The Charlottesville Institute

The Charlottesville Institute Welcomes Our First Intern!

2012-02-20T14:05:00.003-05:00

Valerie McDonald recently joined the staff of The Charlottesville Institute as our very first intern and is already proving to be an integral member of our team.

Valerie is a fourth year student at UVa, majoring in International Economics and minoring in Global Culture and Commerce (anthropology). She has focused as much as possible on development and globalization, and discovered recently that she likes her minor much more than her major. Last summer, she worked for FINCA, International in Washington, D.C. as an intern for the fundraising team, and is considering pursuing fundraising for NGOs as a career. The summer before, Valerie worked for Women's Microfinance Initiative in Bethesda, MD, helping to compile and organize data on borrowers, with the ultimate goal of assessing the effectiveness of the loan system in use.

Valerie is currently a member of the Jubilate choir at UVA, and in the past has done ballroom dancing, played volleyball, and worked at an animal hospital. Her life plans include having no less than 4 pets at any given time, collecting a library full of (fiction) books, and eventually starting her own non-profit micro-finance organization.

Welcome aboard Valerie!

UVa Students Lend Their Talents to the Fight Against Sexual Assault

2012-02-16T15:40:00.006-05:00

While primarily still in organizational-development mode, The Charlottesville Institute is already starting to broker valuable collaborations between community agencies and University entities. The first such example: a brand-new partnership between the Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA), which provides critical education, advocacy and support services in the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson; and Student Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED), based at the McIntire School of Commerce, which provides free capacity-building consulting services to non-profit organizations throughout the world.

Aware of SARA's interest in securing help with its marketing plan, in order to generate more public understanding and support for its violence-prevention efforts, and aware of SEED's interest in taking on more consulting projects locally, The Charlottesville Institute was able to match up the two organizations and the resulting collaboration is now underway. Institute staff will be available to assist with any problems or issues that may arise over the course of the project.

Through this partnership, a local agency gets free help in addressing an important community need, and a group of students have the chance to apply their classroom learning in a real-world context. This is a small example of the kind of mutually-beneficial collaboration that The Charlottesville Institute hopes to replicate many times over in the years to come.

Meeting the UVa Student Council Public Service Committee

2012-02-08T11:24:00.012-05:00

Last year, Student Council created a Public Service Committee to promote civic engagement among the student population at UVa. Last night, the Public Service Committee hosted an informational presentation by Dave Norris on The Charlottesville Institute.

"We had a good conversation about ways that students can get involved in supporting the work of the Institute," reported Norris. "Everywhere I turn at UVa, I encounter students like these who are really energized about public service and civic engagement. It's terrific to see. Gives me great hope for the future."

Daily Progress Editorial Declares: "Smart Use of University's Bright Minds"

2012-01-23T22:04:00.008-05:00

A big thank you to the editorial board of The Daily Progress for a very positive lead editorial in today's paper about The Charlottesville Institute. Entitled "Smart Use of University's Bright Minds," the editorial reads, in part:

"UVa's got all those smart people -- why don't we ask them?"

How often have you heard a version of that query?

Of course, the University of Virginia has a lengthy history of involvement in the community and participation in solving its problems. But those efforts often have been unofficial or ad hoc, rising and falling with the interests and drives of the individual players.

Now former Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris is attempting to solidify such activity. He is founding The Charlottesville Institute for University-Community Engagement.

"There's a lot of really smart people studying and teaching at UVa," he said, in his own version of the why-not-ask-UVa issue. "And even though Charlottesville's a great place to live, we have a lot of needs." The institute will seek to help the community and the university make connections related to those needs....

The effort will start small, with only a budget of less than $150,000, to come mostly from private sources and grants.

But the concept is big -- with the potential to affect Charlottesville in a major way.

Congratulations and good luck to Mr. Norris as he launches this worthwhile new project.

"Charlottesville Right Now" Chats Up The Charlottesville Institute

2012-01-20T00:08:00.006-05:00

Coy Barefoot, host of WINA's "Charlottesville Right Now" and noted expert on all things UVa, welcomed Dave Norris onto his radio show this afternoon to discuss the debut of The Charlottesville Institute. Click here to listen in to the discussion: http://www.wina.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5646361

The Charlottesville Institute to be Featured at UVa Community Engagement Network Meeting

2012-01-19T00:56:00.004-05:00

The Charlottesville Institute will be a featured presenter at the February 2012 meeting of the UVa Community Engagement Network, a "cross-Grounds collaborative of central public service and community engagement administrators" that works to "facilitate opportunities for University-wide communication, coordination, and collaboration in public service." Dave Norris, Executive Director of The Charlottesville Institute, will discuss the background, mission and goals of the Institute and seek feedback from Community Engagement Network members on ways in which the Institute can be of highest and best use to the University's vibrant public service community. The Network will meet from 8:30-10:00am on February 9, location TBA. For more information about the Community Engagement Network, including a roster of Network members, please visit http://www.virginia.edu/provost/public/cen.html.

Upcoming Workshop for Non-Profits to Focus on Leveraging University Resources

2012-01-18T23:46:00.002-05:00

The Charlottesville Institute is pleased to be participating in an upcoming brown-bag lunch/panel discussion on "Leveraging University Resources," tailored to local non-profits who want to learn more about the rich variety of public service programs available at UVa. Hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, the event will take place on Thursday, April 5, 2012, from 12:00-1:30pm (location TBD). To register, or for more info., please visit http://www.thecne.org/eventdetail.php?id=128.

New UVa Course on Charlottesville Poverty Now Accepting Applications for Spring 2012 Semester

2012-01-02T11:59:00.006-05:00

Along with Lauren Purnell, PhD candidate in Organizational Ethics at the Darden School of Business, Dave Norris of The Charlottesville Institute will be co-teaching PSYCH 4559-7: Field Work in Social Enterprise -- Reducing Poverty in the Community during the Spring 2012 semester. Click here for the course description; applications are now being accepted.