This weekend another round of students will be making their way down UVA’s Lawn to graduate and launch into the next phase of their lives to build a better future for all. It’s the perfect opportunity for C3 to give our sincere thanks to the student interns and other volunteer partners with whom we’ve worked this academic year.

Interns are integral to the success of nonprofit organizations in meeting their mission and goals and helping build the capacity to do more impactful work. Since C3’s inception in 2017, the University of Virginia has been a key partner, allowing us to work with their student population both inside and outside the classroom with student internships, faculty-supervised research projects, and UVA-affiliated organizations.

Top L to R: Evan, Emmy, Kachi, Emma, Ellie Bottom L to R: River, Jessie, Katie, Syd (Sarah our office manager shown in the middle of Emma and Ellie)

UVA Paid Internships and Internship Placement Program

For the past two years, C3 has secured several interns through UVA’s Internship Placement Program (IPP). This special program, now in its 45th year, connects undergraduate students with quality professional internships to give them experience in their career journey. The IPP team matches student interest, skills, and goals with the job description interest and skills outlined by C3.

Our communications, policy, and campaign team supervisors Caetano de Campos Lopes, Latricia Giles, Teri Kent, and Maggie Stokes had the pleasure of working with Emmy Deignan (’23), Emma Harrison (’22), Paulina “Syd” Kirk (’23), Kachisicho “Kachi” Madzimoyo (’22), Evan Riegle (’23), River Robbins (‘23), Jessie Rothschild (’23), Ellie Thatcher (’23), and Katie Turk (’23). These students did everything from social media content creation, policy research, campaign development, youth engagement, and more!

Class Presentations

C3 loves giving presentations on climate leadership, advocacy, and policy to audiences of all types. This year, we thank the following professors for inviting us to UVA Grounds to engage students about our work: Professor George Sampson’s Arts and STEM class, Amanda Nelson’s Write Climate, and Andrea Trimble and Dana Shroeder’s Sustainability Leaders.

Forge Partnership

C3 has partnered with UVA’s Forge (formerly Hack Cville) on our Better Business Challenge online platform in the past.

This year, we partnered with Forge (led by Anna Grace Calhoun) to develop an online calculator to help site visitors understand energy burden. Now, Charlottesville residents (homeowners or renters) can easily calculate their household energy burden levels, which is determined by the percentage of annual income that is spent on energy costs. This tool will be used in our Make Your Own Impact campaign “Learn It!” section, as well as in our pursuit of alleviating energy burden with our Energy Equity campaign. We thank Forge for partnering with us as a local nonprofit looking to make an impact!

Forge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that prepares students with the modern skills they need to make an impact in the world. Each year, over 1,000 students learn things like design, marketing, and data science through our fun, engaging, community-driven projects and programs. We strive to empower students to realize their own potential while creating opportunities for them to make an impact for good. Their home is a clubhouse near the University of Virginia, but their broader network of 2,000+ spans the globe.

180 Degrees Consulting at UVA

This Spring, 180 Degrees Consulting, a UVA student group, brought 5 students together into a team led by Rebecca Tilahun to work on a project for C3. The project was focused on C3’s potential expansion into the Richmond area. This complements our overall strategic mission of being a replicable model for climate action for communities across the Commonwealth.

They used GIS map tools, analyzed data, and made recommendations. They also identified key partners and locations that are lacking support and could use C3’s help. Thanks to the 180 degrees consulting team!

Founded in 2019, 180 Degrees Consulting UVA is an intellectually diverse and curious group of ~40 students united by a common vision of a more equitable world through pro-bono consulting services. To date, they have completed 24 projects with 24 unique nonprofits. Consulting services are often too expensive and inaccessible for non-profits and social enterprises, so 180 Degrees Consulting UVA is committed to helping organizations achieve maximum social impact in the communities they serve by researching, designing, and delivering high-quality solutions to their foremost issues.

Enactus Student Group

Our Enactus student group of around a dozen McIntire School of Commerce undergraduates (led by Ethan McCue, Michael Grae, and Niharika Singhv) helped C3 with a variety of projects this past year. They worked on list building with a C3 Fan Drive campaign in February as well as website, process, and procedure recommendations for the organization as a whole.

Enactus at the University of Virginia is a McIntire-affiliated organization that educates and empowers students to develop impactful, innovative, and sustainable solutions for socially responsible businesses in Charlottesville. Providing pro-bono consulting work for local companies, students gain hands-on consulting experience while helping move the mission forward.

Don’t Be a Stranger

We are so grateful to the Class of 2022 (and next year’s 2023) for all their hard work. You are helping us meet our mission of community-led solutions, policy, and leadership. It’s so important for our community to know that the University of Virginia is bridging connections with the community in which it resides. Our work is the better for it! And definitely don’t forget to drop us a line at C3 to tell us how you’re doing in your next chapter.

Thanks, Wahoos!

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