Educator Spotlight: Meghan Dunn

Wednesday, 11 August 2010 19:57 by Interns

Name: Meghan Dunn      Grade: Third

(View Meghan's Educator Profile here. To view donors' impact in her classroom, click the completed tab!)

1. How did you hear about The Generation Project?

I first heard about The Generation Project through one of its founders, Jessica Rauch.

2. Tell us about the gift(s) that are implemented in your classroom?

My students have had the opportunity to benefit from two different gifts. The first was a trip for two of my boys to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). One of my male students was recently accepted into a Ballet program in Manhattan and I wanted him to see a real dance performance, especially one that highlighted male dancers. This year my class has been participating in a chess program one day a week. As a culminating activity, I wanted to have a chess tournament for my students. I was able to use The Generation Project to fund chess-related prizes, like a travel chess set and a wooden chess set for my students

3. What would you tell other donors who are considering donating to The Generation Project? 

The Generation Project is really great because it allows teachers to obtain resources in real time, and be responsive to their students. Other donation sites require that teachers have to be able to predict in the future what they might need, and they don't have the freedom to be flexible with their students. The Generational Projectgives me a lot of flexibility in meeting the needs of my students and finding resources. The Generation Project is also great because I know that the support that I am receiving comes from an individual who is just as passionate as I am about education and about giving students memorable experiences. 

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Intern Spotlight: Andrea Marcos

Tuesday, 10 August 2010 20:57 by Interns

Name: Andrea Marcos     College/University: Northwestern 

1. How did you hear about The Generation Project?

I heard about The Generation Project through the MMSS listserv. An email was sent through the listserv saying that they needed summer interns and it seemed as a perfect fit for my interests.

2. What are you working on right now?

Previously, I had been on the Research team where we researched on the strategies of non profits to get donations and what incentives proved to be the most powerful in past studies. I am looking at the incentives and approaches that transform interested people into donors. I am now in the Advertizing team, where I am in charge of keeping our AdWords account updated and studying the effectiveness of the Ads and keywords in increasing traffic in our website. In the Strategic Business Relations team, I am also reaching out to small family-owned businesses to get them involved as donors. This consists of traveling around the various neighborhoods in Chicago and going from door-to-door to meet business owners and put our name out there!    

3. What's the most interesting thing you've leaned while working withThe Generation Project?

I have learned that donations from the general public don't come by themselves. E-mailing to potential networks (even through insiders) is not enough to get people interested, especially for such an innovative approach of donating.

I have also learned that running a non-profit needs a clearly defined central authority. If it is one person, that person must be on top of everything all the time. If it is a team, that team must be in constant communication and have complete transparency. I realized the potential of volunteers in maintaining an entire organization with very low costs. 

I also learned not to be afraid to take the lead in a project. You never know your potential until you apply your skills outside the academic world.

4. What's your passion?

In a nutshell my passion would consist of research methodology, managinga non-profit, micro-finance in indigenous communities, the payoff from investment on women, urban public education reform, salsa, flamenco, tango, and the credibility of econometric models when the proper factorsare taken into account. 

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