Tuesday, April 08, 2014

[489] MTSU hosts Nonprofit & Social Innovation Student Summit April 4


MURFREESBORO — MTSU students looking to turn their passions into careers are invited to the Nonprofit & Social Innovation Student Summit scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, at the Business and Aerospace Building.

Organizers say the summit targets students who:

  • Have passion for helping others and want to find jobs that expect it.
  • Are excited by the challenge of solving community and global problems.
  • Have ideas about how to do things differently and better.
  • Want to work, not just to make a living, but for something more.
  • Want to meet other students who are driven help others or want to solve today’s challenges.
  • Are curious about learning about the nonprofit and social innovation sector.

Dr. Leigh Anne Clark, who teaches a nonprofit management class and is a key organizer for the event, said about 175 students have registered thus far, exceeding expectations.

“The purpose of the summit is to inspire people to take something that they’re interested in and run with it,” Clark said, adding that the speakers will also tell students “the skill sets that they’re needing to work in these areas.”

The summit is free for MTSU students, with
the first 125 students to register receiving a complimentary lunch. Students may still register at http://MTSUStudentSummit.eventzilla.net.

The event is being hosted by the Jones College of Business and the College of Liberal Arts in partnership with the departments of Management and Marketing, Business Communication and Entrepreneurship, and Speech and Theatre (Organizational Communication).

The schedule is as follows:

Session I — (9:10-10:05 a.m.) Students choose one of the following:

• BAS 272 – “Becoming a Nonprofit Leader” by Meagan Flippin, president and CEO of United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties and an MTSU alumna
• BAS 274 – “Networking: How to Network and Get Results” by Jennifer Seratt, Principal, Provident Consulting, Inc.

Session II (10:20-11:15 a.m.) Students choose one of the following:

• BAS 272 – “Thinking Strategically in Your Organization and About Yourself” by Ronni Shaw, director, Rebecca and Jennings A.  Jones Foundation
• BAS 274 – “Social Business: Thinking Beyond the Nonprofit Box” by Rachel Wilson, Ph.D., MTSU Entrepreneurship professor and guest speaker

Session III (11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.) — “Current Issues & Trends in the Nonprofit Sector (Q&A)” in the State Farm Room. Speakers include:
• Lewis Lavine, executive director, Center for Nonprofit Management
• Chris Truelove, executive director, Special Kids
• Lyn Knopf and Pam Eldridge, co-founders, Connexon Partners
• Michelle Kelley, A Soldier’s Child Birthday Foundation

Session IV (12:45-1:30 p.m.) — Keynotes: “We Did It—So Can You” in the State Farm Room. Speakers include:
• Tasha French Lamley, founding executive director, “The Contributor” (street newspaper in Nashville)
• Amy Alexander, L.M.F.T., co-founder and executive director, The Refuge Center for Counseling

Clark noted that the keynote speakers "are people who had an idea and made it happen.”

Session V (1:40-2:30 p.m.) — Nonprofit Career Strategy Circles in BAS 262, BAS 264.

Students will take their ideas fueled by inspiration from the previous speakers, and create a personal action plan for taking steps to reach their career goals to work in a specific area.

Students will select a small group facilitated by a community leader who will assist them with creating plans. The “strategy circle” may remain in contact electronically to provide support, accountability, and ideas for how each member of the circle can reach their goals.


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