Jewish Family & Career Services is one of seven nonprofit agencies that have been chosen for the 2012 Yum! Ignites Louisville Challenge.
In addition to JFCS, The Academy at St. Andrews, Dare to Care Food Bank, Dress for Success, the Kentucky Humane Society and YouthBuild will be paired with a team of young professionals in the service learning component of the Leadership Louisville Center’s Ignite Louisville program. Together, the agencies and the Ignite Louisville teams will work to plan, execute and sustain new strategies for success. In return, Ignite Louisville participants gain experience in community leadership, board involvement and teamwork. Ignite Louisville is presented by Norton Healthcare.
This is the eighth year for the challenge, sponsored by Yum! Brands, Inc. and nearly 50 nonprofit agencies submitted proposals hoping to work with an Ignite Louisville team. At the end of the program, a winning team is selected to receive funds for its partner organization.
Last year, the team working with Best Buddies Kentucky was selected as winner and YUM! Brands Foundation surprised the agency by matching the $1,500 contribution and awarding a second nonprofit, Girls on the Run of Louisville, a $1,500 contribution.
Since 2004, 47 nonprofits have benefited from the challenge. Based on a recent survey, nonprofits partnered with an Ignite Louisville team reported remarkable improvement in operations productivity, increased community outreach and improved strategic focus.
The 2011 class directly invested 1200 hours in their partner organizations, averaging 150 hours per team. Team involvement continued past the program for 83 percent of partner organizations and 97 percent of Ignite Louisville graduates report increased civic engagement following the Yum! Ignites Louisville Challenge.
The team assigned to work with JFCS includes Michael Bush, Northwestern Mutual; Travis Frick, Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC; Chris Garrett, LG&E and KU Energy; Jenny Heitkemper, Yum! Brands, Inc.; Elizabeth Monohan, Humana Inc.; Joshua O’Bryan, Frost Brown Todd LLC; and Valerie Sickles, Main Line Broadcasting.
Presented by Norton Healthcare, Ignite Louisville is a seven-month program that grows young professionals by developing the key components of leadership. In addition to the core curriculum, the class participates in the Yum! Ignites Louisville Challenge and takes on a project proposed by a local nonprofit to gain hands-on experience performing as a team and serving the community.
The 2012 class will learn cutting edge leadership concepts from program partners including Norton Healthcare, Yum! Brands, Inc.; Brown-Forman Corporation; UPS; and Northwestern Mutual. They will participate in an exclusive Networking Series, an Etiquette Dinner and a program day with the Special Forces from Fort Knox. Ignite Louisville is also supported by the Young Professionals Association of Louisville (YPAL) and the Louisville Urban League Young Professionals (LULYP).
