How an education nonprofit launched and is positioned to scale in Des Moines
Subscribe to the Nonprofit Storytellers Podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google.
How do you launch a nonprofit, find clients, community partners, and supporters? And how do you intentionally make decisions early on so the organization can scale later?
Executive Director Noelle Nelson leads the new Avenue Scholars Des Moines organization, an expansion of an Omaha-based nonprofit that guides students through specific career exploration.
The initiative doesn’t end after a student graduates high school or even a post-secondary degree or certificate, they stay with the student through getting their first industry job.
On the podcast, we talk about launching in the Des Moines area, key hires, and how Nelson is focusing on building a quality program that can grow and serve more students in Central Iowa. We talk about:
What it takes to launch a nonprofit in a new location
Key hires and why they’ve been critical to success
Using current students to recruit new students and advise on how to use social media
How to be strategic in how you start a program to intentionally scale it later
More podcasts and articles that might interest you
Launching a new nonprofit fundraising event and raising awareness for a critical health service
How a nonprofit’s four-step model to fundraising and friendraising is creating continual support.
Why a nonprofit hosts a podcast to share mental health stories and promote employee benefits
How a nonprofit leverages partnerships for their campaign to reduce the stigma of mental illness
Below is an edited and condensed version of the interview.
→ Listen to the entire interview online on the Nonprofit Storytellers Podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google.
Tell me a little bit about the Avenue Scholars Program.
Avenue Scholars is a school-to-work program. We have two customers, the students we serve in our program and our business community. We want to serve as that bridge between the school preparation programs and the business community.
What makes us unique is we identify kids in their sophomore year in high school, and programming starts their junior year. We support them through a career coach and a curriculum for two years in high school. We connect them with work-based learning and follow them through two critical transitions.
One is high school graduation, and then we stay with them for up to three years post-secondary. They'll work with a post-secondary career coach to stay focused in their industry of interest. And then we only end our support once that student obtains full-time employment.
So we're looking at students interested in two-year degrees or less. There are high-paying, high-need jobs in Iowa where we need good employees. So that's really what we're looking for students who we know will make good employees. Students who have a passion and an interest in one of our five industries.
Who makes a Good Avenue scholar?
We’re looking for students who are first interested in one of our industries: business, health sciences, skilled trades, information technology, or automotive. It aligns with Future Ready Iowa pathways that are in high demand. So that's the first screener. Are you even interested in what we're offering?
Second criteria would be that they're on track to graduate, and that's just because of scheduling logistics. Getting our curriculum in an elective class is difficult if you're behind in graduation credits.
And then thirdly, all of our students must qualify for free and reduced lunch. And that's the demographic we're targeting because we're trying to break that cycle or impact that cycle of poverty. We want to connect them with careers that allow them not only to break that cycle but also live the life they want to live. Our kids have hopes and dreams; our job is to help them connect with those.
How do you even launch a nonprofit? Will you talk a little bit about it, OK, the decision has been made, Avenue Scholars is coming to Des Moines. Now what? What do you do once that decision has been made?
We are fortunate that Walter Scott and the Walter Scott Foundation started this program in Omaha under the Berkshire Hathaway umbrella. And so there was a relationship there with Mid-American Energy. They decided that Des Moines was a good next step for expansion because of that Mid-American relationship. So they brought it here.
At that point in time, I was serving in Des Moines schools and ushering in the partnership, and I absolutely fell in love with the mission, vision, and leadership from Omaha. So I raised my hand and said, “Can I lead this expansion?
And it really has been the perfect fit combining my educational background with the business outreach team that I've hired and have working on behalf. We have a staff of career coaches and two business outreach coordinators who are out hustling partnerships for kids and finding work opportunities.
———
Have a nonprofit success story that others can lean from? Consider sharing it on our podcast. We look for new approaches to marketing, out-of-the-box fundraising, or novel outreach or communication efforts. As well as the tried-and-true Submit your nonprofit’s story by filling out this form.