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.

Mikaela Papageorgiou, junior nonprofit leadership major, is president of NLA. She spoke to the Monitor on why the event was held.

“The Nonprofit Leadership Association holds a fall fundraiser each fall semester, and we always brainstorm as a group on themes and nonprofits to fundraise for. This year we actually decided to hold a bowling fundraiser that fell through at the last minute, but amazing club members stepped up and we were able to decide on a trivia night,” Papageorgiou said. “We also fell in love with the mission of Warrior’s Best Friend and really wanted to shine a light on their nonprofit and put on a great fundraiser for them.”

William Jewell College students could feel good about saving a swipe at the cafeteria – 10 percent of all food purchased went to Warrior’s Best Friend. Students enjoyed Rock & Run favorites such as pretzels and wings.

NLA raffled off several coveted items throughout the night. Kendra Scott jewelry and gift certificates to various Liberty hotspots were a few of the items students won.

Trivia was the highlight of the night. Students formed teams of five and entered for $10 a team. They played five rounds of trivia, putting their historical and geographical knowledge to the test.

Kyler Schardein, first-year Oxbridge: Institutions and Policy major, was a member of the winning trivia team.

“Winning was actually a huge shock because we had been trying to keep track of our own score, but somewhere we had lost track and thought we had a couple [points] less,” Schardien says. “So when they announced the winning score first before the team name, we figured we might have earned second and then, surprise!”

The team won a basket of gift cards and cardinal dollars.

“The event itself was truly enjoyable, filled with lots of laughs and good conversations both within teams and between teams,” Schardein says. “It was just a great atmosphere.”

Cover photo courtesy of Animal Planet.