When I think about leadership development, I often think about this Chinese proverb:

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

This summer, the Cleveland Foundation’s Summer Internship Program celebrates its 13th year of recruiting, placing, and developing the next generation of leaders. The class of 2012 is made up of 17 remarkable individuals that represent a broad range of majors such as urban affairs, nonprofit management, economics, neurology and finance. They come from Cleveland State, Case Western Reserve, Norte Dame and John Carroll, and from national universities such as Georgetown and Vanderbilt.

The placements are cross-sectored, with organizations such as Cuyahoga Valley National Park, The City of Shaker Heights (Department of Planning), Tremont CDC, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The 17 projects are diverse, ranging from implementing a community outreach strategy, to designing a youth anti-bullying campaign, to promoting a farmers market. This all follows the program’s objectives of exposing young people to the local nonprofit and public sector and increasing organizations’ ability to conduct important short-term projects.

The class of 2012 will start on June 4th, a perfect time to start developing leaders.

The Cleveland Foundation recently issued a survey asking for feedback about our process for applying for grants. It is part of our ongoing commitment to listening to the grantee community and in recognition of implementing a new system later this year. We appreciate your positive feedback and suggestions for how we can improve!

Overall, we learned that most of you believe that our application’s open-ended questions give grantees the flexibility to frame projects in a manner that accommodates the type of organization and project. In addition, we heard that grantees appreciate our quick response to funding requests via our monthly grantmaking and that our program staff is approachable and supportive with requests for technical assistance and feedback.

We heard clearly that our budget form could be improved as it can be confusing and difficult to utilize. We also heard that our website can be challenging to use. Many of you commented that it was difficult to navigate and hard to find resources that support your organization in applying for a grant. We agree, and changes are in progress over the next few months.

In terms of the new system, grantees hope that the coming technology will provide greater efficiencies for the nonprofit community. Currently grantees appreciate the online accessibility being used by some organizations as an electronic history of requests to the Cleveland Foundation and hope to see this expanded to other functions, such as including designated grants and reporting.

Finally, we heard some apprehension about implementing the new system. Grantees shared that providing more information would be helpful in easing those concerns and suggested a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document, technical assistance sessions, etc. We promise that our staff will be as available and responsive as always during the transition. We will have community meetings later this year to address questions and concerns, and we will provide ongoing information.

Thanks for sharing your feedback with us.

This summer will be the 13th year of the Cleveland Foundation Summer Internship Program (SIP).  The program was established to address  the numerous inquiries the Foundation receives each year from college students regarding internship opportunities.  Staying true to the mission of supporting the nonprofit sector, the staff and board of the Foundation developed a program that places interns in Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector agencies.  The Columbus Foundation, the Winnipeg Foundation, and Youngstown State University have developed internships/fellowship programs modeled after SIP.

As a benefit to the nonprofit and public sector, the Foundation handles the recruitment, selection, initial interviews, and professional development of the interns.  We also work with the host site organizations to develop projects that embody the dynamic nature of the local nonprofit and public sector.  This year’s host site projects speak to the variety of ways nonprofits are responding to the opportunities and challenges facing the region.  Examples of projects include: 

• At the Fatima Center in Hough, designing a youth anti-bullying campaign
• At the Northeast Shores Development Corporation, coordinating the home-buying process for the artists-in-residency program
• At Global Cleveland in Downtown Cleveland, helping advance the mission of attracting and welcoming newcomers to Greater Cleveland and connecting them to the many opportunities at Cleveland State University
• At the Cleveland Museum of Art in University Circle, conducting research for the popular Armor Court exhibit
• At the City of Shaker Heights, working with the Planning Department on matters related to zoning and community planning
• At the Cuyahoga National Valley Park in the only national park in Ohio, implementing a community outreach strategy
• At the Tremont West Development Corporation in the Tremont neighborhood, supporting and promoting its farmers market
• At New Avenues to Independence in Lake County, working to provide opportunities for people with disabilities and special needs to become more independent 

Do you know a college student (undergrad, graduate student, and recent graduate) who is up for the challenge?  A total of 17 internship placements are available. The deadline to apply is Feb. 6, 2012.  The program runs from June 4 – Aug. 17, 2012.  For more info visit: http://alturl.com/h2ss2

By Nelson Beckford, program officer

The Cleveland chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) just released a report called “Building a Career in Nonprofit Cleveland.”  The report is the result of a survey and focus group of YNPN members.  Job satisfaction, career advancement opportunities, and burn out were the key issues that rose to the surface during this process.  The report also found that Cleveland’s young nonprofit professionals are well educated, eager for a challenge, and attracted to the nonprofit sector because of a commitment to a cause, or by a desire to “give back.”

YNPN then presented the following theory: If Cleveland’s nonprofit community leads the way in taking steps to define, support, and promote nonprofit work as a viable career choice for its young professionals, they may be more likely to stay in the region. 

Are you a nonprofit that would like to help promote nonprofit work and increase your organization’s capacity to implement an important project? 

The Cleveland Foundation’s Summer Internship program is now accepting applications for host site organizations for the summer of 2012.  The deadline to apply is November 30, 2011.  The Cleveland Foundation provides funding to pay the intern’s salary.  In addition, the foundation handles the heavy lifting, such as recruiting intern applicants, initial screenings of applications, and conducting the first round of interviews.   For more information on how to apply, visit: <http://alturl.com/mtq8b>

To read about the projects the 2011 intern class worked on, visit the intern program’s blog:  <http://alturl.com/8f6iz>

Each week we use this space to give each of our interns a chance to reflect on their internship experiences. David is a senior at Cleveland State University.

Placement: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA)

When most people think of vital services to the community, public transit usually is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, for the millions of people that rely on public transit to get to work every day, it is a necessity. With the rising prices of gas and parking in Cleveland costing up to $12 a day, people are spending a large percentage of their income on their daily commute. In a struggling economy, this is becoming a large problem for many households. Fortunately, the solution to this problem is simple: ride RTA. RTA offers affordable transportation to anywhere you need to go in the Cleveland area including work, school and your favorite restaurant.

During the internship, I have helped with RTA’s Ready to Ride program, learned about all of RTA’s facilities, wrote articles for newsletters, was the photographer at RTA’s events, and so much more. During the middle of my internship, we started preparing for the filming of The Avengers movie in Cleveland. During this time, I worked with RTA staff to find ways of informing people about the road closures and bus reroutes. This was the time where RTA really shined. All of the departments got together and were able to come up with an effective plan despite all of the uncertainties about filming schedules. I am proud to have been at RTA this summer and work with an amazing staff that puts the needs of the public first in their minds.

This internship has been an incredible experience and I would like to thank the Cleveland Foundation staff for this amazing opportunity and everyone at RTA for allowing me to work with them this summer. I would also like to thank my fellow interns for teaching me so much about the nonprofit and public sectors and helping me grow as a young professional. It was an honor to have met such an outstanding group of individuals. I wish them luck on their future endeavors.

Each week we use this space to give each of our interns the chance to reflect on their internship experiences. Joanne is a senior at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Placement: University Hospitals Health System

This summer I was placed at University Hospitals, splitting my time between the Center for Child Health and Policy at Rainbow and the newly formed Office of Sustainability working on projects focused on the multiple ways food and the hospital intersect. When friends and family hear about my position I usually get two main reactions. The first is confusion over what sustainability in a hospital means and the second is confusion over how my position relates to my degree in botany. The botany question requires a shorter answer (working on projects surrounding food is just studying the use of plants by people), but sustainability is a bit more complex to explain.

Sustainability in business used to mean that your company was going to profitable enough to be around for the next 100 years. Today sustainability in business means following a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit to ensure that your company, the community the company serves, and resources the company uses will be around for the next 100 years. Sustainability in a hospital means looking at all aspects of operations, which far exceed just doctors and nurses caring for patients, and seeing ways in which the hospital can support the community, reduce its environmental impact, and save money at the same time.

A project I worked on that illustrates sustainability in action is a food donation project at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. If the hospital cafeteria has leftover entrees and side dishes after a meal service, the traditional choice has been to throw it in the garbage, but the sustainable choice is donating this food to a local organization. I worked with UH’s food service provider, Sodexo, to match them with a local organization that could accept the premade food. Donating the food helps to strengthen the community as it provides a valuable resource to those who are under a strong financial strain to provide for their families. By diverting the food from the trash it reduces the environmental impact of the hospital by keeping the food out of a landfill. This practice saves money by lessening the volume of trash generated by the kitchen which leads to savings through less frequent trash pick ups.

At such a large institution as UH the little sustainability measures really do add up. For example, by powering off your computer at night you can save approximately $90 per computer per year. Lets say that 5,000 of UH’s approximately 15,690 employees have computers they can power down by the end of the year UH could have saved $450,000, enough to pay the salary of seven registered nurses. Sustainable choices don’t just mean saving the environment, they save jobs.

Making these sustainable choices second nature to employees requires a culture shift within the organization. With over 15,000 employees spread out between 150 locations this shift takes time, but it is something that the dedicated staff in the sustainability office and other employees of UH are committed to making a reality.

Come check out our efforts at our table at Ingenuity Fest September 16-18th.

Each week we use this space to give each of our interns a chance to reflect on their internship experiences. Nick is a graduate student from Case Western Reserve University

Placement: Business Volunteers Unlimited

As over 250 young professionals departed Edgewater Park for BVU’s Summer of Service event, BVU’s mission of “linking businesses and nonprofits to foster excellence in the nonprofit sector” was running through my mind.

Interns and young professionals from 26 different organizations (including the Cleveland Foundation) volunteered at 17 nonprofits in Greater Cleveland for the afternoon. On a typical weekday, these young professionals would be diligently working at Medical Mutual of Ohio, Eaton Corporation, Hyland Software, or some other local organization. However, on this afternoon they joined together to volunteer over 900 hours and make an estimated impact of $20,000 in the community.

As the Cleveland Foundation intern placed at BVU, I was responsible for coordinating many of the details of the day. This is a daunting logistical task, but fortunately many dedicated people from other organizations stepped forward to make the day a success. Ultimately, despite the 95 degree weather, it turned out to be an amazing day that definitely benefitted the nonprofits involved, but I believe also benefitted each volunteer.

My other main task during my summer internship is reaching out to local nonprofits to show how BVU can support their work in the community. BVU is able to link nonprofits to business professionals to serve on their boards or volunteer their business skills with projects at the nonprofits. The online Volunteer Center at BVU connects volunteers in the general public to volunteer opportunities at local nonprofits.

My meetings with local nonprofit leaders this summer have revealed the deep passion that exists in Cleveland to help those in need. It has also shown me the important role organizations like BVU and the Cleveland Foundation play in connecting these nonprofits to resources within the community. Everyone wants to continuously improve our community and these organizations bring people together to make a significant impact in Cleveland.

To learn more about BVU visit: www.businessvolunteers.org

Each week we use this space to give each of our interns a chance to reflect on their internship experiences. Colleen is a graduate student at Case Western Reserve University.

Placement: International Women’s Air & Space Museum

Everyone knows who Amelia Earhart was.  Her disappearance is perhaps more widely known than her participation in the 1929 Women’s Air Derby, but here at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum it is her life and her contributions to women in aviation for which she is celebrated.  Luckily for me, she is also the reason I get to spend my summer digging through the museum’s files and photographic collection of early female pilots.  I was fortunate enough to be selected to participate in the Cleveland Foundation Summer Internship Program and placed in my first choice organization.  My main project here is to gather, organize, digitize, and catalog the museum’s vast collection of Amelia Earhart photos.  These photos run the gamut from widely distributed press photos to small, personal snapshots from before she became a famous aviatrix.  Along with the typical information recorded when cataloging the images, I have been able to use my sleuthing skills to try to contextualize them.  This involves comparing the many pictures to each other by drawing on my visual memory, consulting the overflowing Amelia files consisting of newspaper clippings, correspondence, and more, and even doing some good old fashioned Google searches for visual comparisons of her companions.  I have been extremely fortunate to have as much freedom and use of the museum’s resources as I need to successfully complete the project, and I have found my work very satisfying.

In addition to this project, I have taken on some extra tasks as the museum transitions between Executive Directors.  Our annual wine tasting fundraiser, Corks in the Concourse, will happen on September 2nd, the Friday before the Air Show, so I have been helping to get ready for one of the busiest weekends at our home in Burke Lakefront Airport.  I have written letters to local and national organizations asking for donations for our silent auction, used my existing contacts to book a music program, and I designed the invitations using software with which I had no previous experience.  The other people in the office have been very welcoming and encouraging, including me in their own projects and allowing me to bring my own strengths and personality to add to the museum and its programming.

It is easy to feel inspired in a museum celebrating the history of women in aviation and space, but this internship has gone above and beyond my expectations.  I feel that I have thrived in this environment, and I have truly embraced the freedom and creativity given to me on my various projects.  My main objective in this internship was to make a difference, however small, on a nonprofit organization, and I feel that I have left my fingerprint and accomplished my goal.  I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds and how this internship will shape my path after it ends in August!

Check out IWASM by visiting:

www.iwasm.org

Facebook

Twiter

Or come visit!  We are free!  Located in Burke Lakefront Airport in downtown Cleveland.

If you are interested in joining us for Corks in the Concourse, give us a call at (216) 623-1111.

Each week we use this space to give each of our interns a chance to reflect on their internship experiences. Andrew is a graduate student at Cleveland State University.

Host Site: Cleveland Housing Court.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” - Sherlock Holmes

I have had an amazing opportunity this summer to intern with Cleveland Housing Court and Judge Raymond L. Pianka. Cleveland Housing Court is a Cleveland municipal court that handles and resolves issues facing property owners, tenants, and neighbors.

My responsibilities this summer have been to assist in court research involving housing that has been cited by the city and how that housing affects neighbors and the community.  At the end of the 11-week internship, I hope to provide the court with research regarding these properties and the neighborhood based on feedback I have received through a short answer survey.  I also have the responsibility of gathering information and establishing interviews with residents of land contract vendor owned property.

Lastly, I am working on a project to help neighbors of the Stockyard area to help redevelop a vacant piece of land on 44^th and Storer.  This parcel has some historic influence as being one of the first gas stations in Cleveland.  Learning about all aspects of what housing court does allows me to get a good prospective of the impact it makes within our community, under the guidance and leadership of Judge Raymond L. Pianka. I thoroughly enjoy my work here even though at times I find this internship to be overwhelming.

I appreciate the experience and education I am receiving during my time here at Cleveland Housing Court.  Lastly, I am extremely proud to make a difference and have an impact on the community this summer.

Each week we use this space to give each of our interns a chance to reflect on their internship experiences. Eric is a recent graduate at Cleveland State University.

Host Site: Ohio City Incorporated

I can vividly remember just like it was yesterday when Ciba Jones from the Cleveland Foundation called me and said, ” Jeff of Ohio City wants to offer you the position. Do you accept?”

I jumped up and down in excitement and said, “Oh my God, yes…of course!” I could not believe it. I knew the competition for the Cleveland Foundation summer internship program was intense and to hear that I got it was such a grand accomplishment that I still to this day cannot get over.

Ohio City Incorporated is a community development corporation whose mission is to develop, preserve, and promote a diverse, historic, urban community as a desirable place to live, work, study and play. As an intern at Ohio City Inc., I am responsible for facilitating the Ohio City Dialogue Initiative, which is an effort to improve the relationships between the nonprofits and the residents of the Ohio City neighborhood. Through the process, I have learned a lot about the 90 nonprofits in Ohio City, the good and the bad. However, the most important lesson I learned is the importance of collaborating. My goal at the end of the summer is to increase the number of nonprofits involved in the dialogue in hopes to maximize efficiency through collaboration, and to create an avenue that will provide understanding and acceptance of this sector both internally and externally.

I really enjoy working with the dialogue and overall I must say that I enjoy working for such a beautiful and vibrant neighborhood. Driving into Ohio City for work every day and seeing all the beautiful architecture and new local shops gives me a sense of reassurance that Cleveland is reaching new heights. I would love to see more neighborhoods like Ohio City in the city of Cleveland.

Interning for a community development corporation has greatly expanded my knowledge on what it takes to revitalize a neighborhood. I have come to the consensus that it takes a lot but it is all feasible. At the end of the summer, I can proudly say I made a difference in Cleveland because I worked for a prominent CDC like Ohio City Inc.