as Swivel Robots worked.

At first, I didn’t understand what I was truly looking at. The robot was consider ‘not working,’ but I didn’t have a point of reference for what it should look like if it was. In order to figure out the full capabilities, I had to experiment and consult online documentation. Through trial and error and a sizable amount of reading, I was able to eventually figure out what the robot was supposed to do and what was wrong with it. Turns out that the markers had been out of sync and both them and the base were dead. Once they were fully charged, I resynced and recharged the batteries, tested the audio recording, and finally wrote up the full instructions for others to follow. Here is a mock-up of what I wrote.

Created for use in classroom lectures and office meetings, Swivel robots are able to track and record presentations using your mobile device. They consist of 2 main components, the base and the little remotes known as markers. The base is where you will attach your phone and position the robot to record the presenter. The markers are remotes that can angle the base or record audio with its builtin microphone. You can place markers around the room or link them with a lanyard to a presenter to pick up audio outside of your device’s range. Once you download the app on your device and make an account, you will have the aforementioned abilities at your disposal!

I came back to remembering what it is I enjoyed about technical writing. If I get to take something apart and explain why it is the way it is, I will enjoy it. I could see this becoming a career path for me in the feature.

This week has been another busy, rewarding week! The best news: my College Night project was fully approved to move forward! This event will officially take place on September 18th from 7-10pm at CMA Pizzuti. College Night will be a social mixer event for students to come with their friends, make new ones, and meet OSU clubs at the beginning of the semester. It is so exciting to finally begin official prep on this event and I can’t wait to continue moving forward, after so much time spent meeting student groups, both online and in-person. Our next steps include: working with marketing to create a flyer, discussing a marketing plan for social media, and putting this event on the main website. 

A new experience this week was completing the museum’s inventory off-site. I accompanied Laura, Assistant Registrar (and new friend!), to the Columbus Club and the Motts Military Museum to check in on their loaned artworks from CMA. Many institutions in Columbus are eligible for loaned art to be displayed in their public spaces. As part of the ongoing inventory initiative at the museum, the registration team is responsible for checking on the state of the loaned works and updating loan agreements with these external partners. The works at the Columbus Club and the Motts were (luckily) in good shape and it was so much fun to be a part of the inventory project! 

As my interest in fundraising and development grows, I have been meeting with more members of the museum’s Advancement team. I sat in on the Advancement team meeting to learn about new gifts supporting our upcoming exhibitions, statuses of grants, and more about member/visitor trends since the Free Admission Under 25 initiative began on July 1st. I additionally connected with Holly (membership manager), Ryan (senior graphic designer), and Brenna (senior director of development) in 1-on-1 chats! 

Other highlights from this week included the 165-person All-Staff Meeting with catering, the Level the Vibes event at the Pizzuti, the Curatorial department social at BAM Thursday, and the Greater Columbus Up Close series with Michelle Stitzlein and Rae Root. Looking forward to another wonderful 2 weeks at CMA and I hope they don’t fly by too quickly!

This week, I edited last week’s interviews and filmed the final two!

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tasha Booker in Action for Children’s new office space. She shared her perspectives on the importance of nonprofit collaboration and support. She also reframed nonprofits as businesses with valuable practices to share with corporate leaders, which would create stronger, symbiotic relationships. Action for Children is the recipient of the Women’s Fund’s largest grant to date, so learning directly from the CEO about Action for Children’s essential work and visions for the future was so special.

This morning, I filmed the final interviewee, Doreen Uhas Sauer, as she talked with Matthew Martin about Columbus’s real histories relating to early nonprofits, women’s suffrage, advocacy movements, redlining, immigrant communities, indentured servitude, human trafficking, and so much more. After the interview, Matthew, Arielle, and I were all talking about how we could sit there for hours listening to her stories. It was such a gift to share in her breadth of knowledge.

Matthew even stopped in the middle of the interview and pointed out the through lines between Mary Lazarus’s interview and Doreen’s. Doreen had been talking about the Lazarus family and how they had opened their department store doors to Columbus citizens and let them take whatever they needed for free during the Great Flood of 1913. Mary did not mention the Lazarus family’s generosity during the flood in her interview, but she did mention how her mother-in-law, Hattie Lazarus, did charitable work leading to the forming of Planned Parenthood. The more I watch back through these interviews and begin to edit them, the more through lines I see. I could not be more grateful to have the opportunity to learn from four change-making women leaders in Columbus.

Editing the interview videos has been a bit of a challenge; each one contains so much valuable information. I certainly have my work cut out for me (pun intended) with Doreen’s interview — it lasted about an hour, and in it she shared histories and truths that all felt equally important. I am excited to keep going through it, pacing myself as I edit. I have found that pacing myself during the editing process helps me develop a more critical eye for what to keep and what to cut.

On another note, I’ve now written 200 thank you cards to donors and plan to round it out to around 250 at the start of next week! Morgan and I have been chipping away at these thank you cards for about a month now, and we are finally almost done.

Yesterday, I went to the Franklin County Fair (Elena’s internship site), and saw the amazing manifestation of all of the work she has been putting in. It was also great to spend time with some of the other fellows and partake in general fair fun!

I can’t believe this fellowship will be over in just a few weeks. I’m going to savor it while I can!

Eva

This week at CHA was filled with meetings, lunches, volunteering, and meeting new people.

At the beginning of my week, I was able to experience my first ever volunteer packing event. CHA hosted employees from Giant Eagle to pack summer meal boxes for the children we serve. Since they did not have enough people, I was able to step into their assembly line. I enjoyed seeing the structure of a volunteering event as we had a brief orientation at the start, took a water break in the middle, and then wrapped up with photos in the warehouse. 

Anne Marie and I also went on a tour for a prospective venue in Hilliard known as Heritage Golf Course. Part of my role at CHA is envisioning how we can expand events and strengthen staff camaraderie. Anne Marie felt that we could use the space for a potential holiday party. We enjoyed having lunch with the event coordinator at the venue. In addition to lunch on Tuesday, CHA treated both me and our Americorp VISTA to lunch on Thursday! It was a lovely gesture; I have already felt so welcome in this space and a valued member of the team. 

I also finished pickups this week for Taste to Remember 2026. I am trying to support Anne Marie as best I can as we get closer to the event. So far, we have received tremendous support from local spas, local restaurants, and various entertainment activities. Next week will primarily consist of putting the packages together and physically assembling them. 

I have almost completed my rough draft of my Pecha Kucha, which has brought into perspective how much I have accomplished during my time at CHA. I look forward to seeing the rest of my cohort this Wednesday since it has been so long for me!

Over the past week and a half, HSC has experienced an incredibly difficult time as our Executive Director and his family suffered a tragedy. Despite the uncertainty, shifting responsibilities, and the weight of navigating such difficult emotions, I have been so proud of my team. They have approached every decision with grace, intentionality, and genuine care for one another. Watching the outpouring of support from our members, the board, and the broader community has been a powerful reminder of just how many lives our Executive Director—and HSC as an organization—have touched over the years. While I wish it had come under different circumstances, this experience taught me a great deal about how nonprofits respond during a crisis. I learned about the importance of privacy, thoughtful communication, and responsible media engagement. Because of everything going on, it was a slower week than usual, but it also allowed our team to pause, check in with one another, and move through a difficult time together.

This week our team was putting the finishing touches on the Accelerate 2027 grant proposal, which we officially submitted on Wednesday. It was exciting to celebrate this milestone together after weeks of collaboration across the office. Seeing such a large project come together reminded me how much goes into grant writing long before a proposal is ever submitted.

I also had the opportunity to collaborate with our Wellness and Member Services Manager on August’s Wellness Newsletter. One of my projects was researching free wellness events across Columbus, drawing on resources such as Eventbrite, Columbus Metropolitan Library branches, and the Columbus Commons calendar. For the “Explore More” section, I also researched evidence-based articles from organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the American Psychological Association, and NPR that encourage readers to continue learning about health and well-being beyond the newsletter itself.

I continued building HSC’s national thought leaders database, a resource that will help connect our team with researchers, keynote speakers, and experts for future collaborations and relationship building. The database is organized by areas of expertise, including nonprofit leadership, poverty, housing and homelessness, child welfare and families, workforce development, nonprofit finance, and data and evaluation. This week, I focused on expanding each profile with contact information, personal websites, and LinkedIn profiles. After talking with my team, I also began including Twitter and Bluesky accounts so we can stay connected to their perspectives on current events and easily share relevant insights with our members.

We ended the week on a much lighter note with a putt-putt outing hosted by Besa, where the entire HSC team was invited. It was wonderful to reconnect with familiar faces, meet new people, and spend a few hours laughing together. After such an emotionally heavy week, it felt like exactly what we all needed.

This past week was our fair week! All the emails, spreadsheets, meetings and preparation have led up to this event. It was busier than ever with phones ringing every few minutes, people coming in for tickets, memberships, parking passes and directions. 

Seeing all our hard work come together to create a fun, amazing experience was so rewarding to see. Monday I was able to attend the opening ceremony which kicked off the fair. There were several speakers and people who were celebrated for their role in the Fair world. Before this internship I did not really know much about the fair world or fairs in general, being immersed in this environment has really opened my eyes to so many new things. The opening ceremony highlighted both sponsors and long time members of the fair board who have tirelessly worked to put on the fair each year. At the very end of the ceremony three new k-9 dogs got sworn in. That was by far my favorite part!

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent mostly in the office where I worked on ensuring each entertainment event had the correct parking passes and maps indicating where to park. I was also able to step out and take pictures of everything going on around the fair! Wednesday night we had a concert that I was able to attend and take a few pictures for our social media. The concert was put on by lifepoint collective, which is a Christian church located right here in Columbus! It was amazing to see so many people come together to worship. 

Thursday morning and afternoon Mila and I interviewed several concessionaires, and vendors about their booths. Asking them a few questions about what they are selling, how long they have been at the fair and a final fun question about their favorite ride or part of the fair! Later Thursday night, several of my fellow fellows were able to come to the fair and I was able to give them a tour and ride a few fair rides! It was nice to step out of the office and take a few hours to enjoy the fair.

Today is the Truck and Tractor pull which I’m told is a highlight of the fair. I can’t wait to see what this event will look like. One of my favorite parts of the fair is getting to experience a whole new culture of people and activities I never even knew existed. 

Until next week!

~Elena 

As we approach the end of the summer camps here at The PAST Foundation, there are quite a few things the research team needs to check off the list! The first thing is finishing up surveys.  Next week is the last week of summer camps, so we will have our last round of survey administration.  This week is the last of our elementary students, so next week I begin analysis on their data. We have well over 100 student surveys to analyze, so I’m quite excited to see how the summer camps have impacted the students!

Another task we have is conducting “interviews.” I put it in quotes because it is more like a feedback session.  We will ask questions to the instructors, support staff, and hopefully parents that have participated in the summer programs.This was an activity I did not have the chance to be a part of last summer, so I’m quite excited to do something completely new to me.  This Tuesday, we spent time preparing for these sessions.  My team modified questions we want to ask each of the participant groups.  A lot of the time we agreed when one was oddly worded or did not fit in the flow of questions.  When we didn’t, we heard each other out and that always resolved the disconnect in our thought processes.  After that, we went through a training session about how to actually conduct the Interview. We will have a facilitator (that does the actual asking) and a note taker (that records the responses). I am to be a note taker! Thursday, we will do a practice session with just the research team, a sort of mock interview.  Where we each will have practice doing all of the parts of the interview.  I believe this will be very insightful since it is new to each of us.  

The last couple things we have this summer is compiling both the interviews and data analysis for the rest of the summer into one big report.  This is the task that seems to be the most daunting.  There are a lot of moving parts within this task, but I know I will have my team to lean on and they can lean on me.  This is pretty much what we have all been working toward this entire summer, so it’ll be a nice conclusion to the summer.  

Lots of things to do these next couple weeks, but I am looking forward to it all!

See you next week,

Danyelle Bumpus

This week, I continued my work on social media strategy and content creation, while also expanding my skills in digital storytelling and communication. I had the opportunity to strengthen my video editing abilities and focus on developing stronger storytelling techniques. Within the organization’s social media strategy, it is essential to highlight the stories, experiences, and social impact of the entrepreneurs involved in the program. My work with digital media has centered around capturing these stories and showcasing the meaningful impact social entrepreneurs are creating within their communities.

Through this work, I have learned that effective communication goes beyond simply sharing information. It requires understanding the audience, identifying the most impactful aspects of a story, and presenting content in a way that creates a genuine connection. I have enjoyed finding creative ways to highlight the entrepreneurs’ journeys, their missions, and the change they are working to create. This experience has strengthened my ability to think strategically about messaging while also developing content that feels authentic and engaging.

Additionally, I worked on creating and organizing the run of show for the upcoming showcase event. My focus was on outlining each team member’s responsibilities throughout different stages of the event, including guest support, arrival procedures, transitions, and overall event flow. This project provided valuable insight into event coordination and behind-the-scenes planning. I was able to map out responsibilities, synthesize a large amount of information, and organize it into a clear and accessible format that the entire team could reference and rely on during the showcase. Developing this document showed me the importance of strong communication, preparation, and attention to detail when coordinating a large-scale event.

Lastly, I continued working on a research project focused on identifying resources and programs available to social entrepreneurs participating in the SEA Change program. I researched opportunities offered by nonprofit organizations, local government entities, and state-level resources. After gathering information, I analyzed and synthesized my findings into a format that would be useful and easy for the team to understand and utilize.

These three projects have challenged me to think critically, approach problems creatively, and consider how information is communicated to different audiences. Whether creating digital content, coordinating an event, or conducting research, I have learned the importance of presenting information in an authentic, organized, and accessible way. This week allowed me to continue developing skills in storytelling, project management, research, and strategic communication that will be valuable in my future career.

This week, I had the opportunity to participate in the practice round for the finalists as they prepared to present their pitches in front of a selected panel of expert judges. It was phenomenal to witness the growth and progress each finalist made throughout the cohort. Seeing how they refined their ideas, strengthened their presentations, and adapted their financial and business models to respond to current market conditions and economic challenges was incredibly rewarding. It was clear that each participant had put significant thought and effort into improving their ventures, and I enjoyed seeing the evolution of their strategies over time.

One of my favorite parts of the experience was listening to the panel’s deliberation process after the presentations. This was the point where the experts discussed how they would allocate funding among the finalists based on the strength of their business models, market potential, financial plans, and overall impact. Before hearing their discussion, I had formed my own predictions about how the funding might be distributed based on the pitches I observed. However, I was surprised to see that the panelists approached their decisions from a completely different perspective than I expected.

The panelists brought years of expertise and industry knowledge to the conversation, and they considered factors that I had not previously thought about when evaluating a business. Their ability to analyze market trends, identify potential challenges, and assess long-term sustainability opened my eyes to the complexity of business decision-making. I found their critiques, questions, and recommendations fascinating because they demonstrated the importance of looking beyond a strong idea and considering the broader operational, financial, and strategic factors that contribute to success.

Throughout the discussion, I felt like a sponge absorbing as much knowledge as possible from each expert. This experience challenged me to think differently about entrepreneurship, business strategy, and the evaluation of organizations. It helped expand my perspective on how leaders make decisions and allocate resources in real-world environments.

This was one of my favorite experiences throughout my internship so far and may serve as an indicator of future career exploration. I found myself highly engaged in the strategic discussions, financial evaluations, and decision-making processes, and I am interested in exploring opportunities that incorporate these elements in my future career path.