HNR 101 Leadership in Society

In this honors First Year Experience course, students were introduced to leadership studies and explored leadership and its influence on society in the following four contexts the citizen leader, political leadership, non-profit leadership, and corporate social responsibility. In doing the Mayerson project, students experienced the "doing" of student philanthropy and learning about philanthropic, non-profit, and civic leadership while doing so. In addition, they saw how local political leadership influences were interwoven into the work the non-profits and philanthropists do. And, although non-profit work is not on the same plane as large corporations when it comes to social responsibility, they were able to see how responsible non-profits do think of their organizations' responsibility in addition to the services they provide.  Further, the students saw that many corporations are also involved in philanthropic efforts as part of their social responsibility activities. Exploring leadership in context with these organizations students recognized the overlap between political leadership, civic engagement and local activism, corporations (for funding and doing civic engagement and demonstrating social responsibility), and the work that non-profits and their funders do to contribute to society and their ways of 'doing' leadership. Students read and discussed assigned readings, completed reflections, and completed presentations on their topics with reflective lessons learned included in the project itself. 

Professor Downing explains the steps the students had taken for HNR 101:

(1) Investigation: Students investigated non-profit work in general as well as their selected non-profit, their needs, and their programs. This involved selected readings, interviews with the organization representative, guest speakers (and written reflections and class discussion about the guest speakers), and Internet research.  

(2) Preparation: Students compiled their research and planned for their written work and presentation.

(3) Action:  Students completed their work and presented to classmates. 

(4) Reflection: students wrote individual reflective essays following guest speakers.  In addition, teams included a section with team reflection on the project in their final team outcomes (written essay and PPT)

(5) Demonstration/Celebration: students groups presented to class about their project work and what they learned in the process. We also celebrated the success in the classroom -- we kept it low-key due to Covid, but we took the time to celebrate the completion of the work and the grants awarded -- an important step in SL pedagogy.

Mission

Opening The Door To Self-Actualization

We exist to empower teens from hard places to reach their full potential.

Vision

We Do Not Give Up On Our Teens

We aim to rebuild foundational trust in youth who have faced abuse, neglect, or related traumas at home or through the system by connecting them with an audacious and intentional community of relational resources.

We believe their passions are legitimate, their dreams are attainable, and their wisdom is priceless. We aim to play the long game in their lives by intentionally creating a safe space that engages the mind-body-and-spirit of each young person who walks through our doors.

https://foundvillage.org/

Mission

The mission of 1N5 is to prevent suicide by erasing the stigma of mental illness and promoting optimal mental wellness.

We achieve this mission through education and stigma reduction, community engagement, policy and advocacy, and measurement and data work.

https://1n5.org/

Professor Downing:

"We followed NKU masking and distancing protocol. Student group collaboration moved from the classroom into locations of choice to further minimize classroom crowding during collaboration."

"On a related note -- When I was sick during the month of Sept. with a non-Covid illness, I still needed to recover at home -- students voted to continue meeting in person and I zoomed into the classroom."