UK CNP Students Attend National Nonprofit Conference
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 1, 2016) — Students with the University of Kentucky Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) program participated recently in the largest nonprofit conference in the country geared toward college students.
The Alliance Management Institute (AMI) conference was held Jan. 3-5, in Houston. Sponsored by the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, the conference is held annually for students pursuing the CNP credential. The purpose of the conference is to expose future social sector leaders to a vibrant learning experience that promotes nonprofit best practices, innovative thinking, and awareness of the full scope of the sector. This year’s conference explored themes revolving around creating and sustaining social change.
"AMI (provides) the chance to participate with other like-minded individuals to both obtain and synthesize knowledge to actually form our own ideas on how nonprofits should work,” said Logan Hurley, a communication senior. "Plus, the networking is awesome."
This year's conference brought together 430 CNP undergraduate and graduate students from more than 40 colleges and universities. The conference included the participation of more than three dozen nonprofit partners, including Make-A-Wish and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Students participated in workshops, networking expos with industry professionals, research presentations, plenary sessions, and intensive case studies focused on addressing real issues faced by nonprofit organizations in Houston. Workshops covered such areas as nonprofit communications and marketing, financial management, business ethics, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and media relations. David Williams, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish America, provided the opening keynote address.
"The conference was great because it gave me the opportunity to both engage the theories and best practices I had learned in my nonprofit management classes and internships, but also to attend workshops and hear from industry leaders about exciting new trends within social enterprise that I wasn’t familiar with before attending," said Jacob Redwine, a mathematical economics sophomore.
Next year's AMI conference will take place in Denver in January. For more information about how to get involved with UK's CNP program, visit www.uky.edu/UGE/CNP. Early decision student applications for fall 2016 are due Feb. 28.
About UK CNP
The CNP certificate program is part of Transformative Learning, which also includes programs such as The Study and Presentation U!; providing a variety of academic support services for undergraduate students. The CNP program is designed to strengthen the leadership skills of undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in the nonprofit sector as well as explore emerging new trends in social enterprise and innovation through a combination of core courses in nonprofit management, a series of workshops led by both academic and industry professionals, and practical skill-building activities through workshops and nonprofit internship experiences.
"UK’s CNP program has really challenged everything I thought I knew about nonprofits, so much so that I changed my major because of it. It’s allowed me to explore and learn about various career paths and has really reinforced the importance of having a career that affects positive and measurable change in the world," said Jacob Redwine.
Currently in its second year of development at UK, CNP brings together passionate and enterprising students from many diverse academic backgrounds including education, health care, science, business, communications and the humanities for a cohort-based educational experience that encourages the exchange of innovative ideas and dynamic perspectives. CNP students have worked with a wide variety of organizations in the Bluegrass region, including the American Red Cross Bluegrass Chapter, Refuge for Women, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, Habitat for Humanity and more.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jenny Wells, 859-257-5343; jenny.wells@uky.edu