Below is a transcript of our conversation with Dr. Emma Powell, Director of the Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Development at Central Michigan University
David Nicholas:
I'm David Nicholas, and this is Central Focus, a weekly look at a research activity and innovative work from Central Michigan University's students and faculty. An important part of preparing students for future careers is access to practical experience in their field of study. I learned about one of those opportunities when I sat down with Dr. Emma Powell, Director of the Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Development here at CMU.
Emma Powell:
The Washington Center has been a partner here at CMU for years now, and it's really a great experience and an opportunity for our students to spend either an internship with a full semester or a summer. over in DC working in our capital, doing various things with organizations that are based in DC, government organizations, for-profit companies, as well as our non-profit organizations that are doing the work on the ground in DC to affect policy and implement change. So, our time with the Washington Center has been really great. Our students have an opportunity to go do that, again, both as an internship, but they also have seminar opportunities where they do week or two weeklong experiences, shortened opportunities for our students to go and really get that experience without having to give up a full semester or have that full internship opportunity.
DN:
Other things that the university does to remain active then in the partnership or, as you said, longstanding, ongoing with these opportunities coming up periodically?
EP:
There's hundreds of partners that work with the Washington Center. So, when a student gets an internship or is approved to be in the Washington Center, they are then matched with maybe half a dozen organizations that they get an opportunity to interview with. So, it's not Washington Center that's actually the internship. Washington Center is the hub of all of those partnerships that they have that our students then get access to. But in addition to those opportunities, the Washington Center does quite a few seminars that we will send our students to for those one- or two-week experiences. And then we recently have this opportunity to send students to the Washington Center for a nonprofit lobbying strategies experience as well. So, we're continuing to develop new and unique opportunities for our students specifically to engage with the Washington Center and really get that experience.
DN:
And that leads us right to this inaugural nonprofit leadership and advocacy seminar. It's scheduled for November 11th through the 16th. in Washington, D.C. And so, they have added this then to their list of seminar opportunities?
EP:
They have.
DN:
And how did we get the opportunity to send students there?
EP:
Yeah, this has been really a true testament to the work we're doing specifically here at CMU in our nonprofit curriculum. I took about 30 students to the Washington Center for a roughly a week experience about two years ago as a part of a class. We have an actual class called Nonprofit Lobbying Strategies here at CMU. And in addition, or in conjunction with that class, we were able to work with the Washington Center and create about a week-long experience, kind of hands-on experience that was in partnership to the curriculum that they were experiencing during the semester like normal. And those 30 students had a phenomenal time, really got to meet and work with quite a few organizations discussing the differences between 501c3 organizations and 501c4 organizations and their ability to lobby. So, this was a great opportunity for our nonprofit learning students to recognize that they can get involved and get engaged in that policy space as a nonprofit in various ways. And so, in conjunction with our coursework, we were able to partner with the Washington Center for this very specific trip. And after that was done, the Washington Center came to us and said, how do we replicate this on a national scale? Can we take this and make it into another one of our seminars? They have the platform for the seminars and the outreach to students across the country in various partnerships, but it's all from the experiences that we were able to create from our students here at CMU.
DN:
Congratulations on being the inspiration, the springboard for bringing about this inaugural nonprofit leadership and advocacy seminar. November 11th to the 16th in Washington, D.C., and Professor Emma Powell, Director for the Center of Nonprofit Leadership and Development at CMU. Thanks so much for sharing this story with us. Again, congratulations and good luck as it moves forward.
EP:
Thank you so much!
