The 2020 MAP Fellowship Cohort

During their time with the program, the 2020 MAP Fellows built sustainable solutions for nonprofit organizations driving progress in the fields of education, conservation, business, communications, outreach, and philanthropy. They received ongoing strategy consultations, leadership and networking opportunities, publication support, and elite membership into a tight-knit cohort of peers. At the end of the six-month fellowship, the 2020 MAP Fellows crafted case studies to outline the challenge they set out to solve, their unique approach, any setbacks they faced, and the results of their work. Each case study offers an insightful look into solving organizational challenges during an unprecedented year.

Brink Literacy Project

MAP Fellow: Jessica Parra, Educational Specialist with Friends of the National Zoo at Smithsonian’s National Zoo

MAP Mentor: Dani Hedlund, Founder of Brink Literacy Project and Editor-in-Chief of F(r)iction

Opportunity: Curriculum Development

Challenge and Execution: The goal of F(r)iction, Brink Literacy’s literary anthology, is to raise unique voices, broaden readers’ understanding of topics, and to challenge the audience to think critically about what they read and the world around them; the goal of the new, accompanying curriculum, F(r)iction in the Classroom, is the same. The MAP Challenge was to create and write F(r)iction in the Classroom using the literary anthology as a close reading text for comprehension and critical thinking, a mentor text for writing skills and styles, as an exercise in editorial perspectives, and as inspiration for students’ own writing.

Read the case study

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

MAP Fellow: Ash Gallegos, Communications Specialist

MAP Mentor: Serena Bruzgo, Vice President of Development and Marketing at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Opportunity: Branding

Challenge and Execution: Imagine a world where everyone can connect with science and nature in ways that are meaningful to them. A world where human imagination and the enduring spirit of curiosity drives innovative solutions to our most complex problems. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science partners with people as they make sense of the world around them by co-creating experiences that ignite curiosity. As such, their Everyone, Everywhere strategic plan places significant emphasis on ensuring the community’s voice is the center of its initiatives. Our MAP challenge was designed to develop a process that would include the community in a rebrand refresh, should the Museum choose to rebrand.

Read the case study

Global Conservation Corps

MAP Fellow: Ellie Milano, Manager of Learning at Impact by Design

MAP Mentor: Matt Lindenberg, Founder and President of the Global Conservation Corps

Opportunity: Community Engagement

Challenge and Execution: The impact of COVID on community-based outreach and education organizations has been vast, and in many cases, we’re only just beginning to understand the implications. As the Global Conservation Corps (GCC) looks to their future and long-term strategies to save critical wildlife species, they need to build a robust program that fosters resilience and sustainability in the communities with whom they partner to save critical wildlife species. Together, the MAP Fellowship team worked to build a programmatic theory of change and map a strategic plan for achieving the organization’s mission.

Read the case study

Impact100

MAP Fellow: Maggie Jackson, Senior Director of Executive and Board Administration at the Shedd Aquarium

MAP Mentor: Wendy Steele, Founder and CEO of Impact100 Global

Opportunity: Fundraising

Challenge and Execution: Impact100 is a global network of women empowered by collaborative philanthropy to identify and invest in solutions to their communities’ most pressing challenges. The Impact100 model is simple. 100 women give $1,000 each and invest it back in their community through a transformational grant of $100,000 to a local organization. 100% of donations go directly to the community. To sustain and grow, the Global Council requires recurring revenue to nurture the volunteer-led chapters more fully and to launch new chapters in communities across the globe. The 100% model at the chapter level does not cover the administrative costs of operations, including staffing, programs, marketing, and fundraising. Therefore, the MAP Fellowship challenge is to leverage current donors and chapter members, engage new audiences, and build a recurring revenue stream that provides sustainable support to the critical work of the organization.

Read the case study

TGR Foundation

MAP Fellow: Samantha Case, Water Resources Engineer for the State of California

MAP Mentor: Michelle Kim, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at TGR Foundation

Opportunity: Strategic Planning

Challenge and Execution: The challenge was to reframe and outline the key areas in need of development for the Global Institute, a center of excellence that will broaden TGR Foundation’s reach after 25 years of STEM education programming. The Global Institute will be a force for change in the international education space that includes a network of TGR Foundation staff, teachers, and educators working to implement interdisciplinary inquiry- and project-based learning. The MAP Fellowship team contributed high-level analysis of the many programs offered by the TGR Foundation to guide the strategic planning process for the Global Institute.

Read the case study