FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2005

CONTACT: Lance Noe, (515) 271-2008, lance.noe@drake.edu
Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

INAUGURAL CLASS OF DRAKE'S NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP
PROGRAM TO GRADUATE IN SPECIAL CEREMONY FRIDAY

The first class of Drake University's Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Administration program will graduate in a commencement ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday, April 22, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 25th Street and University Avenue. The public is invited to attend this celebration of academic achievement.

Eighteen current and future leaders from the Des Moines nonprofit community were specially selected for this 160-hour, 12-month program of study. Participants represented the following Des Moines nonprofit organizations: Recovery Village, Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa, PACE Juvenile Justice Center, Spectrum Resources, YMCA, Creative Visions and Young Women’s Resource Center.

The certificate program was developed through a collaborative effort by the Directors Council—a group of Des Moines nonprofits under the leadership of the director of PACE Juvenile Justice Center, Vernon Johnson and Drake University with critical private sector support from Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a Dupont company represented by Thomas Phillips.
The program is unique in that participants and their sponsors signed a covenant that committed each participant to 12-months of study at the Drake campus. The comprehensive coursework package was developed by the Center for Professional Studies in Drake's College of Business and Public Administration and utilized both Drake faculty and nonprofit community leaders as instructors.

To put the learning into practice, team projects were developed and completed by the learners. These projects deal with topics such as: School Bullying, Bridging Juveniles successfully from Middle School to High School, Analysis of Des Moines’ Homeless Population and new programming to Expand Foster Care for High-Risk Teens. The graduates presented their projects to the Drake community last week.

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