Rising Stars, New Innovative Program from Rise
Rise would like to announce its pilot “Rising Stars” Program. This program will serve as a mentorship, education and hands-on training program for exceptional university students or recent graduates interested in careers in community economic development in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Rise will provide education, supervision, professional development plans and otherwise prepare the Rising Stars for placement in real-world environments. Ultimately, our desire is to develop an emerging group of community development practitioners, “Rising Stars,” that can be placed in positions at local community development non-profit organizations, bank community development corporations and/or public sector planning and community development offices.
Rise was awarded a grant from the Opus Foundation for $25,000 in support of the pilot program. Earlier this year, Rise was invited by the Opus Foundation to submit a grant application to their Impact Fund in the Community Revitalization category and on December 2nd, Rise received notification that the application was successful. For our press release concerning the Opus Foundation’s funding click here.
The Rising Stars Program concept came about due to the need for capacity building in local Community Development Corporations (CDCs). Often, CDCs lack adequate staff to advance their mission and goals. However, with Rise as the intermediary in the Program, we have the ability to educate and develop an emerging group of practitioners through paid on the job training while building the capacity of CDCs by placing its Rising Stars with them.
We will keep you informed as the program emerges in 2016.
