On Tuesday, April 1, the selected participants and projects in this summer's Common Ground Internship Consortium were honored at the Common Ground Athens resource center in downtown Athens. These Georgia students were selected for the Consortium, which provides an intensive, summer-long training and internship experience to prepare tomorrow's leaders in the nonprofit sector.

America's nonprofits are facing a leadership crisis, as recent studies have found that between 45 and 78 percent of nonprofit executive directors plan on leaving their jobs in the next several years. As baby boomers look towards retirement, the resulting gap has led many in the nonprofit sector to call for an increased emphasis upon attracting and developing new leaders in nonprofit organizations.

Common Ground is meeting this challenge by hosting the Consortium, which matches eight undergraduate students with projects from three of its affiliate organizations. Working together in office space at Common Ground's resource center, the participants will learn from the project leaders, Common Ground mentors, each others' experiences, and guest nonprofit leaders from the Athens community.

Projects This Summer

Free IT Athens refurbishes donated computers and provides them free or at a subsidized rate to Athens residents and nonprofits. Manthey, Wiener, and Powell will help this new project develop bylaws, a strategic plan, and a case statement for funders.

BikeAthens is a transportation choices organization that promotes bike safety, recycles donated bicycles, and advocates for transportation equity. Vandegrift, Marino, and Agbor will develop a public relations and communications strategy for the Bike Recycling Program, which rehabilitates donated bicycles and provides them to homeless and displaced families.

Promoting Local Agriculture and Cultural Experiences (P.L.A.C.E.) is devoted to promoting a strong, accessible local food culture in Athens. Coker and Morris will coordinate and promote Taste Your Place, a multi-day event featuring local food menus in area restaurants and information on finding locally-grown food every day.

This Summer's Participants

Fidel Agbor is a sophomore Finance major from Hiram who brings a wealth of experience with youth and community programs. Past work with the C5 Youth Foundation as a youth counselor and program manager, along with his education and interest in the business of nonprofits, make him a key element of the Bike Recycling Program team.

Damilola Coker is a Public Relations major and African Studies minor from Thomaston who plans to graduate from UGA in 2010. Several years of work at the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in Griffin, along with experience planning events for the African Student Union, prepare Dami for her work building the Taste Your Place project.

Katherine Manthey is majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Environmental Law. Katie has experience working in graphic design for both print and web media, and she will apply this to the communications elements of the Free IT Athens project.

Meghan Marino, a Political Science major, developed fundraising skills through past work the Hidden Potential Project in her hometown of New Orleans. Her enthusiasm for communicating project impact and cultivating donors will serve the Bike Recycling Program well.

Holly Morris, a sophomore Sociology major from Warner Robins, is an experienced editor and layout designer. A graduate of the Edelman Digital Bootcamp, she brings experience with new media, design, and public relations research to the Taste Your Place project.

Davis Powell is a History major from Roswell. Having worked in Brazil for Rivers of the World, Davis will bring mediation experience—along with an interest in nonprofit finance—to the Free IT Athens project.

Katherine Vandegrift is a Public Relations major from Lawrenceville who will graduate in December. She brings public relations experience from past work with clients such as Women to the World and the Atlanta Braves. In addition, Katie's experience in media relations and blog marketing will be put to use creating a public relations campaign for BikeAthens' Bike Recycling Program.

Jonathan Wiener, the sole participant attending school outside Georgia, will be working with Free IT Athens this summer. Jon is majoring in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies at Tufts University in Boston. With experience in teaching and developing organizational governing documents, he will be a key member of the Free IT Athens project team.