NLA students have opportunities to enhance their personal and professional development skills through programs such as the Mentoring Program and Student Funders Project.
NLA Mentoring Program
The NLA Mentoring Program further enhances the mission of Nonprofit Leadership Alliance to empower, educate and prepare EMU Nonprofit Leadership Alliance students to strengthen and lead nonprofit organizations. The program pairs NLA students with seasoned nonprofit professionals to develop positive, safe, and effective mentoring relationships that are consistent, supportive and accountable. Working with a seasoned NPO leader, students are given the opportunity to further their personal and professional development. Mentors are given the opportunity to share their vast experience (in the nonprofit sector) as well as learn from the newer generation of leaders. The mentoring program assists to round out the whole NLA experience and further build EMU-NPO relationships.
The NLA Mentoring Program Handbook is available here.
The Student Funders Project
The NLA at EMU started a project in 2011 that allows students to play the role of philanthropic funders. The project's purpose was to involve students in a hands-on demonstration of several aspects of resource development, and strengthen the local community th rough helping nonprofit organizations.
The project was funded by generous donations from the Women in Philanthropy at EMU, EMU Alum Dr. George Cogar, and the NLA at EMU. Students have awarded $11,000 to 16 local nonprofit organizations since the project started. It gives students a different perspective on how to approach writing grants. It forces them to use critical thinking skills by thinking through creating the grant application, what to include in it, which organizations to include, creating an evaluation rubric and working through the whole process. In addition, the students learn to negociate with team members as they select the winning organzations during an all-day meeting.
A list of the grant awardees is available here.
