Author: NAMWOLF
NAMWOLF’s Emerging Leaders Initiative (“ELI”) has put a huge emphasis on partnering with non-profit organizations to engage with the community at large and add an exciting new philanthropic component to NAMWOLF’s core mission.
Last September, ELI partnered with A Place Called Home, a Los Angeles non-profit that provides a safe and nurturing environment for disadvantaged youth. A Place Called Home serves mostly minority and impoverished youth through a variety of education, arts, wellness, and mentoring programs. Its goals are to help its members stay in school, graduate, and obtain meaningful employment; to improve their social skills and interactions with peers and community members; to reduce their likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior; and to empower them to make a positive impact in their communities.
ELI asked attendees at NAMWOLF’s 2019 Annual Meeting to support A Place Called Home through donations of professional clothing, toiletries, and school supplies. Additionally, Amazing Race participants supported both A Place Called Home, and retail companies supporting NAMWOLF through the Inclusion Initiative or Partner Program, by completing an Amazing Race challenge to purchase additional donation items. NAMWOLF attendees responded resoundingly, donating 134 clothing items, 2 handbags, 2 pairs of shoes, 29 school supply items, and 340 toiletry items!
At this year’s Driving Diversity & Leadership Conference in Fort Lauderdale, ELI turned their focus to the Pipeline efforts and working with a local school to give students the opportunity to attend some of the sessions our Law Firm Members were presenting. The Emerging Leaders worked with William Dandy Middle School’s pre-law program, giving 20 of their students the chance to attend the meeting and get first-hand experience in the legal profession.
“The Pipeline and philanthropy efforts of our Emerging Leaders group is so important on a number of levels,” said NAMWOLF CEO Joel Stern. “First, the benefits to the children and the recipients of the philanthropy are huge and making a difference. Second, engaging in these activities enhances the career development of our young attorneys who participate. While all of them are well schooled in the law and excellent doers, several have not had the leadership opportunities or a chance to develop their project management and team building skills that are involved in these initiatives. Working together as a group to implement innovative projects in the philanthropy area helps these attorneys develop these skills and makes them better leaders who see the world in a different light.”
NAMWOLF looks forward to seeing what community engagement efforts and opportunities ELI has in store for this year’s Annual Meeting and beyond.