CLT2 Beta: Campus Leaders Today Community Leaders Tomorrow
WHEN: June 20-23, 2006
WHERE: Edith Macy Conference Center, New York
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 10, 2006
Additional information, including application, can be found on the ODK National Website.
CLT2 Alpha Member, Maria Schneider, and ODK Student President from Northern Kentucky University had the following to say about her experience at CLT2.
About two years ago I enrolled in a class entitled “Investing in the Community.” It was a seminar based class that investigated non-profit agencies in the Greater Cincinnati area and then awarded grants to an agency or agencies of the classes’ choice. Little did I know at the time that I signed up for this class what a great impact it would have on my life. Since taking the class I have become dedicated to the non-profit community and have made it a long term professional goal to work in the non-profit arena.
As Co-President of my campus’s chapter of ODK I was one of the first to learn about Campus Leaders Today, Community Leaders Tomorrow (CLT2). Jack had barely finished describing the program when I asked where to sign up. CLT2 was a fantastic experience! For four days, myself and twenty-four other college students were flown to New York to learn about non-profit boards from some of the arena’s experts. We heard about the legal ins and outs, how to write a mission statement, what an agency’s goal statement should say and much more. We heard from various speakers including: Russ Cargo, Steve Ott, Melissa Flournoy, Craig Wilson, Jane Kornblut and Ed Rodriguez. These industry experts have had successful professional careers and served with countless non-profits; they shared with us their knowledge and expertise. On the fourth and final day we visited non-profit agencies in New York City and were able to meet with members of their boards. Here we put our new found knowledge to practical use, asking questions and learning about the day to day operations of a real-life non-profit board.
What was most amazing to me was the different experience and the level of skill that both the presenters and the students brought with them. In introducing ourselves we gave background on what knowledge we had of the non-profit area as well as what our own experiences had been. Nearly every member of the room had served on a board or worked for a non-profit at some point in their life. It was phenomenal! Each person came to the conference with a different set of experiences and a different set of goals. Some had built non-profits from the ground up in their hometowns while others were looking to do just that. Some wanted to pursue a professional career while serving the community; still others wanted to pursue a career in the non-profit sector. The faculty too brought an interesting dynamic. Mr. Rodriguez, military veteran and attorney, was pleased to see so much enthusiasm and hoped our futures would guide us to serve on and lead non-profit boards. Ms. Flournoy, founder and CEO of LANO (Louisiana Association of Non-Profit Organizations), wanted to recruit students to work in the non-profit sector, serving in a more direct way. In the end I believe both were successful.
Perhaps Mr. Cargo was able to get it most acutely correct. In welcoming everyone to the conference he stated that we were all leaders. We had each come from different campuses, different states, different backgrounds and different walks of life. Here, he said, we were all leaders in our own areas and fields. Look around you, they told us, in ten years these will be the people you call for help. It is now our responsibility to help each other, to fill the gap between need and government, and to ultimately make the world a better place.
“In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”