Practice in Vulnerability

There has been a long gap in posts on this blog, partially because during the Fall of 2011 I was utterly overwhelmed wrapping up my final semester of the Masters in Public Administration / Nonprofit Management program. The other reason, however, was that I felt like I had nothing to say. When you’re so busy, wrapped up in task after task with something to be done every moment, you become like a machine. You...

Playlist Memories: Joliet Jaycees, Illinois, 2004

Music has been the theme of my last few posts. I haven’t begun to scratch the surface on how music has played a role in my life or nonprofit-y dreams, so I’ll continue on this train of thought. Most of my close friends know I have a very strange and eclectic music collection. I’m just as likely to hear Handel as I am Muse if I venture a random song selection. Today my randomization led me to Save a...

On (the) Eve: A tribute to a stranger who made an impact

Tomorrow is the 3-year anniversary of the death of Eve Carson, UNC Student Body President who was murdered on March 5, 2008. I wrote on this topic on a previous blog, but my increasing feelings of connectivity to a ‘community of do-gooders’ I keep referencing compels me to post this again, and now, on the eve of Eve’s death. I had never met Eve, nor heard about her before she was killed. But some...

Random Acts of Kindness Week and Developing a “Kindness Instinct”

When our Nonprofit Management professor asked if any one had any nonprofit news to share last week, I informed my classmates that February 14 – 20 was the annual Random Acts of Kindness Week in the hopes of getting my peers’ do-gooder inspirational juices flowing. “Random acts of kindness just this week?” Our professor cheekily replied, and I smirked. No, I explained, Acts of Kindness —...

Case Study: How the Coalition to Unchain Dogs is doing everything right

Every once in awhile you stumble upon an organization that blows you away in terms of the way it presents itself, operates, includes others, and succeeds. While I have not yet personally had the opportunity to get involved with The Coalition to Unchain Dogs, I have been an observer of this organization in the community for a few years, ever since I met some of their volunteers at a fundraising walk in Durham,...