Past Events
Public Service Panel (11/5/09)
The Gator Non-Profit Professionals (GNP) did it again! On November 5th, 2009 @ 7pm, in Ustler Hall, GNP paired up with the (CRC) Career Resource Center to host their second major panel of the semester; this time based on the Public Sector. There were four guest speakers in total, which varied in several ways. They all spoke about their application processes, how to really prepare beforehand, and how important it is to get involved. Setting yourself apart from the rest of the crowd, becoming a true leader, is one key commonality of the special guests who spoke. Noah Youngstrom from City Year Miami, brought along a current City Year corp member, and spoke about the joys of the job. Doing outdoor recreational activities amongst at-risk youth to provide exposure, awareness, and a sense of bonding, to eliminate the prevalent youth crime rates and violence. Mary Lee from AmeriCorps mentioned the benefits of the flexibility of AmeriCorps, how one can develop their own creative ideas and choose whatever location to facilitate that need. The Peace Corps recruiter from the University of Florida, Amy Panikowski, was also very resourceful in answering questions about where volunteers will go and are placed! Ryan Ross from Teach for America spoke about researching what you want to accomplish specifically and understand what you want to do. If you are interested in any areas like these, then you missed out! It was a great occasion to spring forth connections with these important agencies which can assist you in where you want to go.
Non-Profit Panel (10/21/09)
The Non-Profit Panel held at the Career Resource Center was a huge success! Melisa from Rebuilding Together spoke about the ways to have a financial balance within the Non-Profit sector; while Harvest for Hope's Director and creator, Phil Kellerman elaborated on the hardships, struggles, yet, worth the success, problems that occur and arise in trying to establish a non-profit organization.
We also heard from Bryant, a current ONE Campaign Intern. He explained preparation tips and techniques to gaining and looking for a potential non-profit internship site. A previous Intern Ilana Stewart, from Planned Parenthood, also spoke about the levels of involvement required to illustrate passion, longevity, and commitment to a Non-profit organization; which is key to successfully acquiring the most of your experiences with the selected non-profit agency.
Health & Medicine in the Non-Profit Sector (2/12/09)
The Health and Medicine Seminar featured different non-profit organizations that came out to table for those interested in health related fields. Jill Sonke, Director of Shands' CAHRE and Dr. Keith Stone came out to talk about their experiences with medicine. Dr. Stone talked about his Doctors Without Borders experience in Sierra Leone as an OBGYN, showed graphic pictures of the things he had to deal with, and read from his journal while he was there.
Education & Child Services Seminar (11/20/08)
With this particular seminar we wanted to appeal to those that were interested in either education or working with children on a daily basis. GNP feels that it is important to get some hands on experience with the field you are interested in so we had representatives tabling from Girl Scouts, Bella Luce Learning, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Girls Place, Teach for America, America Reads, and others. Students had the opportunity to get in contact with these leaders and find out more information about how to get internships and involved with their organization.
We had two guest speakers, Dorie Withey with Teach for America, and Taryn Buckley with Girls Place. Both presenters had the opportunity to share how they became involved with these organizations, and offer the students any advice or answers to questions they may have had.
Law & Government Seminar (10/09/08)
The Law & Government Seminar was the first of our series, featuring Radha Selvester from FloridaWorks and Mr. Runyons from Three Rivers Legal Services. Radha started off the night with her experiences living on a commune, as well as her childhood initiate to promote neighborhood recycling. The talk transitioned into important qualities for non-profit entrepreneurs and how a life of helping people can leave a person spiritually satisfied.Mr.Runyons talked about the opportunities in the non-profit sector in Gainesville, while handing out some information on local organizations. The event was a great success, with one of our GNP members landing an internship at FloridaWorks!