Today I had lunch with two very inspiring University students, Nisha Patel, Co-Chair and Steven Knight, VP Academic of a student conceived and led initiative at the Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta – The Alberta Not-For-Profit Case Competition. The objective is to challenge students to embrace the future of the Not-For-Profit sector.
There will be eight teams, one each from eight post secondary education institutions, that will develop recommendations for a yet-to-be-announced Edmonton based non-profit organization.
As part of the initiative, students will get to experience life, the way the poor do. This will heighten the awareness of not-for-profit client issues. Next, they will be presented with a case about some challenges that affect the selected non-profit. Then, each team will brainstorm ideas to respond the those challenges and create a presentation of their recommendations.
A team of judges will select the winner of the Case Competition, in a public Final Four, Event at the Telus Theatre at the University of Alberta.
As a result, students will understand the issues facing those living in poverty, the challenges facing non-profit managers and will have grappled with finding solutions to those challenges. This is education. The students will be changed by the experience.
The selected non-profit will have number of ideas to resolve their most pressing issues. This demonstrates that the students have embraced the future of a least one non-profit. That’s fantastic!
At the Larry and Janet Anderson Philanthropies, our mission is To awaken youth to their promise; To empower youth to live their promise; To celebrate people living their promise. We are delighted to be a sponsor of this initiative. Want to know more? Visit the Alberta Not-For-Profit Case Competition website.
