Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

Much of my time this week was spent laying the groundwork for future initiatives, whether through research, planning, or creating tools that will strengthen partnerships and expand opportunities for our members. I started the week by attending a webinar on the evolving federal grant landscape and the implications of recent policy changes for Ohio nonprofits. As someone who has developed a growing interest in grant writing throughout this fellowship, I found it incredibly valuable to hear how organizations are adapting their funding strategies in response to shifting federal priorities.

I also continued contributing to the planning process for Accelerate Columbus 2027. This week, I created an organizational chart in Canva to help visualize the initiative’s structure and to dive deeper into research. I reviewed findings from our own State of the Sector survey alongside national nonprofit data and began refreshing portions of previously approved grant language with updated statistics and stronger, more current messaging.

Another project I enjoyed working on involved developing an interest survey for a future collaboration between the Human Service Chamber and the Columbus College of Art & Design. The goal is to better connect CCAD students with internship opportunities across our member organizations, creating meaningful experiences for students while helping nonprofits expand their creative capacity. Designing questions that gather useful information while remaining clear and engaging reminded me how much intentionality goes into even the smallest planning tools.

Later in the week, I was invited to write thank-you cards for Lonely at the Top, a workshop series designed to bring nonprofit executive directors and CEOs together for honest conversations about leadership, wellbeing, and the unique challenges that can accompany leading an organization. Working on these initiatives reinforced how important it is to create spaces where nonprofit leaders feel supported, connected, and understood.

Finally, I began drafting discussion questions for an upcoming corporate funders panel featuring representatives from Bath & Body Works, Fifth Third Bank, and Columbia Gas. Thinking about the questions from both the nonprofit and funder perspectives challenged me to consider what makes a truly productive conversation about corporate philanthropy, community investment, and building lasting partnerships.

My SEA Change internship continues to be a transformative experience. This week, I focused primarily on our digital media strategy, creating and editing video reels that highlight the social enterprises participating in the Festival for Good this September. The Festival for Good celebrates organizations that have made social impact a central part of their mission, and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the diverse nonprofit, public, and private organizations that will be featured.

My role has been to curate engaging content that authentically represents each organization’s work and showcases the positive impact they are making throughout the Columbus community. This project has challenged me to think creatively while ensuring that every enterprise’s unique voice is reflected in the content I produce. Throughout this process, my video editing, storytelling, and digital content creation skills have grown significantly.

Alongside my work for the Festival for Good, I have continued supporting the Director of Marketing with the social media campaign for the annual Columbus Showcase. During the Showcase, selected social enterprises pitch their businesses to a panel of judges, who award funding to the ventures they believe have the greatest potential for success. Being involved in the behind-the-scenes planning has been especially rewarding. As I mentioned in last week’s reflection, I had the opportunity to participate in the selection process that determined which organizations advanced to the pitch round. I am excited to continue working with these entrepreneurs as they refine and strengthen their presentations before the Showcase.

In addition to my marketing responsibilities, I have continued making progress on my long-term process improvement project focused on streamlining employee onboarding and program execution. This week, I organized files, created Excel tracking sheets, and developed templates designed to reduce administrative burdens, allowing staff to spend more time on high-impact work.

Overall, my internship has been an incredible learning experience. I am excited for the upcoming Columbus Showcase, where I will have the opportunity to watch the entrepreneurs present their businesses and see firsthand the impact this program has on helping innovative, mission-driven organizations grow.

It was a hot one last week, and much of my time was spent exploring grant writing and operations at the Human Service Chamber. While these functions may not always be visible to the public, I learned that they are essential to helping organizations secure resources, build partnerships, and ultimately expand their outreach.

One of my favorite experiences this week was collaborating with a colleague on a federal OpenAI grant proposal. This was my first opportunity to contribute to grant writing, and I quickly learned that it is as much about storytelling as it is about technical writing. Every sentence had to be intentional, supported by data, and aligned with the funder’s priorities, all while staying within strict word limits. One aspect of the process I especially enjoyed was that my colleague and I each drafted responses to the same application questions independently before coming together to compare our work. It was interesting to see just how similar many of our responses were, which I think speaks to HSC’s strong organizational culture.

Our brainstorming session also had us consider how artificial intelligence and funding from OpenAI could help HSC expand our efforts. First, we described that it would allow us to provide members with the tools, guidance, and training needed to integrate AI into their operations. Second, this funding would strengthen HSC’s advocacy work by supporting our research, analyzing real-time data, forecasting emerging needs, and personalizing outreach materials. These investments would enable HSC to provide local funders, government leaders, and community partners with the information they need to make informed decisions and respond effectively. After combining the strongest elements of each response, we met with our Director of Operations to review the proposal. She provided additional feedback and will make the final revisions before submission. Seeing the collaborative nature of grant development was awesome.

I also had the opportunity to begin learning about another grant opportunity through Accelerate Columbus 2027. While I will be contributing to portions of this proposal in the coming weeks, I first reviewed HSC’s successful 2026 application to better understand the structure and expectations of local and city-funded grants. It was interesting to compare this proposal to the federal grant we had been working on. The scope, level of detail, and research required were noticeably different, demonstrating how every funding opportunity requires its own strategy and approach.

In addition, I gained exposure to another grant opportunity our Wellness Director is working on, a national Lululemon grant. I had the opportunity to observe conversations between her and our Director of Operations regarding budget development and financial planning. It was valuable to see how HSC’s budget is established yearly and how financial systems support an organization’s ability to pursue external funding.

Beyond grant writing, I worked on preparations for the Bath and Body Works in-kind distribution. In-kind donations like these provide valuable resources that HSC can distribute to members. I worked alongside our Director of Operations at IMPACT Community Action to count and inventory donated products before participating in planning meetings focused on distribution logistics. It was rewarding to see the amount of coordination required before donations ever reach the organizations that will ultimately benefit from them. Even tasks like inventory management and logistical planning play an important role in ensuring resources are distributed fairly and efficiently.

The focus of this week was overseeing the conclusion of a longer TECH CORPS program. The ITonRamp+ program, that started on week 2 of my internship has come to a close. Using industry practices, strategies, and theories of mobile application development, students were to present the final iterations of their mobile apps. Each and every one of them blew my expectations away. They all had their own unique ideas to showcase. One student made an app to monitor and maintain mental health, featuring every hotline in the US on standby if needed. Another made an app was about tracking the well-being of local flora and fauna within the user’s nearby community. I was incredibly proud of all the student’s hard work, it was great to see their ideas fully refined and realized. Additionally, some of the students were chosen to give interviews to TECH CORP’s social media and the local Columbus city news. I did not have the ability to see the interviews firsthand, but I was told that they were all excited and honored to be apart of TECH CORPS.

I also had the opportunity to talk to a senior curriculum designer at TECH CORPS. We had a thoughtful and productive conversation about technology and its usefulness in education. She is now furthering my quality assurance responsibilities, I am now an assistant curriculum designer on-top of my previous quality assurance and assistant instructor roles. I am once again reminded of the significance of having a team with a wide variety of skills and backgrounds. Everyone is able to bring in their unique perspectives to form a more multifaceted vision. Utilizing both the curriculum designer’s background in education and my background in software & application development, we and the other curriculum designers will work together to create the most accurate, reliable curriculum we can. I am both excited and grateful to be apart of the team!

I can’t believe I’m already halfway done with working at PAST this summer! It’s such a bittersweet realization.  It’s exciting to see all the work and new things to be learned in the future.  But, it’s also sad to see it come to an end so soon (since it has felt like time has flown past!). This week was different from the others.  I was home this week spending more time with family, but I was able to still snag a few hours in.  

For the past couple weeks, we’ve been working on analyzing data from 4 different middle schools regarding programming taking place at each of them.  This was quite difficult at the beginning because some students either didn’t take the pre-survey or didn’t take the post-survey OR put in a random code.  When they put in a random code, it renders their response useless because we are unable to tell which surveys belong together.  So, that was one hurdle we had to get through.  After that, we were only left with a handful of responses to analyze (this was mentioned in my last post, so check that out if you’re interested in how we analyzed it!). Once the data is analyzed, we have to draft a report and create a narrative.  This is what I spent my time at home working on.  Reporting on such little data is super difficult.  Small sample sizes means every part of your analysis must be taken with a grain of salt.  So, finding an area of significance was hard.  Luckily, there were some parts of the survey that did change quite a bit from the pre-survey counterparts! This is what I focused on.  I also made sure to mention the simple fact that the data did not change much.  This is always a tough spot to realize.  Sometimes the results don’t speak as you wish it would.  But my supervisor spoke great words of wisdom I would like to leave you all with:

“Sometimes the data isn’t always positive, and that is OK.  We just approach it with the understanding that we are always looking to improve, not only as program implementers and facilitators, but researchers as well!” – Kayla Galloway

See you all next week and happy 4th!

Danyelle Bumpus

I spent week 5 at the Women’s Fund editing, reviewing, discussing, contacting, and planning. Even though this week was short, I made steady progress (hint: ‘progress’ is my word of the week).

I spent the first few days of the work week editing the summer party interviews for 25th anniversary social media and website content. It took me much longer than expected. I had to cut each interview into multiple lengths and I also ran into some issues with sound and color when exporting. I figured things out, though, and I got faster as I went. Having learned many lessons, I now feel ready to take on my bigger project: conducting, filming, and editing interviews for the “Women in the Social Sector” project.

Yesterday, Jenna and I met with The Columbus Foundation to discuss interview plans for the project. We confirmed the list of people we wanted to reach out to, discussed the four interview lenses I had developed, talked about the filming concept, and set some tentative deadlines. Right after this meeting, both The Columbus Foundation and the Women’s Fund team started reaching out to interviewees. Two out of four have already said yes! This forward momentum after weeks of slow but steady work felt exhilarating. I have begun further tailoring my interview questions for the confirmed interviewees and am beginning to think about filming setups and editing plans. Matthew Martin, the director of community research, and Chelsea Kiene, the director of communications and marketing, are working on this project from The Columbus Foundation side. Their generosity, insight, and mentoring have been invaluable; they both offered to give me feedback on my interview questions and help with facilitation and behind-the-scenes work during the interviews. Jenna has been mentoring me throughout this process as well, and has been a constant inspiration for me. I feel so lucky to experience such support from both sides.

Although this project has been occupying much of my brain space, I have also been working on some other exciting things. This week, the Women’s Fund’s programs manager, Arielle Scott, graciously let me review the letters of intent that have been coming in for the 2027 grant cycle. Reviewing these letters, I put what I had been learning about the grant making process into practice. I was so happy to be able to give a second opinion on some of the letters she had already reviewed.

Working on all of these various projects meant I spent a lot of time on the computer. When I experienced blue light overload, I worked on hand writing thank you cards to the Women’s Fund’s donors.

This week, I made progress in many different ways, even if there were mistakes and moments of reflection in between. I can’t wait to make more progress in the next five weeks!

~Eva

I didn’t even realize this week marked the halfway point until beginning to write this post, but as I look back on it, my cards aligned for an important week of reflection, as I had opportunities to have a handful of one-on-one meetings with supervisors I truly respect. I also spent time thinking through some challenges and personal questions I’ve been having about my future career and my value as a job candidate.

Last night, I was discussing with a mentor some of the things I’ve been thinking about and noticing at Besa, and comparing them to past work experiences I’ve had (not in a negative way). They pointed out, to my delight, how much they have already noticed me grow this summer and the valuable learning that has taken place.

Specifically, this week I met with my supervisors for project updates and check-ins, where I presented some of my thinking and research on new volunteer experiences and engagement strategies. I am grateful for the initial feedback and look forward to continuing to develop these ideas over the next few weeks—especially around improving volunteer experiences as a whole, exploring new ideas, connecting with new nonprofits, strengthening engagement strategies, and furthering data analysis.

I also had the opportunity to assist the Franklin County Office on Aging in delivering box fans to homebound seniors during this heat wave. I was able to see neighborhoods I wouldn’t usually go into, interact directly with people from different backgrounds, and reflect on why some of what I was seeing is the way it is during a later supervision session with my social work supervisor from the City Attorney’s Office. We discussed theories, policy, new ideas, and future applications. It was a very meaningful conversation for me.

Lastly, I have begun researching nonprofits I am interested in meeting with one-on-one and preparing questions that will support my learning and takeaways this summer. I am grateful for the autonomy in this project at Besa and am excited for these conversations—I think I will gain a lot of insight.

I leave this week feeling grateful for this opportunity to gain exposure to the nonprofit sector, how different organizations operate, how organizational culture is developed and carried out, different leadership styles and traits, and the incredible thinkers and changemakers in the Columbus area. All the while, I have also had a list of intentional people supporting me, having my back, and wanting the best for my learning and time.

This week at Homeport I shadowed the Housing Advisory Services department. On Monday I began my day by attending the weekly Homeport huddle and met with the Housing Advisory Services department. I was given the task of creating a database that included all attendee data (such as names, phone numbers, emails, etc.) from Homeports Homebuyer Resource Fair. Once created, I then had to call attendees and ask how they heard about Homeports Homebuyer Resource Fair and then add this data to the database on Tuesday. My next task was to take evaluation data from Homeports Homebuyer Education classes (HBE) and create visually pleasing diagrams that the Housing Advisory Services department will use for their mid-year review. On Wednesday, I met with the CFO and discussed the role of finances in relation to housing advisory services. In particular, we discussed Homeports lease-option properties. Here I learned about liens, releases, and downpayment assistance. I also learned about the significant role of Homeports HBE classes in the client homeownership process. On my last day, I was tasked with looking up clients who had completed Homeports HBE classes online to see if any of them had purchased a house and then reporting this information back to the Housing Advisory Services department.

In addition to my weekly tasks, I sat in on a meeting about Homeports yearly fundraising event, Voice and Vision. I also completed the Fair Housing Act (FHA) online training where I learned the rules and guidelines for fair and affordable housing. Lastly, I got to welcome a fellow from United Way and give her an office tour.

Overall, I learned many new technological skills (including making pie charts on excel using verbal data) and how the role of finances in housing advisory services overlaps with other departments at Homeport. 

This past week was one of the highlights of my internship so far!

My organization has a program that supports social enterprises looking to scale their businesses. At the conclusion of the program, participants present their business pitches to the SEA Change staff, and a select few are chosen to advance to a panel of judges where they compete for up to $100,000 to grow their businesses.

This week, I had the opportunity to sit in on every pitch presentation. I evaluated each venture using a scoring rubric that focused on areas such as the strength of the business and financial models, growth potential, market demand, and overall impact. It was fascinating to see the wide variety of innovative products and services entrepreneurs have created to solve meaningful problems in the world.

As someone with a strong interest in finance, I especially enjoyed hearing founders explain how they overcame financial challenges and defended the sustainability of their financial models. One of the most rewarding parts of the experience was participating in the follow-up meeting where our team discussed each venture and selected the finalists. I truly valued being included in the decision-making process rather than simply observing. I also learned a tremendous amount from my colleagues. Their ability to identify strengths, weaknesses, risks, and opportunities gave me new perspectives on evaluating businesses and measuring social impact.

In addition, I continued creating social media content for the upcoming Festival For Good. I edited videos and designed graphics using Canva for the organization’s social media platforms. These projects have strengthened both my technical and creative skills. Beyond content creation, I have gained a greater appreciation for brand management by learning how color schemes, visual identity, and storytelling shape an organization’s image. It’s been interesting to notice these branding strategies in everyday life when I interact with different businesses.

Finally, I have continued working on HR and program operations by identifying opportunities to refine processes and improve efficiency. This has become one of my favorite aspects of the internship because I am very interested in pursuing a career in operations. These projects have given me practical experience analyzing workflows, identifying areas for improvement, and thinking critically about how organizations can operate more effectively.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship experience and can’t believe I am already halfway through it. Looking back, I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to contribute in meaningful ways while developing skills in finance, operations, marketing, and strategic decision-making. I am excited to see what the second half of this experience has in store and to continue growing both personally and professionally.

I cannot believe I am already half way through the full 10 weeks! June went by so fast! This week at the Fair grounds has been SOOO busy, it has been filled with ticket/membership purchases, meetings, designing promotional emails promoting events during fair week and (my personal favorite) helping name and incubate eggs that are set to hatch on the 20th of this month. 

As I mentioned in my last post, the entire outdoor parking lot has been remodeled and a whole new security system has been installed, which includes new cameras and a key fob system. Each customer who stores their vehicle in outdoor parking needs to update their fobs and get their photo taken for the facial recognition thing. We also had to ensure they were up to date with their payments . This took up a large portion of the week, along with processing ticket purchases for senior day. On Tuesday, I was able to attend a meeting with both Mila, the Marketing & Communications Coordinator, and Sam, a board member, to discuss our social media accounts and how to boost engagement. It was so cool to hear ideas and be able to talk about what we think people would be interested in seeing. As a justice studies major I don’t really get to learn about marketing so it was super interesting to hear how both Sam and Mila brainstorm and think of better ways to market the fair and sell tickets.

My favorite part of the week was learning about the incubation process and helping place eggs ( that will hopefully hatch by the first day of the fair) into the machine! There is an ongoing competition at the office to see which egg hatches first, they are all named after staff members, they even named one after me!  I’m so excited to see them once they hatch! 

I also got to create promotional emails for a concert 104.9 The River is having at the fair. I first created a list of churches, christian schools and community centers in the area and made a list of their emails. Mila then created an informational flyer as I drafted the email inviting each of these places to the fair, but specifically to our concerts and larger events (demolition derby, and dog races). Currently the office is working on all the behind the scenes work for both fair week and general upkeep of the grounds. It is so fun to be a part of something so important, and contribute to the overall community based mission of the fair. I am learning so much about the importance of both marketing and administrative support. 

Thank you for reading and see you next week!!

~Elena O