Hi everyone!
I’m so excited to have the SIC blog up and running! A big thanks to our tech guru Seth Groener for setting it up!
Well, after an amazing East Asia GATE, I packed my bags and headed north to the lovely state of Maine. I am a summer associate with Common Good Ventures, a venture philanthropy based in Brunswick. CGV has been a great friend of Fuqua for years and I’m so happy to spend my summer with them. Not only has CGV had Fuqua interns in the past, Chad Sclove (Fuqua ‘03) works there full-time as a Portfolio Director and fellow rising second year Suzanne Steffens is here this summer as well.
CGV’s model is to partner with Maine nonprofits through long-term business coaching partnerships (3-5 years). By focusing on accountability and results, asking the probing strategic questions and providing managment tools and resources, CGV shows their partners a path to greater impact and self-sufficiency. Often, this work results in nonprofit partners creating – or improving upon – a business venture or social enterprise, generating income for themselves.
This summer, I am working with CGV’s partner The Leadership School at Kieve Wavus, Inc. The Leadership School runs experiential learning programs for over a quarter of Maine’s middle schools. The curriculum teaches students to make healthy decisions about risky behaviors, relationships and peer pressure. My specific focus is on the school’s evaluation and reporting tools. This past year is the first time the school has really started to prove their impact. So I’m trying to help them make that process efficient, meaningful, and user friendly. I wish I had photos to show you. Hopefully I can get some uploaded soon. I can’t imagine a better place to spend the summer!
I start the second half of my internship tomorrow. So I’ll write again soon. In the mean time, I hope you’re all having great summers and if anyone has experience creating a reporting tool for a youth organization, let me know!
-Jenny
