The most rewarding thing is when a student in our program applies the tools and knowledge we’ve equipped them with and we see the results they create.
Director, Institute for Nonprofit Organizations
Since 2014, I have directed the UGA Institute of Nonprofit Organizations (INPO). The INPO provides an interdisciplinary group of graduate teaching, research, and service programs at UGA that focus upon improving the leadership and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations.
I have 20 years of experience as a practitioner, administrator, and evaluator of services designed to facilitate employment among individuals with ‘barriers to work’. I have worked primarily on designing, implementing, and evaluating community based interventions related to unemployment, job training, and financial asset-building. I am also an advocate for the development of public policies aimed at alleviating poverty.
The world of nonprofit management is real world, we deal with communities in need (i.e. low income children trying to succeed in school) and address issues of relevance to the whole community (i.e. clean water and air). It’s also very collaborative, within a single nonprofit organization, all of the units have to work together to achieve the mission and across a whole community, many organizations often join together to work efficiently and effectively. And the goals that we work toward are not self-serving; they are to meet the needs of the community.