Alumni Capstones
John
West Central Initiative Foundation
John used his Capstone to describe democracy as a game of chess. Furthermore, how everyone has an integral role and can impact the game of democracy
View John's full capstone presentation here.
Dante
Northside Achievment Zone
Dante’s capstone explains his year spent learning about youth leadership development at the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ). He explores the impacts of the work NAZ is doing with youth and what he learned about developing programs that enable youth to thrive in their community as leaders in their own right.
View Dante's full capstone presentation here.
Nora
Minnesota Humanities Center
Nora says "This was entirely a year of growth for me, and not all in the ways I expected it to be. In my position as a data analyst at the Minnesota Humanities Center I learned plenty about evaluation, data collection, and using data to tell stories. I also learned how to better work on a team, communicate (including listening!), and advocate for myself and my ideas."
View Nora's full capstone presentation here.
Len
Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches
For her capstone, Len combined a series of photos she photographed. She shares, “Since I have done a lot of media & communications work at my host site, my presentation is a collection of images I have taken during my year of service. I hope to use these photos to share my unique perspective as someone who moved to a new state halfway across the country to start a new job through a very new Fellowship program. I also want to showcase all the wonderful community members I got to connect with and programs I got to be a part of during this time.”
Matthew
MyPlace Mankato
For his capstone, Matthew spoke to the audience about his experience at MYPlace. He shares, “With my presentation I am hoping to have an honest conversation about what it means to truly help others and the ways our actions can alter the perspective of the "help" received for those we wish to support. The time I spent at Mankato Youth Place will always be a valuable part of my journey to become better at mindful community engagement, and I look forward to continuing that journey with you through today's event.”
Onar
Urban Strategies
For her capstone, Onar shares about her work at Urban Strategies. She shares, “Through Urban Strategies, I worked as a summer program coordinator. This summer program essentially was a drop-in drop-out program for kids to come and play with activities and things we brought. They could come and play basketball or play a board, game or draw. As a summer program coordinator, I was in charge of the teams who were meant to be running everything- and through this, I got to know a lot of kids. I also ran the food shelf, through Urban Strategies on Saturdays got to meet a lot of the adults of the neighborhood through that.
View Onar's full capstone presentation here.
Owen
Johnson A. Johnson Elementary School
For his capstone, Owen focuses his presentation on representing the community he served. He shares, “Alongside Opportunity Neighborhood, the people that are already in this community work to get resources for themselves and for their neighbors. That's what the Opportunity Neighborhood apparatus is: trying to make sure that we can put more resources into this community so they can support themselves. That's community led, for the most part, that's the people that live in the neighborhood working with people that they live next to, and that's great work that's being done. I think that that is a success.
View Owen's full capstone presentation here.
Sam
Camdentown Minneapolis
For his capstone, Sam reflects on his learnings at Camdentown. He shares, “Going into the summer, I really didn't even know if I understood what community organizing was, and from this summer, I think I do have a much deeper understanding of what it means to be part of community organizing. I define community organizing as utilizing individual skills, talents and strengths to create collective empowerment.”
View Sam's full capstone presentation here.