National Office Blog

This morning, eight of us (Nourish folks) had the great fortune of scoring a private breakfast with Dennis Whittle, founder and ceo of Global Giving, at the Carolina Inn (many thanks go to Raymond Farrow and the Kenan Institute for hosting the breakfast).

We told Dennis our story and he dove right into the model.  Alyson Zandt, one of the UNC chapter's leaders, told her story as a participant on this past summer's water sanitation project in Peru.  Once she finished, Dennis looked her in the eyes and emphatically stated that she had learned the most important lessons there are to learn in international development.  And she did it in college, through Nourish's model.

The effect was palpable.  In one fell swoop, he validated our core model to everyone sitting at the table, which included students, staff and even a board member.  Day in, day out, we strive to generate social impact, and we do it because we believe in our mission.  Now, here we had someone who had taken a social venture to scale tell our team that he thinks we have what it takes, that our model works.  When you fall into a routine, it's easy to forget how powerful it can be to hear someone external say they believe in what you are doing. Potent stuff, especially coming from someone who has scaled a large social venture.

Needless to say, we were energized coming out of the discussion.  Dennis encouraged us to tackle all of the things on our mind head on.  Specifically, he emphasized the following points:

1)  Continue to hash out a path to sustaining our infrastructure and growth.  It's the most important thing we can do right now, and he was impressed that we are grappling with it rather than backing down.

2)  Change the name from Nourish to something that describes the most powerful part of our work:  engaging our generation in an experiential business model that works to reduce global poverty.

3)  Keep doing what we're doing.  We have the opportunity change the world.

Thank you, Dennis, for all your advice and encouragement.

Positions:
Fundraising Coordinator
Commitment: 10 hours a week
Skills needed: Excellent communication skills, organizational and planning skills
Description: The volunteer will work side-by-side with Nourish staff and board members to maintain and expand our donor base as we fund our 2008-9 budget and expansion. The fundraising assistant will be given leadership in designing and planning fundraising events.
Positions available: 1

Grant Writer
Commitment: 10 hours a week
Skills needed: Strong writing skills, organizational and planning skills
Description: The grant writer will take leadership in seeking out grants for Nourish to apply for, writing drafts for those grants, and following them through the process.  This position is ideal for people interested in developing grant writing skills.
Positions available: 1

Summer Institute ’09 Planner
Commitment: 10 hours a week
Skills needed: Strong organizational and communication skills
Description: The Institute ’09 Volunteer will plan for Summer Institute ’09, our yearly training conference.  The Volunteer will work with closely with staff to arrange venues, speakers, programming and logistics.  This position is ideal for people interested in gaining experience in event planning.
Positions available: 1

Financial Analyst
Commitment:10 hours a week
Skills needed: Strong analytical skills, experience with accounting
Description: The Financial Analyst will play an integral part in maintaining our organizational accounts via QuickBooks.  The Analyst will work closely with full time staff to maintain and expand Nourish’s budget.
Positions available: 1

International Projects Coordinators
Commitment: 10 hours a week
Skills needed: Strong communication skills, research and organizational abilities
Description: The International Projects Coordinator will work closely with our community partners abroad and student chapters.  They will facilitate plans for the each partnership to implement a sustainable development project in Summer ’09.

Positions available: 2

Chapter Founders Team Members
Commitment: 10 hours a week
Skills needed: Strong communication skills, ability to work closely with others
Description: Chapter Founders Team Members will be integral to the expansion of Nourish International.  They will contact faculty and staff from our target universities to publicize our program.  They will also recruit applicants to our Chapter Founders Program and guide them through the process.
Positions available: 12

Chapter Founders Team Managers
Commitment: 20 hours a week
Skills needed: Strong management abilities needed. Organizational and communication skills also important
Description: Ideal for candidates looking to gain practical experience in the managerial field. The managers will coordinate Chapter Founders Program, work closely with full time staff in leadership positions.  They will oversee and coordinate the activities of the Chapter Founders Team Members and lead at the forefront of Nourish’s expansion effort.
Positions available: 2

Nourish was able to launch thanks to a university which embraced and encouraged student social entrepreneurs in engage with the cause they cared so much about.

In particular, two university initiatives prompted our success.  They are:

1)  The Campus Y, which gave us our first home (the Y building) and mentor (Virginia Carson)

2)  The Carolina Entrepreneurship Initiative (CEI), housed in Kenan-Flagler Business School (KFBS):  which pushed us to think big through the Carolina Challenge, gave us a structured program to develop our business plan through Launch the Venture, and provided a network to build our first board and team.

CEI is housed within Kenan-Flagler Business School (KFBS).  In short, KFBS was the birthground for expanding Nourish, and we would not be a national movement without them.  Every success we earn is a teaching success for them.  This past Saturday, we had the opportunity to thank them by bragging a bit about Nourish - the global leadership model they helped develop.

The result?  Overwhelming enthusiasm for our work.

After sharing Nourish's model, I was able to speak with the majority of the members of the council one on one for a few minutes.  Each was enthusiastic about the work we were doing, and could not believe the work that so many students were taking on all around the world.  They offered more than just kind words too:  each was excited to dig deep into our model and offer potential ways to help.  I realized a few things:

• Age does not matter as much as unique experiences:  we have a lot to teach the world about leadership
• The UNC network is an extended family which wants to help others in the network.  Nourish's long term success will depend on its ability to build the the same sense of family across the nation.
• People want to see us succeed.  We just need to figure out where they can best plug in

With so much momentum, we have the opportunity to show the world what can happen when a university engages its students in the social causes they care so much about.  Jim Dean, the new dean of KFBS has made leadership a top priority for the school.  We are one product of their leadership development programs, and we hope we can continue to make KFBS proud as we scale to ten new campuses this year.

Bridging the gap between students and impoverished communities is key here at Nourish. Really, we like to build bridges anywhere we can, because there are always connections to be made. So often it seems that alumni feel distant from the current student body at their school; too distant in fact, that they are unable to take advantage of opportunities to get involved. We want to change that. At Nourish, the options for involvement are endless. We think alumni have a great chance to support their alma mater by supporting the Nourish chapter on their campus. After all, these students are doing amazing things. We are showcasing Duke's achievements coming up on December 2^nd at 6:00 pm right in the heart of Duke's campus at the Perkin's Library. We've invited all of the local Duke alumni to come out and hear what these awesome Nourish students have been doing. Whether they want to mentor, volunteer or donate, we're just excited to get them on board. Of course, anyone in the public is welcome; the more the merrier! If you want more information, e-mail Sara at sara.storms@nourishinternational.org. Hopefully we'll see you there!

I know Joel’s news will come as a surprise to many of you – I know it did to me, the first time I heard that it might be a possibility. For many of us (myself included), Joel Thomas is Nourish International, and envisioning it without him will be a task indeed.

As we move forward, however, it’s important to remember the vision that he launched: a network of college students working to reduce global poverty in sustainable ways.

Now more than ever, that vision is within reach. Amazing work is happening at our chapters across the United States; our students are preparing to select yet another round of partners abroad; a new round of Chapter Founders will be launched in just a couple months.

And yet there are challenges. Now more than ever, your donations are crucial to our success. Stay tuned in to the blog for the next steps on our growth.

I write to you today to notify you of my resignation from Nourish International, effective November 20^th. I will step down as Executive Director of Nourish International, to be replaced by James Dillard. Below, I will explain the reasoning for the decision (and why I’m excited about it), what’s next for me, and what this means for Nourish.

The decision was based on two primary factors. First, my greatest skill is to lend traction to ideas when they are first born. I am happiest working on new programs and initiatives, and it is where I can be most helpful. My job was to build a team and give Nourish legs. With 23 universities and more than 300 active members, this job has been done. Second, small nonprofits are dangerously prone to a trap called Founder’s Syndrome, in which a company and its founder cling to each other. A company with Founder’s Syndrome struggles to embrace new ideas, and is less able to adapt in a rapidly changing world. I am proud that our organization is bucking this trend. Bringing in new leaders brings new ideas and innovation. And we have a lot of innovating to do! In particular, Nourish requires a hefty amount of thought around long term sustainability, international projects preparation, venture profitability and student voice.

These tasks will now be passed on to the very talented James Dillard, who has worked with Nourish since January 2007, and served as Assistant Director for the past six months. I am fully confident in James’ ability to mold Nourish into the movement we dreamed of in 2005. I cannot say enough good things about him, and I encourage you to read his letter below. His vision for the organization aligns with the one we formed when we founded Nourish in 2005, and I can’t wait to see him actualize it.

As for me, I plan to stay in the field of international development, and global poverty will be something I work on for the rest of my life. All of the job opportunities I am considering have a social purpose or international focus (hopefully I can find one with both!). After working for a year or two, I expect to enter business school either in 2009 or 2010 to continue my journey as a student of social entrepreneurship, leadership and international development.

Nourish has been the most wonderful, fiercely challenging, foundation-shaking force in my life, and that was only made possible by the people who got me involved and kept me involved. That means you. Together, we have supported 14 community development projects in 11 countries, sent 86 students abroad, created a world class training institute and have inspired 23 campuses in our shared vision. The outlook from here is bright.

Through our efforts, we have the potential to capture a generation, and in so doing produce a culture shift on a scale that will produce a connected global north and south. 23 campuses is a good start, but there is great distance to travel and we’ll need your help. Read what James has to say. He’s good. Really good.

Sincerely,

Joel