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American Humanics 1100 Walnut St., Ste 1900 Kansas City MO 64106 v (816) 561-6415 f (816) 531-3527 www.humanics.

preparing next generation

nonprofit sector leaders

for sixty years

American Humanics Inc.A national alliance of colleges, universities and nonprofits dedicated to educating,

preparing and certifying professionals to lead and strengthen nonprofit organizations.

Reprinted with permission of the Chronicle of Philanthropy http://philanthropy.com From the issue dated May 29, 2008http://philanthropy.com/premium/articles/v20/i16/16ce0401.htm

Inside a $5-Million Effort to Aid the Nonprofit World's Next GenerationBy Eric Frazier

Christopher Mateo had a life-transforming experience lastsummer.

Working as an intern at the Latino Commission on AIDS, inNew York, he watched as people heaped praise on theorganization's president, Dennis deLeon, during an awardbanquet in Mr. deLeon's honor. The award was nice, Mr.

Mateo thought, but even more impressive was Mr. deLeon'spassion and commitment. Suddenly, the young man had avision of his own future.

"Just seeing him up there accepting his award, it was anamazing experience," says Mr. Mateo, 20. "It really affirmedthat this is what I want to do after college. My goal is to go toLatin America and work with HIV/AIDS there."

That transformative experience might not have been possiblewithout the help of American Humanics' Next GenerationNonprofit Leaders program, also known as NextGen. Theprogram gave him a $4,500 scholarship essentially a

stipend to sustain him during an unpaid internship at theLatino Commission. Mr. Mateo, a senior at SouthernAdventist University, in Collegedale, Tenn., says he couldn'thave accepted the internship without it.

He is among the first wave of students from across the countryto benefit from the NextGen program, an ambitious five-yeareffort that hopes to nudge a diverse group of 1,000 collegestudents toward leadership positions in nonprofitorganizations.

The new program is well in keeping with the mission ofAmerican Humanics, a nonprofit group in Kansas City, Mo.The organization prepares college students for nonprofit

careers, providing undergraduate curricula, scholarships,leadership opportunities, and internships in line with that goal.

Emphasis on Diversity

So if American Humanics was already grooming futurenonprofit leaders, why the need for the NextGen program?Organizers say the program's roots can be traced to theresearch of an American Humanics faculty member who wastrying to answer a simple question: Why doesn't every

American Humanics student enrolled in the organization'sundergraduate certification program finish it, and then go onto jobs in the nonprofit world?

"The major issue," says Richard Potter, American Humanics'spokesman, "was the unpaid internship."

Many students were deciding they couldn't afford to spend theroughly six months it would take to complete the 300-hourinternship required for American Humanics certification.

"Many nonprofits look at internships as a cheap source oflabor," Mr. Potter says. "They either pay nothing or they pay aminimum amount."

The solution seemed obvious: Supplement the internship pay.

Fortunately for American Humanics, the W.K. KelloggFoundation, in Battle Creek, Mich., has long been interested inefforts to move skilled young managers into nonprofitorganizations. It helped American Humanics grow its network

of affiliated campuses from about 12 in the early 1990s toabout 75 today. When Kellogg asked for a proposal to solvethe internship problem, American Humanics complied, and theNext Generation Nonprofit Leaders program was born.

Kellogg is committing $5-million to the project over fiveyears. The goal is to select 1,000 future leaders for theprogram. Each receives a $4,500 scholarship or stipend to helphim or her complete an internship and earn AmericanHumanics certification. Each NextGen intern will also gainaccess to and support from a network of mentors in nonprofitorganizations.

The program began in the spring of 2007, with slightly morethan 200 students. About 200 more will be selected each yearthrough 2011, with the hope that at least 40 percent to 50percent of them will be members of minority groups. Forty-seven percent of the first year's class were minorities.

"It's working. We're really pleased," Mr. Potter says. "Wewant to do everything we can to make sure the next generationof nonprofit leaders reflects the diversity of the communitiesthey serve."

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Inside a $5-Million Effort to Aid the Nonprofit World's Next GenerationFrom the issue dated May 29, 2008Page 2

American Humanics 1100 Walnut, Suite 1900 Kansas City MO 64106 v (816) 561-6415 f (816) 531-3527 www.humanics.o

That has long been a problem in nonprofit groups. Eighty-twopercent of chief executives at the nation's nonprofitorganizations are white, according to a 2006 survey by

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, in San Francisco, and theEugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, in Washington.

At grant-making organizations, some 94 percent of chiefexecutives are white, according to 2006 figures from theFoundation Center. About 67 percent of the nation is white,U.S. Census figures show.

"It's gotten better," says Alandra Washington, deputy directorof the Kellogg foundation. "But there is a huge gap to accessand resources in traditional and marginalized communities.Historically, communities of color have been left out of themany aspects of the mainstream in America. This is justanother sector in which this plays out."

Gender Gap

Women are also underrepresented, especially at the highestlevels of the nonprofit world. While female executives leadhalf of all nonprofit groups with budgets of $1-million or less,only a quarter of groups with budgets of more than $50-million are led by women, according to GuideStar, a group inWilliamsburg, Va., that collects financial information aboutcharities and foundations.

Molly Hamm is just the kind of future leader the NextGenprogram is seeking to nurture.

Ms. Hamm, 21, is a junior at Kansas State University who hasalready embraced charity work and volunteering. She hasvolunteered with an afterschool program, served as anAmeriCorps volunteer, and is so highly regarded by AmericanHumanics that she was asked to give a presentation during theorganization's recent conference.

She wanted to go to Washington this summer to participate inthe Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service, atGeorgetown University. The summer-long program allowsstudents to take classes at Georgetown and do an internship inthe nonprofit field. Ms. Hamm elected to do hers at ThePeople Speak, an educational campaign by the United Nations

Foundation that seeks to engage youths on global issues.

She would have struggled to handle living expenses in thenation's capital, even though her internship is paid. But theNextGen program's stipend will help her meet her expenses.

"This is a good way for me to go and participate withouthaving to stress over the finances," she says. "A lot of timesstudents don't think they can go into nonprofits if they have alot of debt or if they don't think they'll be able to maintaintheir standard of living. Giving them this early contact withthe nonprofit world hopefully will allow them to develop thataffinity for the sector."

The program has definitely worked for Mr. Mateo. His majoris in nonprofit administration and development and he says hehas been offered a full-time job by the Latino Commissiononce he graduates. It is nice to have an offer on the table, saysthe New York native, but he's not sure he wants to go back tobig-city life.

"I'm still weighing my options," he says.

Karen Brown can testify to how well the NextGen programworks. The group she leads, Aspiring Youth, a small charity inHouston that works with disadvantaged middle-schoolstudents, operates on a tight $500,000 budget. Her NextGenintern, LaShic Patterson, dove into a variety of projects, fromwriting grant proposals to arranging student visits at localbusinesses. Ms. Patterson, a University of Houston senior,made herself so indispensable that when her internship endedin late April, Ms. Brown quickly hired her as a development

and programs coordinator.

Ms. Patterson was Ms. Brown's second American Humanicsintern and the second one she has hired. Ms. Brownmarvels at how "job ready" the interns have been: "I shouldhave been so amazing when I was their age."

Ms. Washington, of the Kellogg foundation, says there are stilfar too few women and people of color in key positions, likedevelopment officers and executive directors, as well as onboards of directors. But she likes what the NextGen programis doing to put a dent in the problem.

"We're still early into the program, but we're pleased with the

results," she says. "So far, so good."

Copyright 2008 The Chronicle of Philanthropy