The Nonprofit Leadership Association (NLA) is a service-oriented on-campus club at William Jewell College with the purpose of “providing its members with cultural, social, and educational co-curricular opportunities with the intent of enriching the students’ lives and professional development in the field of Nonprofit Leadership,” as stated by the club’s president, junior nonprofit leadership, communication and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major, Mikaela Papageorgiou.
“[The goals of NLA are] to enrich the community we are in through service and to act as an organization that educates individuals about the nonprofit field,” said Papageorgiou. “[NLA] provides unique service opportunities to students of William Jewell College, while also discussing how to better the community around us.”
NLA is led by an executive board composed of President Papageorgiou, Vice President Haley Call and Treasurer Kylee Newton. The group currently has a core group of about ten students whose regular meetings are open to anyone interested in joining NLA. They meet Tuesdays from 11:15-12:05 p.m. at the Pryor House.
The organization helps promote community engagement and service on the Hill and to better connect students who are interested in volunteering to groups that could use support in the Kansas City and Liberty communities.
Papageorgiou invites all Jewell students to join NLA, noting that it is a great opportunity to make new friends on the Hill and connect with the broader Liberty and Kansas City communities.
NLA often works with service and nonprofit organizations in the Liberty and Kansas City communities, and Papageorgiou’s favorite part of the NLA experience is working with the small nonprofits.
“Being able to connect through service and volunteering is such an incredible experience already, but when it is such a small nonprofit you get to see the impact volunteers can make,” Papageorgiou said.
Alongside serving with other organizations, NLA sometimes hosts events of their own. During the fall semester, NLA hosted a trivia fundraiser at Rock and Run Brewery in Liberty with all proceeds going to benefit the nonprofit Warrior’s Best Friend. A group dedicated to providing service dogs to veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI.