Connect For More is proud to be growing an internship partnership with the University of South Florida. This continues to be an important mission moment for us – continuing to connect rising leaders with the needs, passions, and purpose of the nonprofit business sector. What follows below is one intern’s unique perspective on their CFM team experience during the spring of 2020.  

Navigating COVID-19, Survival Strategies for Nonprofit Business Leaders

I had the pleasure of speaking with Greta Kishbaugh, from Biz Dynamics Academy.  They are a company who features a community of Educators and Practitioners who are actively involved in their communities with the sole purpose of helping entrepreneurs build a successful business.

I am giving you an update from my home in my pajamas. Showing up for you!

It is the start of week 3 for us of social distancing, 2nd week of homeschooling and the first week of the rest of our lives.

I want you to see me as a human being. Whole, functioning and as best as I can. I imagine a lot of you are feeling the same way during this incredibly different time. 

The life of an intern is mostly composed of accepting everything that you do not know, having more questions than answers, and learning how to network along the way. In the Fall of 2019, I began my journey as an intern working for the Wimauma Community Development Corporation located in rural unincorporated Hillsborough County. As a graduate student earning my Masters in Urban and Regional Planning, I was equipped with a theoretical understanding of community development, economic development, and land use. However, in the beginning, the research I was tasked with emphasized what I did not know and as a result highlighted my insecurities as a young professional. Read More “An Intern’s Perspective”

Guest blog post by Shelley Sharp, Connect For More Consulting Associate

Traveling with a friend, I recently had the opportunity to reflect on the tremendous amount of burnout in nonprofit organizations. As a recently retired nonprofit executive, I lived it – but was still surprised at the amount of burnout and the strategies to survive it that are really out there. Read More “The Importance of Self-Care for Nonprofit Leaders”

Over the years, I’ve developed a healthy use of “Liz-isms” – those phrases that I use to drive home a point when I’m facilitating with groups. These include my oft-used boardisms and other parenting sayings that my kids have learned to both imitate (and hopefully internalize!). As a former English teacher raised by an English teacher, phrases like “words matter” ring true for me both in work and life, especially when it comes to illustrating important aspects of volunteer leadership.

One of my favorites was taken off a T-shirt my maternal grandmother gave me shortly after I graduated from USF. As a former educator raised by a long line of educators, this is something that was ingrained in me from an early age. Read More “The Truly Educated Never Graduate: My Lifelong Learning Challenge”

As I take the time to reflect on the year is now officially behind us and consider the possibilities for the year ahead, I was struck by the overall theme of permission that came out of my experiences in 2019. Undoubtedly this year featured personal and professional struggles for many of us – yet what I found for the first time in my life was that I was deeply rooted in giving myself (and others) consent to do and be what they needed to meet whatever challenges or successes came their way. Read More “2019: The Year of Permission”

In Fall 2019, Connect For More began an internship relationship with the University of South Florida. Though we had previously hosted our very first internship via Research Associate Veronica Vasquez Ugalde back in July 2016 this marked an important milestone for us – we were finally able to contribute back to a local university system that many of the CFM Team members graduated from. What follows below is our intern’s perspective on the five-month practical experience.

Read More “The Intern Connection at Connect For More: Why We Choose to Invest in The Next Generation”

A few years ago when Connect For More was beginning, I had opted out of a formal office space and rented a P.O. Box at my local post office location. While it meant separation of home & work, at least by physical mailing location, it also meant that I had to venture to the post office at least once a week… including during the holiday season. (Cue ominous music).

After a recent trip to the post office I was reminded of those many experiences of full parking lots, long lines and sometimes friendly – often not – professionals who worked the customer counter. I was also reminded of the original blog post I wrote but never published that detailed my frustration with the experience. I’ll save you a read and share that in short, I was complaining that it NEVER felt like a good experience anymore to go to the post office. Read More “Lessons Learned From A Visit To Your Local Post Office”