Roger Doyne, a current Nonprofit Leadership Studies (NPLS) student in the CSSC, is making a large impact in his community. When he is not pursuing his UALR degree majoring in Professional and Technical Writing with an NPLS minor, he is the Executive Director of a nonprofit called The Youth Institute located here in Pulaski County. The Youth Institute is a nonprofit program that serves the youth of College Station, Little Rock, by providing guidance and mentoring to help them navigate through life successfully. Roger has served as Executive Director of this organization since its founding in 2015.
As an Executive Director, Roger is responsible for communicating with donors and partners of the organization, maintaining its funding in order to continue services, strategic planning for their educational programs, and an array of other responsibilities. Roger believes his studies in the NPLS program have not only helped him academically, but they have “continued to provide opportunities for growth through association with the staff [and]students, as well as opportunities to partner and make our organization a place for students to volunteer and to fulfill internship requirements.”
The NPLS program is a competency-based minor and national certificate program offered in the CSSC that is designed to prepare and certify students to work for nonprofit organizations upon completion of a bachelor’s degree. To complete the program and obtain the Nonprofit Leadership Studies certificate, students must demonstrate that they have acquired the Nonprofit Leadership Studies Program competencies. Those competencies include communications and public relations, cultural competency and diversity, financial resource development and management, foundations and management of the nonprofit sector, governance, leadership, and advocacy, legal and ethical decision-making, personal and professional development, program development, volunteer and human resource management, and the future of the nonprofit sector.
According to Roger, those who are serious about going into nonprofit management should take advantage of the NPLS program. Roger reflected on his experience and said “the NPLS program will deliver a well-rounded learning environment balance between classroom learning, field experience, networking opportunities, as well as involvements on the local and national scene as it has to do with all things nonprofit. It is definitely a life-changing experience.”
If you are interested in working in the nonprofit sector and want to start learning these essential skills to succeed, please contact Koesha Jenkins at ksjenkins1@ualr.edu. For more information about the NPLS program, visit our website at https://ualr.edu/nonprofitstudies
