National Office Blog

The National Office is excited to welcome four 2011 summer interns:

Ethan Fujita is a rising junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in philosophy and international studies with a minor in Japanese language. He will join Nourish as the Operations Support Intern. Ethan is looking forward to working with the passionate and committed team at Nourish to make positive changes and impacts on both the local chapters and on the communities we serve. Besides working with Nourish, Ethan enjoys working with AIESEC, a student-run organization and exchange program committed to providing international experiences for university students looking to create positive change. He enjoys being active, spending time in the community and with his friends, and learning Japanese.

Laura Jasmine, a rising senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, is serving as the Grant Writing and Public Relations Intern this summer. She is double majoring in journalism and religious studies and plans to pursue a Master’s of Social Work. In addition to doing public relations for other organizations, Laura recently served on a committee of UNC students that awarded grants to North Carolina nonprofits with funding provided by the Sunshine Lady Foundation. For her, the most exciting aspect of Nourish is the organization’s emphasis on providing communities with the tools to lift themselves out of poverty, rather than putting a temporary “band-aid” on the problem by giving free handouts.  In her spare time, Laura enjoys working with the special needs population, traveling, riding horses, and attending sorority functions.

Megan Straubel graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill  in 2011 with a Bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in African studies.  While at UNC, Megan had the opportunity to study abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, taking part in the Global Health and Development Policy program.  Through a summer internship with Advocates for Grassroots Development in Uganda (AGRADU), Megan found her passion for the eradication of poverty through community-driven development.  She has worked as the intern coordinator for AGRADU and a classroom presenter for Carolina Navigators.  This summer, Megan will serve as the Assistant to the Executive Director at Nourish.

Natalie Prince is a rising junior at UNC-Chapel Hill and is double majoring in Spanish and political science. As an intern for Nourish International, she will be responsible for the planning, implementation, and follow-up of the Summer Institute, Nourish's annual summer conference . Natalie enjoys traveling and plans to study abroad in Spain during the upcoming school year. She is excited to be working with Nourish and believes in the organization's mission of creating responsible partnerships with grassroots partners.

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