On Oct. 29, the Center for Non-profit Leadership, along with the Students for Non-profit Leadership Organization, will host their third annual leadership mixer in the Williamson College of Business Administration’s Conference Center.
The Center for Non-profit Leadership offers YSU students a minor or certificate in non-profit leadership that can supplement any major.
Laura Dewberry, director of the Center for Non-profit Leadership, said that the mixer is a recruitment event meant to attract prospective students to the program.
“We are bringing together current students, prospective students, those that are interested in possibly becoming a part of the non-profit leadership academic program and recent alumni that have had success in the field,” Dewberry said.
Students will be given the chance to mingle with alumni who possess non-profit business experience. The event is free and open to the general public, and students interested in non-profit ventures are encouraged to attend.
Both Diane Doddato, president of the Non-profit Leadership Organization, and Danielle Adair, vice president of the organization, expressed enthusiasm for this year’s mixer.
“Of course I’m excited. It is always a good time. We always have refreshments, and — like I said — the alumni come and you get to see people you haven’t seen for awhile. You get to hear what is going on in their lives and how they’ve benefited from the program,” Doddato said. “It is a great experience, too, for prospective students. We can tell them the fun things that we do.”
Addair agreed with Doddato and said the event is a useful networking tool.
“We’re very excited. This is our third year putting on this event. Usually, we have roughly around 40 individuals, and I mean it is a great opportunity just to hear from students who have graduated from our program,” Addair said. “We have about seven or eight individuals who work in non-profits around Youngstown, Ohio. So, just to be able to speak to them and experience that is a great opportunity.”
The event is the result of successful collaboration between students in the center for Non-profit Leadership.
“We really did it as a group, it is something that we have done for years,” Doddato said. “We, as a group, decide the date and distribute fliers and invite different classes. As we are in class, we will stand up and speak to them to invite them to the mixer. It is really a group effort.”
The mixer is just one of many initiatives provided by the Students for Non-profit Leadership Organization. The organization supplied funding for the “Pay it Forward” program, a philanthropic enterprise that provides funding for arts and cultures, neighborhood revitalization and youth development.