Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

We are officially halfway through the Summer Fellowship program! This week was another shorter one for me at CMA because of the holiday observed on July 3rd, but it was quite busy nonetheless.

I started off the week continuing my College Night Shift project. Last week in our 1-on-1 chat, Nicole, Senior Director of Exhibitions and Collections, expressed enthusiasm about my project but was concerned about student turnout for the event. She strongly encouraged me to reach out to OSU students and make personal connections, get feedback on College Night Shift, and make them feel included in the ideation process. I reached out to 12 OSU student-led organizations and several members of the Ohio Activities Union Board. I picked art and music clubs who would be interested in College Night Shift based on their mission statements and set up several online meetings. I met with three OSU orgs throughout the week: Arts4Hearts, History of Art Grad Student Association, and Music Heals. I’m very grateful for everyone’s time, as these students were very generous with their time during the summer. As Nicole emphasized to me, these connections with clubs will be the key factor in ensuring substantial turnout. Ultimately, my goal by the end of the summer is to plan out all logistics of College Night Shift and create strong relationships with OSU student-led organizations for a successful night in September. I hope we can make this event happen!

In addition to spending most of my time on College Night Shift planning, I completed three more 1-on-1s. In my meeting with Audrey, Digital Content Coordinator, we discussed possible marketing strategies on Instagram for college students. On Wednesday, I met with Deidre, Director of the Aminah Robinson Legacy Project, where I learned about how her background in law and her lifelong appreciation for art led her to work at CMA on preserving Robinson’s work and legacy for future generations. Today, I met with Molly, Annual Giving Manager, where I learned about her time in philanthropy at Bath & Bodyworks and how that informed her work with individual and family donors at CMA. These 1-on-1 chats have been so informative and helpful in connecting with other members of the large team here at CMA. It has also been wonderful to get new perspectives on College Night Shift from individuals with vastly different positions and experiences! Looking forward to week 6!

-Muji

This week at PAST was the first week of off-site programs! Typically, all of our camps take place at the PAST Foundation’s Innovation Lab.  However, for camps involving nature and sports (Pickleball) we utilize the lawn at CAS (Chemical Abstract Service). They have a nice pavilion, pickleball courts, and a pond with a trail! On Monday, I took one of my teammates over to CAS to show her where to go to administer the surveys. Giving surveys here is a bit different than at PAST.  This is because the lawn is a bit touch-and-go with internet access.  For our 3rd-8th graders we utilize online survey instruments for more efficient data collection.  However, since there is a lack of internet, we had to create a paper version of the survey in which the students took by hand.  It usually takes a bit longer, but we don’t mind so much.   It’s cool to be a sort of veteran of the other research interns.  I am able to teach them a few things that I learned last year. 

Later in the week we began working on data analysis for other programming PAST does throughout the school year.  This was quite difficult as I had to figure out how to utilize a new software.  There was a lot of trial and error when using it, but I was able to figure it out! Also, this week I learned what a Wilcoxon signed rank test was for data analysis.  It’s a statistical analysis test used to compare related sets of data! It’s perfect for likert scale data (which we often utilize in our surveys we create). I had never heard of this test before, so a bit of time was spent learning about how to interpret the results.  It’s super cool to still be learning new things as a research intern in the 2nd summer at the PAST Foundation.

This week at TECH CORPS, I wished to branch out. I wanted to have a more hands on experience with the students and take part in their learning journeys with technology. I wanted it to be at the location I traveled to last week. There I was tasked with setting up and ensuring day 1 went along without a hitch. I would do what I needed to assist the instructors and help the students with any problems. I am happy to report that this week both went well and was enjoyable. This program was called Eco-Rangers; it was for elementary and middle students. Eco-Rangers combines park ranger activities with AI learning and development. Students solve puzzles, learn about ecology, study environments & animal patterns, and use data analysis in a biological setting. In addition, students played interactive games and watched videos about nature. These lessons comprised the first half of their week. The second half the week, was all about the students and their creativity. They were tasked with creating a game about a drone that picking up objects while avoiding obstacles. Students went above and beyond with their games, some even doing more than the original prompt asked. One of the students in particular, I was assigned to mentor over. His game was unlike any of his classmates. He went out of his way to create a full on map to explore for a key whilst avoiding a monster trying to eat the player. Once you found the key, you needed to run to the exit to escape. He worked tirelessly on the game, tweaking and fine-tuning his game to perfection. When he finished, he both presented to his dad and sent a copy to always hold onto. Moments like that made me really proud to be an instructor for the program. I am looking into instructing again.

Between volunteer shifts, a learning session, and some real progress on my research, week four covered a lot of ground. After weeks of research, I’m close to having a fill rate proposal ready to present to my supervisors, and it’s genuinely exciting to think that some of this thinking could help Besa engage more volunteers across Columbus and, in turn, amplify the good already being done in this city.

On the ground, it was another full week of volunteering. I helped out at the Jazz Lab Summer Experience, where A Tribe for Jazz brought together youth camps, educational partners, nonprofit organizations, and dozens of STEAM professionals to serve nearly 800 historically underserved youth across Central Ohio. The experience included immersive labs ranging from virtual reality music making and conga drumming to AI world building and music coding. It was one of the more creative and high energy volunteer experiences I’ve been a part of. I also got to connect with Iddrisu Seidu, founder of Makerspace Central, and I’m looking forward to continuing that conversation about nonprofit leadership and the future of youth programming in Columbus. Later in the week, I helped Nationwide employees assemble 300 hygiene kits and write encouragement cards, which will go toward United Way’s Success by Third Grade Movement, supporting social workers in Groveport Madison Schools and the Greater Groveport Food Pantry. I also helped kick off the NBC4 Summer of Giving with a cleanup at Glen Echo Park alongside Columbus Recreation and Parks.

The Columbus Foundation learning session this week was another standout. We heard from Ruth-Marie Lomax, Executive Director of City Year Columbus, who spoke about her personal journey, what effective fundraising and leadership look like in practice, and what she’d want us to carry into our own careers in service. A few things she said I haven’t been able to shake. One is that Central Ohio doesn’t need more nonprofits. What it needs is more collaboration between the ones that already exist, organizations moving in the same direction, building each other up rather than competing. We framed this around the idea of collective individualism and how genuine community requires unity, not just proximity. On the fundraising side, her point was clear: the relationship with your donor and the clarity of your organization’s “why” will do the fundraising itself. That connected directly back to last session’s conversation about purpose, and I’ve been thinking about how clearly Besa embodies that. The intentionality in their culture, the way their leadership approaches team building and organizational values, reflects exactly what these sessions keep pointing back to.

It was a week full of good conversations with interesting people, and I’m leaving it motivated to keep building. One last idea from the learning session that’s been sitting with me is the danger of a purpose vacuum, and what it costs an organization, or a person, when purpose is absent or unclear. The flip side of that, which feels just as important, is that understanding your “why” is only the first step. The real work is translating it outward into something bigger than yourself. That’s a thought I’m still sitting with, and one I imagine I’ll keep returning to long after this summer wraps up.

This week at Homeport I got to work with Resident Services. At the beginning of the week I met with the CFO of Homeport to discuss finances in relation to Resident Services. I learned how donors, grants, and other sources of money greatly influence Homeports’ ability to support its residents through their services. I also learned that working in Resident Services involves lots of resident survey taking as well as community engagement. For example, this week I got to visit two more Homeport properties. At Kenlawn I asked residents to complete surveys about their experiences at the property while today at Fieldstone I helped run a produce fair where residents could pick up their weekly groceries. 

In addition to visiting more of Homeports properties, I got to organize binders for future produce fairs and proofread a grant proposal for the CFO. I also sat in on a grant meeting with my supervisor Ms. Price. However, the most interesting part of my week was definitely when I attended the Uplift HER event at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on Wednesday. For anyone who is not familiar with this event, Uplift HER is an event that promotes women’s health. In addition to the speakers’ message, “get checked out, not checked in,” there was an entire section of the space where women could go get screened and learn their numbers. There were also areas dedicated to youth, seniors, resources, and beauty. 

Once I was done walking around the event space, I returned to Homeports table in the resource section and handed out informational flyers to attendants as they walked by. I also provided interested individuals with Homeports message as well as the actions taken to achieve this message. Though our table was often busy, I found these conversations to be engaging and fulfilling. 

Overall, my week at Homeport was exciting and informative. 

This past week has been super busy at the fair grounds as fair week quickly approaches. Monday and Tuesday were spent processing sponsorship and entry checks, sorting through amazon packages, updating the fair app, and helping create parking passes for people to use during the fair. 

Wednesday, all the fellows met at the Columbus Foundation for a learning session where we were able to hear from Ruth Lomax, who is the vice president at City Year. It was so interesting to hear about her journey from beginning to now and how she was involved in various other non-profits before beginning her career at City Year. It was encouraging to hear how her path was not linear, but how there were highs and lows, and even times when she thought she wanted an entirely different career. My favorite part of her presentation was hearing her talk about the importance of building relationships within the professional and non-profit world. She really emphasized the importance of having genuine connections and knowing how to network within professional spaces. She explained how donors can read right through in-genuine behavior and will not support or sponsor any non-profit they don’t agree with. Another thing that stuck out to me was hearing how careful individuals in power need to be when stating political, or even ethical viewpoints because of the possibility of losing donor support.  We talked a little about how difficult this reality can be and about the indirect ways of expressing opinions. I really enjoyed hearing Mrs. Lomax speak about her career in non-profits and how she got to where she is now. 

Thursday and Friday I was back at the fairgrounds where the entire office received training on how to use and reassign key fobs for the storage lot. The rest of the week was spent helping and processing people who needed to change their key fobs. I also began sending out emails to vendors, and concessionaires regarding promo codes for discounted fair tickets. I was then able to help sort decorations, and begin assembling them for the float the fair will have during the fourth of July parade. With less than 25 days until the fair, things are picking up at the office and I am excited to see what else I will be able to help with! See you next week!

~Elena

This week, I polished up my archival work, put together a slideshow for the Summer Party showcasing said archival work (with the help of the other intern, Morgan, and final finishing touches from the marketing and communications manager, Jenna), attended the fellows learning session, prepped for the Summer Party, conducted interviews at the event, and began editing those interviews for social media circulation. One word very obviously sticks out for this week: people.

It felt like my week truly started on Wednesday. The day was jam packed, with the Columbus Foundation Fellowship learning session in the morning, the Women’s Fund’s Summer Party in the evening, and a whole lot of prep work in between.

In the morning learning session at The Columbus Foundation, Ruth-Marie Lomax spoke to us about her nonprofit experience and leadership as executive director at City Year Columbus. She told us about her career journey, stressing forward movement over linear steps. Ruth-Marie also explained her approach to fundraising: building genuine relationships, person-to-person. She talked about how relationship-building was equally essential inside a nonprofit team, emphasizing the importance of knowing each person’s strengths (along with your own) in order to work toward the bigger picture in a way that uplifts everyone while also working efficiently towards a collective goal.

Later in the session, we talked about finding your purpose and power within your community. Dr. Lomax likened it to playing in an orchestra, having your part to play and time to shine, but also letting others do the same, and having everyone work towards a piece that only sounds right when everyone is working together. After that three-hour meeting, with both of the Lomaxes’s advice, I felt ready to solidify my purpose, and take the steps to make it happen.

I had lunch with my fellow fellow Muji (as she would say) after the session. We talked about our work and discussed our thoughts on the morning. These lunchtime talks and the Columbus Foundation Fellowship learning sessions give me some much-needed perspective on what the other fellows are doing, and reminds me of that collective purpose we are all working towards.

Once I got to the Women’s Fund, everything was thrown into prepping for the party. From rearranging our rented out event space to magic eraser-ing scuffs off the wall to spot-sweeping the floor, Morgan and I were plugging in where we could amongst a very prepared team that had been planning this event for months.

At the beginning of the party, I helped check in the guests. Then, I conducted and filmed interviews where I asked people about their experiences with the Women’s Fund. At the learning session earlier that day, I told the other fellows that I was a little nervous for these interviews. That nervousness quickly morphed into excitement as I listened to each interviewee’s perspective. I interviewed people who were just starting to learn about the organization, and I also interviewed people who were very involved, like the board chair of the Women’s Fund.

Another thing about these interviews that inspired me was each participant’s willingness to invite more people into the room to share their perspectives. The supportive, passionate, and diverse community that the Women’s Fund fosters was so incredibly present at the Summer Party, and that euphoric feeling was palpable.

The day after the party, I dug into the interviews, editing them together while also doing some cleanup from the night before. I met with some of the team to talk about next steps for some of my projects, mainly The Columbus Foundation collaborative project.

The people I interacted with this week, from the fellows at the learning session to the team at the Women’s Fund to women I met and interviewed at the Summer Party, truly inspired me and pushed me toward my purpose. I am so excited to move forward!

~Eva

Reflecting on this week, I continue to be amazed by the diversity of work taking place within the Human Service Chamber. On Monday, we visited See Brilliance and sat down with its founder, Dr. Nathan Harris. Since launching the organization in 2021, Dr. Harris has helped more than 5,000 youth through STEAM education rooted in Black and Latinx culture. Our conversation centered on creating spaces that encourage curiosity for both youth and their families, the idea that knowledge already exists within each of us, waiting to be unlocked, and the importance of integrating art into science and mathematics, especially in an era increasingly shaped by AI. Hearing Dr. Harris speak so passionately about empowering young people reminded me that education is about much more than academics. It is about helping individuals recognize their own potential.

Later in the week, we traveled to the YWCA to interview Miss Jackie, whose story reflected a different but equally powerful form of service. She shared how the YWCA supported her during one of the most difficult periods of her life and how she now dedicates herself to giving back to the same community that once helped her. Miss Jackie was an absolute firecracker, bringing incredible passion and energy to everything she does. From going to the Y during Winter Storm Fern to serving in countless roles, including security, maintenance, event support, and the front desk, she exemplifies what it means to meet people where they are while remaining steadfast in serving others.

I also had the opportunity to work alongside our Executive Director on a presentation examining the FRAC reports from 2011 and 2026. Comparing the recommendations across both reports provided valuable insight into how community priorities have evolved over time and what those changes reveal about the needs of the Columbus community today. It was fascinating to see how data and long-term planning can help shape future investments in human services.

Another memorable experience this week was meeting with two leaders from The Center for Family Safety and Healing, whom our Deputy Director connected me with. As a current counseling student, I especially appreciated learning about their career paths and hearing how they have applied their social work backgrounds within the nonprofit sector. Their perspectives reinforced the many ways clinical training can extend beyond direct counseling into leadership and systems-level change.

I also collaborated with our Wellness Director to develop a wellness interest survey for our committee members. We designed questions that explored interest across multiple dimensions of wellness, including physical, emotional, social, environmental, and financial wellness. Afterward, we had a great time searching for free wellness events happening across Central Ohio this summer to feature in our July wellness newsletter. It was exciting to think about how even small opportunities can encourage healthier communities.

I wrapped up the week by attending BAM Thursday at the Columbus Museum of Art alongside the Human Service Chamber’s member organizations. We explored the museum’s current exhibitions, enjoyed great food, and connected with nonprofit leaders from across the region. The evening concluded with a drag performance in the sculpture garden celebrating Pride Month. I’m excited to return to BAM in the future and bring along some friends!

Another great week at CMA! This week was a shorter week, since the museum took Monday off for Juneteenth. On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to attend the most important meeting of my time here so far: the quarterly exhibition forum. As the title suggests, this meeting occurs once quarterly and involves all key members from the curatorial, advancement, and learning/interpretation teams. At this meeting, the audience reception, marketing, programming, and retail sales of all current and upcoming exhibitions were reported. This included the current exhibitions East of the Pacific and Greater Columbus, as well as future exhibitions Clare Rojas: Returning, Queer Constellations, and Barbara Crane: Human / Nature. It was incredibly fascinating to discuss all aspects of the exhibitions within a larger timeframe and it helped me put my own work into perspective! Another highlight of my week was our professional development session with Dr. Lomax and City Year’s executive director Ruth-Marie Lomax as our guest speaker on Wednesday. Ruth was an absolutely wonderful speaker and I learned a lot about her successful career in nonprofit work and her insightful perspective on personal relationships in relation to fundraising. Dr. Lomax also led a thoughtful discussion about the importance of knowing one’s strengths and larger purpose, tying back to our previous discussion about power. I also had lunch with fellow fellow Eva after our PD session!

My time at the CMA has been split between meetings, program events, workshopping the College Night Shift program, and ongoing research projects. My current ongoing projects include research on tours and special interest clubs at other art institutions, post-event survey trends and strategies, and, mostly recently, listening bars. A listening/vinyl bar is a venue focused on vinyl audio and an intimate, chill atmosphere for listening. My supervisor Julie tasked me with researching and collecting inspiration from listening bars to help her conceptualize a potential future program at CMA Pizzuti’s Bar Room in the upcoming fall/winter season. In our weekly touch-bases, I present findings and progress on all of my projects and Julie provides feedback and future action items. We have found that this rhythm helps to keep projects moving forward! This week, I also completed two more 1-on-1s with Katherine, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Nicole, Senior Director of Collections and Exhibitions. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about the experiences, responsibilities, and insights of the future of the museum from the directors of my department!

Lastly, I want to reiterate my appreciation for Julie and the CMA team for being so supportive of me, as well as my gratitude for Dr. Lomax and the Columbus Foundation Fellowship Program for this wonderful opportunity! Looking forward to next week!

-Muji