This fall, Leading People and Projects (MNGT 411) welcomes something different from its previous eight semesters -- a blended remote/in-person format that has not stopped the enthusiasm of students. 

Leading People and Projects students are challenged to understand philanthropy as individuals and as a group, coordinate efforts across seven department-like teams and navigate intragroup collaboration and organization. This is done through the cornerstone project, Strive to Thrive Lincoln. The fall semester is the ninth time students of the class decide how to invest $10,000 into social enterprises in Lincoln, Nebraska. Strive to Thrive Lincoln, an experience unlike any offered by other courses, is made possible by the generosity of Rhonda Seacrest, the Learning by Giving Foundation and the partnership of the College of Business.

This semester the Strive to Thrive Lincoln Student Blog is managed by the Publicity team. This team is comprised of students Kate Dean a management major from Lincoln, Nebraska; Adrianna Mcking, a Clifton Builders management major, marketing and advertising/public relations major from Omaha, Nebraska; Claire Deetz, business administration and hospitality major from Omaha, Nebraska; Issac Archuletta, a business administration major from Brainard, Nebraska; Kelby Roberts, a marketing and management major from Aurora, Nebraska; Emma Karr, a management and marketing major from Fremont, Nebraska; and Dallis Votava, a design and technical theater major from Lincoln, Nebraska. As a team, students are eager to build connections with and invest in non-profit organizations in the Lincoln community.

11/15/20 - The Culmination of an Amazing Semester

THIS WEEK BROUGHT US THE MOMENTS WE HAD PREPARED FOR THIS ENTIRE SEMESTER!  On Wednesday, November 11th, the MNGT 411 class celebrated our deserving recipients and commemorated the hard work of our class. The Hub and Lincoln Lighthouse are the Fall 2020 Strive to Thrive grant recipients and although virtual, this semester’s award ceremony definitely delivered meaningfulness.

Thanks to the Awards Ceremony task group, program attendees were able to hear from Kathy Farrell-Dean of the College of Business, Rose Hood-Buss- Executive Director of The Hub, Bill Michener- Executive Director of Lincoln Lighthouse, and Dr. Amber Messersmith- MNGT 411 professor.

With two weeks left in our fall semester, we wanted to focus this blog update on the moving awards ceremony. Considering the impact, importance, and quite frankly, because we hadn’t done it yet, we asked our MNGT 411 Professor for her personal response. This class would not be possible, especially in a remote style, without, Dr. Amber Messersmith who kindly answered a few questions for us this week. 

First, Dr. Messersmith provided her reaction to our grant recipients.

I was genuinely thrilled that the class chose The HUB and Lighthouse to receive grants. Both are doing incredible work for individuals on the verge of adulthood, setting them up for future success. Additionally, both organizations have long been supporters of our class, and both have been Strive to Thrive Lincoln grant contenders multiple times. Additionally, they have hosted MNGT411 students for interviews, service projects, and site visits. Yet neither had been selected for a grant until this fall. I didn’t share this fact with the class until after both nonprofits were chosen to keep from influencing their decisions, but it was time for The HUB and Lighthouse to win!

Dr. Messersmith also provided her thoughts on the awards ceremony.

A full day later, I’m still smiling about the ceremony! It went so smoothly due to the efforts of the Awards Ceremony team! Sure, it would have been fun to be together in person, but a significant advantage of the virtual format is that it lets more people attend. For example, we had a former MNGT411 student join us from California, where she lives and works. Even local professionals who may not have been able to spare the time to drive to campus, park, walk to the building, and so on, were able to watch from a convenient location. I am really proud of the students who planned and executed the ceremony, as it was a strong representation of our class, the College of Business, and UNL. After the event, my inbox was overflowing with messages complimenting the students!

The Awards ceremony would not have been possible without the hard work of the awards ceremony task group. Cody Klinkacek was the MC of this week’s awards ceremony and he added some ‘behind the scenes’ details to show the extent of planning that went into the ceremony.

So much planning goes into a Ceremony like that, that was one thing I did not expect. Instead of ordering food or setting up chairs for an in-person event, we had to plan for things like what if the zoom crashed in the middle of it, or if one of us started having technical difficulties or couldn’t get a video to play. I wish I had a picture of my set up. You might have thought I was launching a rocket, I had my laptop, and iPad, lights, my phone open with direct communication to my team, and even a paper print out of my talking points just in case something went down or I ran into a problem. I really had the easy part, I just talked. I knew my team had my back and was ready for anything. They put in too much work and are so creative. Whether it was creating a video, invitations, the Powerpoint or thinking about problems before they happened, they were the reason it went off without a hitch! During the presentation, I was focused and energized, I wanted to bring as much entertainment and energy as I could. I have no problem speaking in front of people and I am almost energized by it even though it can be a little nerve-racking. 

Klinkacek added some thoughts on the impact of Strive to Thrive.

Before this class, I had no idea how big of an impact and scope these nonprofits have. The people who run them pour their hearts into the Lincoln community, and it was inspiring to see that passion come out in our ceremony. It is impossible to not fall in love with both. As the MC I had to keep it together which was by far the hardest part.

Grace Partridge, also of the awards ceremony task group, added her own reflection on Wednesday’s virtual ceremony. 

All semester we have been prepping for our Awards Ceremony, even when we didn’t know what it would look like or who the winners would be, we brainstormed ways to create the most meaningful virtual experience. One element I was particularly passionate about was creating a video celebrating the grant winners. In my mind, the video would serve as a way to remember our time in 411 and would honor the grant winners in a way that lasted longer than a virtual ceremony. With the participation of all the amazing people in 411, I think we really captured how inspired we were by our grant winners Lighthouse and The Hub. 

Watch video played during Strive to Thrive Lincoln Awards Ceremony:

11/8/20 - Picking Grant Recipients

The two most tense days for MNGT 411 have ended in a rush of dopamine: we have picked our grant recipients. Particularly, the last 7 minutes of the class provided us with the opportunity to share in the joy and excitement of their first reactions! Hearing cheers and gratitude from the other end of the phone put a smile on the face of everyone in the class and gave us even more satisfaction in our final decision. This week we asked three class mates for their opinions on the last few days in class as well as their perceptions overall.

Kelby Roberts, a senior marketing and management major, shared her thoughts and reflections on the deliberation process. 

The deliberations were unlike anything I feel like I have had to go through before. I have been in positions in the past where I was required to converse with others about a choice to make, but nothing as hard as this one. All of the non-profits this class chose to be considered for the two grants were all well-aligned candidates which made the decision of choosing some over others even harder. I truly feel like this week has shown me what this class is about and has pushed me to want to get more involved in my community, specifically by volunteering for or donating to a non-profit. Because of some of this class and what I had the opportunity to experience with the deliberations, I have decided that I will take further part in Voice of Hope when I graduate in less than two months. I feel confident in the organization and its values and I am excited to see where this takes me.

Claire Deetz, a senior Hospitality and Business Administration major, contributed her take on the last two class periods. 

“Although the process felt emotionally draining at times, I was so proud of our class for the passionate deliberation that took place. I have grown so much from this process and feel incredibly grateful to have been a part of Strive to Thrive this semester.”

On MNGT 411 overall:

Prior to deliberations, I thought  class had gone relatively smoothly. In preparation for deliberations, my group and I were very happy to see strong class participation in almost every aspect of the process to that point [mission statement writing, white papers research, determining and executing site visits], which we felt demonstrated how seriously the class was taking this process. It certainly gave us hope that whatever deliberation method we came up with, the class was going to whole-heartedly buy into the process and help us out in that regard.

Feelings through deliberations:

Despite occasionally hitting rough patches, I felt that deliberations went fairly smoothly. I didn’t feel like there were any instances of the class rejecting or accepting any specific nonprofit based on frivolous or inconsequential details, and overall they seemed to be fair deliberations and thoughts from the class. I attribute that to the overall quality of the class structure, as well as the students who took the class and decided to remain engaged throughout the entire process.

On facilitation and participation:

Personally, I love facilitating processes like these. There were times on the first day, and a few on the second, where I felt we were drifting away from the specific topic in question, but I never felt like I had lost control of the class. I’ve moderated town halls for city governments before, and frankly the room full of college students was able to have a more civil discussion about the topic at hand than the general population. I was thoroughly pleased with how our process worked out, and while I wish we would have had more time for discussion and to have every voice heard, I’m happy with the level of participation that we did have.

On the class’s decision and personal impact:

I thought the class decision was fair and representative of the general sentiment. Personally, I had chosen four from the site visit phase that I would have liked to see get a grant, and three of those four made it to the second day and two of them got a grant, so personally I’m very happy with the outcome. On a more professional level, I thought the discussion was good and the deliberations were hard fought and hard won, which goes to show how strong all of the NPOs considered were. While I’ve worked on both sides of grant writing before, this was the first time that I’ve been able to participate in, let alone facilitate, what is essentially a crowd-sourced application and deliberation process. The group dynamics and balancing all applicable variables was a fun challenge for me, and definitely something that I’ll take with me in the future.

Thank you Kelby, Claire, and Clayton for sharing your thoughts with us this week. Saving the best information for last, congratulations to The Hub and Lincoln Lighthouse for being Fall 2020 recipients of the Strive To Thrive Grant made possible by The Learning by Giving Foundation and Rhonda Seacrest. 

11/1/20 - Reflecting on Class Experiences So Far

With two consecutive weeks of asynchronous MNGT 411 meetings, I, Adri Mcking, and Kate Dean, the two writers of this weekly blog, and members of the publicity group, wanted to take time this week to reflect on our experiences at this point in the semester. For the last 11 weeks we’ve worked diligently to recap the process and feelings of our class from a perspective a step removed from ourselves. Our goal was to incorporate opinions beyond the scope of our lense. This week we’re specifically writing through our own interpretation of the class up until this point and our hopes for the remainder of the semester.

Adri: Starting off, had I not known about life before this pandemic, I would have absolutely loved taking this class in a remote/in-person. I genuinely feel that the format this year works well for the purposes of scheduling and intentionality. By being out of the room where I can easily space out, I have found myself more focused on conversations at hand. 

With this being a class focused on project management and leadership I have learned so much about from hands on application. There’s no text book for MNGT 411 this year yet I feel more prepared to lead without a specific position designation than I ever did when I have had a title. As a junior, many of my classes thus far have incorporated collaborative principles and group projects yet none has been so unique as to have real impact on stakeholders and other groups. 

During the two weeks while completing site visits, recording objective presentations of those meetings, and taking care of group responsibilities I have been inspired by the professionalism of my peers and the process of project execution. The processes we’re taking to determine the recipients of our grants have opened my eyes to a side of non-profit organizations that I had never considered. I’ve partnered with nonprofit organizations, I’ve led fundraisers, and there were times in my childhood that I benefited from these community based organizations. I have never had to look at NPOs from the eyes of the funder before. I honestly don’t know if I ever would want to again. Although I feel empowered to make a difference in my community I’ve also felt defeated by my unrealistic desire to help every organization eligible to our mission. As a very emotional person I’ve genuinely struggled with objective selection.

However challenging this class feels, I’m grateful for the growth I’ve had in this class. I’ve grown in my passion for non-profit work and I’ve also grown in my ability to be a leader by my works. I am very excited to see this class conclude over the next few weeks. 

Kate: Writing this from my childhood bedroom while experiencing mild COVID symptoms isn’t particularly ideal, however, I am grateful for the flexibility that the remote/in-person learning has allowed myself and my classmates this semester. The unique format allows for adaptability on short notice and the inclusion of each student regardless of where they are participating from. 

The best thing about this class is the excitement and eagerness that I feel entering each meeting. MNGT 411 is providing me the opportunity to discuss, collaborate, and occasionally disagree with my classmates, and because of that I have learned so much. I am a senior, but this is the first time I have been a part of a class that I truly feel my opinion is valued and thoughtfully considered by both my classmates and my professor. With an emphasis on collaboration and group work, I can feel myself growing as a leader, a teammate, and a friend. 

Throughout the semester, the determination and focus of my classmates is evident. I am excited to proceed with deliberations next week and look forward to watching our grant recipients use the money to serve the community.

10/25/20 - Site Visits

Class Updates:

The MNGT 411 class is one step closer to selecting the recipients of the Fall 2020 Strive to Thrive grants! This week, each class member participated in two site visits with their group. These visits were conducted via zoom and lasted approximately one hour each. Throughout the visits, class members asked representatives from the 12 remaining organizations questions that were generated by the entire class. Conducting virtual site visits gave our class the opportunity to be intentional while making personal connections and building relationships with our grant finalists.

Class input:

This week we asked three of our classmates representing multiple groups about their experience with site visits.

Grace Partridge, a junior, shared after her first site visit that her experience with the entire process was, “going very well! I think we are definitely going to have a tough decision!”

Tyler Rogert, another junior, reflected, “Nonprofits play a much larger role in the community than I expected and there are so many great organizations all over Lincoln if you look for them. I agree, it’s going to be a tough decision.”

Thirdly we asked Morgan Baack, of the Awards Ceremony task group, for her thoughts. Morgan reflected on the site visits stating, “I enjoyed having an inside look on the organizations that I visited. It was so encouraging to hear their stories, their values, and the ‘why’behind what they do every day.” Baack continued, “Some of the stories that they shared brought my team and I to tears. It was inspiring to hear the impact and differences that they are making in the lives of so many. Having these experiences in MNGT 411 have made me realize that there is more that I can do in the community to help others. I’m excited to take what I have learned in this course and apply it to the real world.”

Looking forward:

In the coming days, groups will work together to create presentations about their site visits to share with the rest of the class. Each group will use the same template for their presentations as we strive to analyze these organizations with objectivity and no bias. The presentations will include a recap of the site visit and what exactly each organization does, including thoughts on how the visit went, surprises, things that stood out, etc. Next, we will report on the populations the organization is able to reach. As stated in our mission statement, we are looking for an NPO that benefits intersectional populations including those of all races, sexualities, identities, religions, and socioeconomic statuses. The following slide is dedicated to programming and opportunities the organization provides to those they serve.

We will not meet in class next week as each individual is responsible for watching presentations and engaging in diligent note taking to prepare for deliberations.

10/18/20 - Preparing for Site Visits

This week in MNGT 411 every student had the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the importance of our upcoming site visits. Next Monday and Wednesday, all task groups (along with a representative from the site visits group) will have the opportunity to attend two virtual site visits! 

On Monday, the site visit group led the class through a discussion about the most important questions to ask on our visits. As a class, we deemed it essential to get a clear answer on how these NPOs intend to spend our $5,000 grant and ensure their intentions with our grant align with our mission statement. Dr. Messersmith explained that although virtual, this opportunity offers the chance to understand the great impact these organizations have on the community on a more personal level, “You will fall in love and wonder how we will narrow this down to two organizations,” Dr. Messersmith told the class. With proper due diligence and genuine effort to build a strong relationship with our potential grant recipients, as a class, we can make an informed, confident decision.

On Wednesday, the class engaged in a discussion about our goals as a group and individually for the site visit. After reading the articles, The Truth About Site Visits by the Minnesota Council on Foundations and How Grant Makers Can Tune In to What Nonprofits Need Most by Hilary Pennington and Kath Reich, we learned about the perspective of organizations in preparing to host visits. Focusing on cultivating long term relationships is a mutual intent between non-profit organizations and funders. To accomplish this NPOs plan extensively, prepare financials, and ask straightforward questions to the funders. The second article helped us understand the importance of attentively listening during our visits. It went on to emphasize the value of asking questions about financial needs to better understand the obstacles they are facing as an organization.

Site visit group #4 shared their focus heading into next week, “Our main goal for the site visits is to not let our emotion from our heart be subjective to what the organization has to offer and the impact they have on the community,” a group representative continued, “We want to base our research strictly on facts and less on emotions.” 

Next week will we listen to presentations from each group about their experience and insights for the site visits. We anticipate a very difficult deliberation process to narrow down to just two organizations but thanks to due diligence the class is confident in making that tough decision. Check back to see interview reflections about site visit presentations next week!

10/9/20 - In-class Deliberations Narrow the Pool

This week Strive to Thrive narrowed down a pool of 24 non-profit organizations to 12 via review of white papers and in-class deliberations.

The students in MNGT 411 began their productive week Sunday evening. The first step to determine site visits candidates required students to quantify their perceptions of each NPO after reviewing the 24 white papers written by the class. On Monday, Leading People & Projects convened to begin deliberations. First, Clayton of the Class Evaluations team led the data results presentation. More members of Class Evaluation facilitated the discussion of which NPOs to keep on our list. This aspect of deliberations started with discussing the organizations with the lowest ratings. Members of the class rationalized their viewpoints; despite both disagreement and accordance the class remained respectful and many people advocated for their causes and utilized their voices.

As a result of Class Evaluation’s effective facilitation strategy and the focused, intentional efforts of the class, Strive to Thrive determined the 12 organizations that will be met for a virtual site visit. The Site Visits project team will lead the work of meeting with these organizations in the coming weeks. The class will conduct visits with the following NPOs: 

CEDARS
HopeSpoke
Girls Code Lincoln
The HUB
Arc of Lincoln
Center for People in Need
Lincoln Lighthouse
Family Service Association
Malone Center
Educare Lincoln
Voices of Hope
Mourning Hope

Following deliberations on Wednesday MNGT 411: Leading People & Projects stepped back from the latter part of its title to focus a bit more on its “People” element. Dr. Amber Messersmith took the class through a self-assessment designed to identify leadership strengths through different phases of a project. This allowed groups better insight between members and opened the opportunity for groups to give recognition to one another. 

Wrapping up this week, Strive to Thrive groups must complete group evaluations and a few articles for class next week.

10/3/20 - Rhonda Seacrest and Shanna O'Berry Visit Virtually

Strive to thrive had an eventful week this week. Students in MNGT 411 welcomed two guest speakers, representing the founders for this project. On Monday, Rhonda Seacrest spoke to students in the Leading Peoples and Projects class, followed by Shanna O’Berry on Wednesday. Outside of watching presentations, the class has continued efforts to identify potential grant recipients. The publicity group thought it best to incorporate specific group updates in weekly blogs following general class updates.

Monday

On September 28, Rhonda Seacrest virtually visited the MNGT 411 class. Seacrest was born in North Platte, Nebraska, and has spent her life dedicated to being a philanthropist in Nebraska. During her visit with the class, she shared her background, motivations for philanthropy and the most significantly lessons she's learned.  

Seacrest shared that through her support of this class, she hopes students learn to raise their consciousness to disparity, look for ways to improve the human condition in areas of need and consider going into non-profit management. Seacrest described her desire to create equal opportunity for academics, and the arts across Nebraska initially spurred her philanthropic pursuits. “Opportunity in Nebraska diminishes at the end of west O street in Lincoln,” Seacrest asserted. Her passion for philanthropy in Nebraska was made clear, and her words left the class feeling inspired moving forward.

Strive to Thrive Lincoln would not be an existing organization without Rhonda Seacrest’s generous support and funding.  We are gracious of the funding she has provided to our class and look forward to making the best of it.

Wednesday

In addition to Seacrest, Strive to Thrive is funded by the Learning by Giving Foundation. Shanna O’Berry, the director of academics for Learning by Giving, joined the class on September 30th. 

The Learning by Giving (LBG) foundation believes in inspiring and educating the future philanthropists of the world. O’Berry explained that LBG believes in the work they do, and they entrust us to make the right decision. O’Berry went on to explain how the LBG foundation operates with democracy in mind, listening to the voices of many diverse perspectives to make the best funding decisions. O’Berry offered some inspiring information to our class as we discover the continual need for philanthropy in our community, “I hope your heart breaks and your eyes open.” Students in MNGT 411 recognize that $10,000 is not a lot of money, but we hope that this experience inspires us to promote and support philanthropy after the semester ends.

Looking Ahead

Each member of the class has been tasked with reading all 24 white papers and completing a corresponding form to determine which nonprofit organization best suits the requirements of our mission statement. Once every student has filled out these questionnaires, the class evaluation group will be able to sort the data and determine the top contenders for the 2020 Strive to Thrive grant. 

Select Group Updates As of 9/25

These are accomplishments reported by a few of the class groups and presented here.

Class evaluations

“In the past two weeks, all members brainstormed ways on creating the evaluation rubric for the class. Haley, Clayton, Jackson, Tyler, Gabrielle, Nick and Connor decided to keep track of all evaluating records using Google Docs. All group members then put together the rough draft of the evaluation rubric which Haley and Clayton presented to the class for their opinions.”

Applicant Communications

“Trevin K. and Clara D. developed consideration emails for applicants, but the whole group pitched in to let the rest of the class know if their NPO's have accepted the grant process. Nick B. and Clara D. called the remaining NPO's who did not reply to the consideration e-mails. Trevin K., Lucas S., and I (Hallie S.) confirmed the NPO's tax-exempt status.”

Community engagement 

“Carlyn reached out to the 2020 guest recipients for their bios to create introductions for each of them. Clay began coordinating with both Food Fort and CASA on the service projects getting numbers of volunteers, an understanding of the organization, and an in-depth idea of what they are looking for out of us. Clay has also reached out to and prepared an introduction for Shanna O’Berry. George has coordinated with the Belmont community center on the service project that we will complete for them. Jonathan Johnson got in touch with The HUB to coordinate a service project. Carolyn has completed her service project with students: Gracie Pick, Brandon Arkfeld and Haley Solberg. Truan completed the first of three service projects. This one was completed with: Truan Litt, Adri Mcking, Clayton Spray, Cody Klinkacek, and Nick Vetter. Carlyn has worked with her group and completed the intro session of their service project and will proceed next week with 2-3 hours of work each.”

9/25/20 - Meeting Past Grant Awardees

On September 23, the students of Management 411 welcomed representatives from Spring 2020 Strive to Thrive grant winners, Food Fort and Belmont Community Center to the class. Our guest speakers came at a pivotal time in the semester as every member of the class is continually working on identifying and researching nonprofits that align with our mission statement.

Following an introduction by Carlyn Bretey of the community engagement group, Michaela Akridge, founder of Food Fort, and Emily Koopman and Karen French, executive director and assistant director, respectively, of Belmont Community Center made their opening remarks to the class.  

Karen French told our class about the history of the Belmont Community Center (BCC). From its genesis in 1937 to now, the BCC has evolved to serve students and support the surrounding community by offering before/after school programming, renting out their gym to youth sports teams and renting out their facility for other organizations to host meetings. 

Michaela Akridge explained how her organization, Food Fort, capitalizes on using food and mealtimes as an avenue to create relationships with youth in the community. As the founder, Akridge described how her time spent as a Vacation Bible School volunteer showed her the need for fostering relationships with underprivileged children in the Lincoln community. She also stated through adopting her children she had connections to areas most in need. 

The first question that was asked was how each organization used the $5,000 Strive to Thrive Grant.

The representatives of the Belmont Community Center, Emily and Karen, shared that the grant has gone to various activities. The grant has gone to paying for resources and supplies for STEM programming, and to purchasing a projector to maximize the utility of their main room area. The founder of Food Fort, Michaela, having received the grant twice, told the MNGT 411 class the grant has mostly gone to support their giving garden from expansion to supporting the hiring of Food Fort supported local teens to equip them with experience and skills to be prepared for job processes and college.

The class followed up with a few questions about the two non-profit organizations’ experiences overall that led to very eye-opening and heart-warming responses. 

Since last week, students in Leading Peoples and Projects have spent time in pairings working on researching and advocating for NPO candidates. Starting with a list of possible organizations that fit this year’s Strive to Thrive mission, students began preliminary research of the organizations’ scope of impact and primary contacts. After the Applicant Communications Group approved the organization's class pairs then contacted their respective organizations to answer the singular question: “How would you use a $5,000 grant in accordance with the Strive to Thrive Lincoln mission?” With this question answered pairs are now continuing their research and putting together a white paper to present to the class for deliberation. 

Thank you for following along with us throughout our journey to find the next Strive to Thrive grant recipients. Check back next week for more updates and reports from the class. 

9/17/20 - The Mission Statement

On September 16th, following a week of collaborative conversation and deliberation, the MNGT 411 class adopted the following mission statement:

Strive to Thrive Lincoln provides Nebraska Business students in the Management 411 class with the opportunity to grant funds to sustainable organizations that provide equitable and educationally related opportunities to intersectional populations in the Lincoln/Lancaster County community.

Creating the Mission

The mission defining process began with establishing funding priorities as individuals and then in groups. With the intention to incorporate the perspective of every class member, after discussing individual priorities, all seven groups were responsible for coming up with a mission statement. After presenting each statement, the class determined a list of common encompassing themes. 

• Sustainability: An organization that is capable of continuing business with or without our contribution.
• Intersectionality: The organization must be one that looks to address both the results of an issue and compounding, multi-faceted expressions of such issues. Ex: Poverty among LGBT+ Youth; Impoverished Minority students
• Community
• COVID-19 and “the ever-changing world”
• Education

With a narrowed basis of agreement, the class groups reworked their statements to encompass the five mission themes. This direction made second attempts at the mission statement much easier. Again each team shared their approaches and the class deliberated.

Points of Discussion

COVID-19
The world has always been unpredictable and the pandemic we are in has presented itself with an unfamiliar set of challenges during a unique year for our country. No one is ignorant of COVID-19 and its economic implications. Knowing that, as a class, we chose to consider COVID-19 related elements as much as a given as including the terms “non-profit organization”. Omitting this from our mission, the focus shifted to education and intersectionality, which afford a broader approach that will inevitably help a COVID-19 impacted demographic.

With a $5,000 grant, we elected that it be best that our funds are given to a sustainable organization that already has made their mark on the community and will continue to do so after our donation is spent. We want our grant to assist in continuing those amazing efforts in order to give back to the Lincoln/Lancaster County community. 

In order to expand our reach, we decided to change the verbiage from “education” to “educationally related”. This opens the door for us to assist an NPO that supports any type of educational program and not just the school system. For example, afterschool programs, adult/family literacy classes, programs to practice athletics, etc.

Discussion/Voting
Utilizing the polling feature on zoom as well as polling the students in the class, we passed our mission nearly unanimously. With our mission established, we cannot wait to seek out local organizations that align with our mission.

9/11/20 - Learning About Philanthropy

The first weeks of this semester Strive to Thrive students spent time learning the definitions of philanthropy, its roots, benefits and shortcomings. Students were responsible for reading and reflecting on articles and other class materials within the seven groups. After gaining insight into the concept of philanthropy, students had the opportunity to identify their own personal values and narrow it down to their core guiding principles. Following narrowing down individual values, Strive to Thrive students began learning about the importance of administration in non-profit organizations leading to a remote guest speaker presentation.

On September 2, Strive to Thrive Lincoln welcomed Kyle Cartwright via Zoom to provide his insights and advice as students began to determine group priorities to develop ideas for this year’s mission statement that will be used for deciding grant recipients. Cartwright, Executive Director of the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, offered tips on how to read a 990 form, build trust with nonprofits and navigate challenges that may arise during the semester.

After the first presentation class time was devoted to defining intragroup dynamics in each of the seven teams. Students communicated group expectations, identified group strengths, and set standards for dealing with internal conflict.

With groups better established, Leading Peoples and Projects prepared for the second guest speaker of the year. On September 10, Dr. Stacey Hoffman was invited as the second guest speaker to present to the class the findings of the 2019 Lincoln Vital Signs report. Dr. Hoffman answered many questions about the report and her organization. Dr. Hoffman also left the class with advice for selecting non-profit organizations: consider the longevity of the investment.

The first few weeks have passed quickly in Leading Peoples and Projects. Time was spent defining philanthropy, group expectations and learning from Community Members. Looking forward to next week, Strive to Thrive Lincoln will have defined this semester’s mission and continue our efforts to find worthy organizations.

We look forward to a challenging yet rewarding semester.

Follow along with Management 411 students throughout the semester with our weekly blogs, which will provide progress reports, photos, and recaps of class activities and visitors.

Published: November 15, 2020