A Careers for the Common Good panel: Fundraising, Communications, and Leadership for Nonprofits
Co-sponsored by the Wesleyan Alumni Network
Panelists: Gerald Richards ’90 (CEO, 826 National) and Syed Ali ’13 (Communications Coordinator, FoodCorps) and Sharon Greenberger ’88 (President and CEO, YMCA of Greater New York)
Location: Allbritton 311
Wesleyan prides itself in educating practical idealists who work for social change. The goal is not just to do well but to do good and to build careers around the causes they care about. During this panel, three alumni will talk about their lives after Wesleyan and reflect on the non-profit sector overall.
Dinner will be served for those who register.
GERALD RICHARDS is the Chief Executive Officer of 826 National, a network of seven urban writing and tutoring centers based on the belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With more than twenty years of management and development experience at national nonprofit organizations, Gerald is a thought leader on topics of youth and education access. His nonprofit career includes positions with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE); UNCF; University of California, San Francisco; the J. David Gladstone Institutes; Chicago Panel on Social Policy; and The Cradle Foundation. He is a graduate of the Executive Education programs of Harvard Business School and Babson College; member of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Ed Steps Curiosity and Creativity workgroup; an inaugural fellow in the California Leaders of Color Fellowship Program; and a graduate of Leadership San Francisco. He currently serves on the boards of Newbury College, the International Development Exchange (IDEX), and My Path SF, and previously served on the boards of the Woodland School, Juma Ventures and KIPP SF Bay Academy. Gerald has a BA in Film Studies from Wesleyan and an MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Sharon Greenberger is the 10th President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York, a leading New York City non-profit organization serving over 500,000 children, adults and seniors annually through programs and services focused on nurturing potential, promoting healthy living and fostering a sense of social responsibility. With 20 years of experience in urban planning, development and education, Sharon has dedicated her career to executing initiatives that seek to improve lives and strengthen communities. Prior to joining the YMCA in July 2015, Sharon served as the Senior Vice President, Facilities and Real Estate at New York-Presbyterian Hospital where she oversaw $2 billion of active projects geared towards expanding and improving facilities to better serve the needs of patients and their families. Sharon received her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and holds a master’s degree in City Planning, with a focus in Housing and Community Development and Environmental Design, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a member of the Prospect Park YMCA and lives in Brooklyn with her husband Jonathan, with whom she has two daughters, Madelyn and Josie.
Syed is Commuications Coordinator at FoodCorps, a nationwide team of AmeriCorps leaders who connect kids to real food and help them grow up healthy. He helps amplify the organization’s influence through digital tools, reaching larger and more diverse audiences. Syed got hooked on spreading healthy, affordable, sustainable food while supporting the NYC Department of Health’s Green Carts initiative, which does just that in disadvantaged city communities. At Wesleyan, Syed led the student government committees on information technology and community outreach, wrote for student life blog Wesleying, and was a member of campus sustainability group Wesleyan Eco-Tools. Syed graduated from Wesleyan in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and English.
More information can be found here.
Do you have an interest and background in FGSS? Do you have an idea for a project this summer, but still need support and funding? FGSS and Wesleyan Animal Studies (WAS) are calling for applications for the Ecofeminist Summer Internship Experience Grant:
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