YSU Nonprofit Leadership students perform in Pittsburgh

January 18, 2017 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University students visited a city about an hour from Youngstown to appreciate its culture and gather new marketing ideas.

YSU’s Nonprofit Leadership group took the $800 trip to Pittsburgh, funded by the Student Government Association, in December to challenge students participating in a Regional Case Study Exercise at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

The exercise gave students the chance to brainstorm ideas about marketing and use for a space within in the Trust Arts Education Center – where they were housed for the day.

Laura Dewberry, YSU’s Nonprofit Leadership director, most enjoyed seeing her students interact with “seasoned nonprofit professionals.”

“I really think [the students] helped and made these other professionals think,” she said. “I hope they gave each other ideas they maybe haven’t thought of. It is truly a team effort.”

Tabitha Richmond, Nonprofit Leadership group president, of Austintown, agreed: The volume of ideas circulating in the room she worked in for the day gave her fuel to bring back to her internship in Youngstown with Junior Achievement.

“It was a very different and unique experience and gave me so many ideas to come back with to maybe use with JA,” Richmond said.

Not only did the trip allow students an opportunity to meet with experienced professionals and experience a think-tank-like environment, it also allowed them to visit a new place.

“We were looking for some kind of engagement activities studying nonprofit leadership, and some of them have never even traveled outside of the Mahoning Valley,” Dewberry said. “We were able to go to places like Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Columbus to better expose students to a large, established nonprofit.”

Richmond was one of the students who hadn’t traveled outside the Mahoning Valley much, having never gone to Cleveland before a trip with her group.

For the Pittsburgh trip, Dewberry was able to expose students to the city’s art culture. “We got to go into theaters and visit downtown Pittsburgh in the cultural district,” Richmond said. “It’s so important to expose children to [the arts] as soon as possible because it’s so underrated and people just don’t give enough credit to it.”

For information on the exercise or YSU’s Center for Nonprofit Leadership, contact Dewberry at 330-941-1870 or LJMcCaskey@ysu.edu.