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Executives from charitable agencies seeking to hone their business skills, and apply them in the non-profit arena, are invited to apply for a $20,000 scholarship to the Executive MBA program at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Deadline to apply is June 1.
Applicants must have at least five years managerial experience, a proven record with a Tampa Bay 501 (c)(3) non-profit agency, commit to at least three additional years of service to a local non-profit upon graduation, currently hold an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution, and score 500 or higher on the GMAT. This scholarship is not limited to those with a business degree. Applicants who hold degrees in other fields, such as juvenile justice, psychology, social work, or education are eligible to apply.
The curriculum is practical, timely, and immediately useful. The fast-paced four-semester cohort program allows even the busiest senior-level professionals to maintain career responsibilities while earning an MBA. Careful, day-long scheduling requires students to spend just one Friday and two Saturdays per month in the classroom, providing students flexibility and control over self-directed and team study.Program specifics can be found online at http://www.emba.usf.edu/.
The scholarship covers nearly half of the $40,000 fees for the 20-month program. The remaining fees (plus mandated tuition increases) will be pro-rated and payable at the beginning of each of the four semesters of the program. Applicants may apply for Stafford Loans through the USF Office of Financial Aid to help defray these expenses. Some employers offer tuition reimbursement programs that may help offset expenses.
All scholarship applicants are required to take the GMAT. Applications must include a completed Executive MBA Preliminary Application form (with a note indicating application is for the Not-for-Profit scholarship), two letters of recommendation, a statement of support from a current employer, university transcripts and a current resume.
All documents can be found at http://coba.usf.edu/programs/emba/apply.html. For more information, call 974-4876.
But apparently not like you think.
A new study out suggests that money makes people happy when they spend it on others, give it away to social causes. The study, cited in Science, seems to indicate that there is greater happiness when people spend money on those they can help. That’s not to suggest they have to sacrifice their own well-being to do so, but the study (written about in a recent Yahoo article) does reveal some interesting data and conclusions.
Amanda Gardner (author of the Yahoo article) writes: “Hikes in income can help boost happiness, but the effect is weak, prior studies have found. Research has also found that as the average income rises within a society, people’s reported levels of happiness remain relatively static.”
She goes on to report: A sample of “632 Americans (roughly equivalent between genders) to rate their happiness, report their annual income and estimate how much they spend on a typical month on different items, including gifts to others and donations to charity. Those who had more of this ‘pro-social’ spending were also happier, the team found.”
In Girl Scouts, girls discover the fun, friendship and power of girls together. Girl Scouting helps girls develop their full individual potential; relate to others with increasing 
understanding, skill and respect; develop values to guide their actions and provide the foundation for sound decision-making; and contribute to the improvement of society through their abilities, leadership skills and cooperation with others.
Girl Scouts of West Central Florida serves more than 28,000 girls, ages 5-17, and 10,000 adult volunteers in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter counties.
For more information, call: 813-281-4475
Website: http://www.gswcf.org
United Way provides funding to the Girl Scouts of $257,000
RCS is a registered 501 (c) 3 organization with four distinct yet interwoven programs working together to provide basic needs to people in Pinellas County
RCS Food Bank is the largest distributor of food to those in need in Pinellas County, serving between 4,000 and 5,000 individuals monthly at RCS’s warehouse and through 62 sub-sites.
RCS Grace House provides 8 weeks of apartment-style shelter to homeless families along with all of life’s necessities, maximizing their opportunity to reach self-sufficiency.
The Haven of RCS empowers victims of domestic violence to become survivors, offering shelter, legal advocacy, 911 phones, individual and group support, preventative education and more.
The RCS Thrift Store offers a dignified shopping experience at no charge to participants in RCS programs while providing revenue to RCS through sales to the public, including household items and furniture.
For more information: http://www.rcshelps.com
Telephone: 727-584-3528
United Way funds The Haven and the Food Bank.
by Mark Holmgren, EVP
United Way of Tampa Bay
Note: this is the third and final installment of our series on Homelessness. If you want to read the first two installments, click here for Part One and click here for Part Two.
In Florida, there is a growing awareness of economic factors that are impacting not only persons of low income, but the middle class as well. Escalating property insurance and taxes are major contributors to the community’s increasing concern about affordable housing. Companies are increasingly concerned about what they call “workforce housing.”
Foreclosures are up. Businesses are finding it more difficult to attract employees because of the total cost of housing is so expensive. While I don’t have any current data to cite, I do wonder how many middle class folks are just a few paychecks from becoming homeless themselves.
The lack of affordable housing has its natural effects. People on fixed incomes will move away. The best and the brightest prospects for the jobs that exist in our community will go elsewhere. People will lose their homes. Financial institutions will suffer; some will close their doors. Money will get tighter, and so on. None of these problems are any one individual’s fault. And they are no one organization’s to solve.
If you have gotten this far in this series, you are likely wondering what the answer is. If I had to answer you quickly, I would admit that I am not sure. Not all that helpful, I know. But on reflection that admission actually points to an answer and it is this. No one person or group or business or church or government has the prescription. Major social and economic problems cannot be effectively addressed by any one sector or by a political party or by a few of us.
But perhaps all of us can create a response to homelessness together. In fact, I believe (and yes some have called me naïve or a dreamer once or twice in my life) – but I do believe that most social change is possible when we work for it together. Democrats and Republicans, Christians, Jews, Muslims and those with other beliefs, the conservatives and the liberals, the entrepreneurs and the union leaders, the wealthy and the poor and everyone in between.
I believe fiscal conservatives can work with fiscal liberals. I believe each individual can carry his or her political persuasions to a common table around common issues. I believe differences of race and gender are assets to collaborative actions that in the end strengthen all of us.
I believe this, not because I think this is just a dream to aspire for, but because it happens. That spirit of cooperation and action for the common good is what spawned the United Way in Denver back in 1887. And such spirit is alive in Tampa Bay.
The United Way of Tampa Bay works hard to be that hub of the community wheel. We are not so much an organization as we are a movement of people and organizations trying to do things together that will strengthen the community and help people one individual at a time. Our ability to have impact as an organization is directly tied to people like you and employers like yours, and government representatives, and community leaders, and every day people working together at the common table.
When I was younger – and perhaps more idealistic than I am today – I read Thoreau. You likely did, too. I don’t recall the direct quote, but I remember the effect of his words. Thoreau spoke of reform and said that it always begins with the self. When I think of that great American now, I relate what he says to “change.”
To change the world around us also means we have to change ourselves. We know that’s true. We know it intellectually, and we feel it emotionally, and we can embrace it spiritually. Still it is important to remember that few of us change ourselves all by ourselves. We need help and support.
Each of us as individuals won’t change the community by ourselves. United Way, the organization, won’t change community conditions like homelessness by itself. But United Way as a movement of people and organizations can make the kind of change we want to make. The spirit of cooperation is a powerful principle to guide us as we craft change, together and as individuals, toward a better place for everyone.
There are numerous efforts throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas County to address homelessness. If you want to know more, if you want to get involved, please contact us.
For further reading and information consider the following:
Opening Doors of Opportunity (PDF)
A Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in Pinellas County
Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless is an independent community based not-for-profit organization that provides public education, advocacy, program support, capacity building and technical assistance to the homeless service community.
The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County is actively addressing funding, public policy, advocacy, and planning opportunities to address homelessness and affordable housing issues in Hillsborough County.
Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Report (PDF)
Attainable Housing for Hillsborough County’s Growing Economy.
Pinellas Hope
Read our blog entry about Pinellas Hope and link to their website.
Mark Holmgren has served as the Executive Vice President of United Way of Tampa Bay since August 2005. He moved to Tampa Bay from Edmonton, Canada, where he was active with United Way and also helped develop shelters and innovative, long-term housing for the chronically homeless. You can reach him at mholmgren@uwtb.org.
Bay Area Legal Services assists and supports individuals with limited access to legal services with a focus on elderly and low-income residents in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties
The staff at Bay Area Legal Services provides free counseling and representation to eligible clients for civil legal problems including but not limited to the following areas: family law, including divorce, custody and domestic violence; senior advocacy; fair housing; consumer law; and individual rights.
United Way supports Bay Area Legal Services’ family Law preservation and senior home ownership program.
For more information: http://www.bals.org/
Telephone: 813-232-1343
