Washburn Students Present Aleshire Grants to Topeka Nonprofits
Learning to build a healthy community is a key component of our Aleshire Venture Grant partnership with Washburn University. For 16 years, the Aleshire Venture Grant has been offered through the Washburn University's LE300: Leadership Skills Development course in partnership with United Way and Washburn University's Aleshire Center for Leadership and Community Engagement.
The Aleshire Center was created through the merger of the Leadership Institute and Washburn’s Learning in the Community (LinC) programs and officially launched on July 1, 2024, after a generous gift was made to the program by Venture Grant benefactors Joe and Janet Aleshire. The program is committed to developing leaders through high-impact community-engaged learning.
For the Venture Grants, the Aleshires donate $10,000, which the leadership students award through a competitive proposal process to Shawnee County nonprofits serving children, usually prenatal to age 5. With mentorship from the Aleshires and UWKV staff, students explore the process of creating a Request for Proposal, evaluating proposed programs, choosing recipients, and presenting their recommendations at a United Way board meeting.
The students evaluated all proposals for alignment with donor intent, project/program feasibility, and prospects for sustainability. At the December UWKV board meeting, the students recommended and the board approved grants of:
- $6007.93 to Scott Dual Language Magnet School for early literacy intervention program supplies/curriculum
- $3992.07 to Parents as Teachers through Topeka Public Schools for the food pantry at Quinton Heights
The class also made recommendations for funding using an additional $5,000 provided by Joe and Janet to address the most urgent community needs. These recommendations were focused on responding to food insecurity needs/SNAP crisis:
- $3,000 to Doorstep
- $2,000 to Topeka Rescue Mission
Thank you as always to TPS and the Burnett Administrative Center for sharing their amazing meeting space with us each year for this board meeting and presentation. Thank you to Joe and Janet for their enduring generosity and investment in our future community leaders. And thank you to Dr. Lauren Edleman for championing this unique learning experience at Washburn.
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| Teaching Tiny Hearts (L to R): Taylor Redington, Junior, Forensic Investigations, Newton, KS; Lillian Clark: Senior, Public Administration, Topeka, KS; Syd Conner: Senior, Mass Media, Kearney, NE; Kailey Hill: Senior, Psychology, Wichita, KS; Wren Larson: Junior, Public Health, Bennington, NE | Village of Voices (L to R): Kate Coulter: Junior, Communication Studies, Eureka, KS; Karly Neufeld: Senior, Business Management and Finance, Baldwin City, KS; Eden Conrad: Sophomore, Mass Media, Mulvane, KS; Morgan Alexander: Junior, Religious Studies, Garnett, KS; Grace McCoy: Junior, Psychology and Criminal Justice, Abilene, KS | Nobody Cares Alone (L to R): Alexa Kaufman: Junior, International Business, Sabetha, KS; Jayden Coover: Junior, Public Health Administration, Council Grove, KS; Brynne Liedtke: Junior, Criminal Justice & Spanish, Topeka, KS; Wendo Kimori: Junior, Communication Studies (pre-law), Lawrence, KS; Kira Roth: Junior, Philosophy, Garden City, KS |
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(By the way, that's not a wave! That's a nod to our favorite United Way grant decision-making tool known as 5-finger consensus.)