Our Do Good students and alums, whether they graduated from the School of Public Policy or are engaged in Do Good programs, have continued to achieve great things since participating in our programs or leaving University of Maryland. We caught up with a few to hear about the great nonprofit and social innovation jobs and internships they've landed, as well as awards they've won and progress they've made for their organizations. And, we have updates about how Terps are continuing to create change for issues they care about with their social ventures and nonprofits.
- Nonprofit leadership graduate student Chelsea Brown was invited to attend the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in Detroit where she heard investment advice from Serena Williams and connected with other students and entrepreneurs of color through For(bes) The Culture networking events. Chelsea is an alumna of the Philanthropy Fellows program where she worked with ABFE (the Association of Black Foundation Executives) to promote effective philanthropy in Black communities, and has been named the William Randolph Hearst Fellow at the Aspen Institute for spring 2020. The Hearst Fellowship is a competitive position awarded to one student each semester, introducing them to issues and challenges affecting philanthropy, social enterprise, nonprofit organizations, and other actors in the social sector.
- Undergraduate Maggie Fritz and her group Scholars in Action won the Undergraduate Student Award for Civic Engagement at the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement (SLCE) Conference, hosted by the Mid Atlantic Campus Compact, a national association of 1,000+ universities “committed to the public purposes of higher education.” The award recognizes students that lead and engage peers in meaningful service to meet community needs. Scholars in Action engages over 100 student volunteers annually from all 12 College Park Scholars programs. Initially a Mini-Grant recipient, Scholars in Action, has been able to use DGI support to demonstrate its impact to the university and has now secured permanent annual operating funds from the Scholars program. Read more here.
- Undergraduate Katie Miller published a column in the Washington Post, titled “Delete Your Social Media: How I Learned to Love Going to College Near Home,” mentioning UMD’s undergraduate philanthropy class, Leading and Investing in Social Change.
- Deborah Cahill and Belén Fernández earned their Graduate Certificates in Nonprofit Management and Leadership in December. Belén joined the program to shift her career from law to the nonprofit sector. By the end of our program, she earned a position as the Human Resources Manager at Identity, Inc., a nonprofit that serves over 3,000 Latino youth and families in Montgomery County, Maryland. Deborah was recently promoted to Vice President for Youth Development and Education Research at Child Trends, the nation’s leading research organization focused exclusively on the lives of children and youth.
- Hannah Davis (Executive Director of Vikara Village) and Audrey Awasom (founder of Noble Uprising) completed the Do Good Accelerator’s Scale Your Impact program this fall and continue to advance their work. Last year Noble Uprising launched and completed its first pilot program focused on training three Noblewomen (women who are overcoming homelessness) with digital and soft skills. All three Noblewomen are now in full-time positions: two are working with Montgomery County Public Schools, and the third is at Shady Grove Mental Health Hospital, and planning to enroll in a post-secondary school education program. Vikara Village continues to raise funds and increase partnerships to serve more youth through trauma informed and body-love yoga. Vikara Village recently secured a $7,500 grant from Lululemon and will be partnering with the business for the International Day of Yoga this June; has expanded from one Adventist Hospital unit to three to now serve adults in the mental health unit and teens in the behavioral challenges unit; and is now working in Loiederman Middle School and looking to work with more middle schools in the coming months.
- Isha Yardi, founder of Innovation Stations, is a freshman Public Health Sciences major who has participated in numerous Do Good coaching sessions on fundraising and strategic partnerships, received a Mini-Grant to assist with the launch of the first Makerspace at the Robertson Youth Community Center in Montgomery County next month, and was just accepted into the first cohort of Do Good Ambassadors. Isha’s makerspaces will provide low-income middle school students with mentorship and a space to be creative and explore their interest in STEM with hands-on projects and activities. Isha was inspired to create these educational extracurriculars for early teens when she realized there was robust sports and arts offerings in Montgomery County, but a clear lack of science and technology options.
- TIAA Nonprofit Leadership Fellows Sylvia Sedrak, Andrew Knutson, and Laura Griffin graduated with their Master in Public Management degrees in December. Sylvia was selected as the student graduation speaker and she cited her experience with the Do Good Institute as the most enriching part of her program and has been offered a Catholic Relief Services International Development Fellowship. This competitive fellowship (18 awarded out of 1600 candidates) builds skills for a career in international relief and development work and prepares fellows for future positions with CRS. Andrew Knutson is now working full time as a Grants Management Associate with the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, and Laura Griffin is now a Program Analyst Consultant at HIAS.
- Last fall, Alumnus and Do Good Council member Kahlil Kettering presented on his groundbreaking Nature Conservancy work to establish the first Stormwater Credit Market in the District. Kettering spoke to a packed crowd at the Do Good Accelerator, including Accelerator Fellows, students enrolled in Comm107, leaders from the Office of Sustainability, and more. Read the full article here.
