According to the 2005 Bridgespan Group report “The Nonprofit Sector's Leadership Deficit,” nonprofits will need to attract and develop 640,000 new senior leaders – 2.4 times the number currently employed – by 2016. To continue its mission to bolster the workforce and the education of the nonprofit and public service sectors, while providing one solution to the impending leadership crisis, Idealist.org offers the Graduate Degree fairs for the Public Good and the Public Service Graduate Education Resource Center.

Together, these services help aspiring, new, and mid-career nonprofit and public service professionals understand their graduate education options better. Both are free for prospective graduate students and are funded by graduate schools that pay fees to register for fairs and (in the future) to post a profile on the resource center.

Idealist.org Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good

Since 2004, the Idealist.org Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good have been bringing prospective graduate students and graduate admissions representatives together to explore career development options available through graduate education. With the continued support of the Association of Schools of Public Health and other co-sponsors, Idealist.org has organized over 50 fairs in cities throughout North America and Europe. In 2008 alone, the fairs drew about 8,000 global social-change leaders and over 350 public interest-focused graduate degree programs together.

Unlike most graduate degree fairs, where attendees are mainly comprised of undergraduate students, the Idealist.org events are unique in that 95 percent of attendees are working professionals looking to attend graduate school to advance their ability to do public service work. Additionally, almost a third of the attendees are interested in a public health program. We hope to sustain this by working with numerous co-sponsors such as the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs and the Association of University Programs in Health Administration. We also continue to receive the support of other institutions such as the Catholic Network of Volunteer Services, the National Peace Corps Association, and local chapters of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network.

To view the schedule, to register, and to see details for each of the fairs, visit http://www.idealist.org/gradfairs. Also, for more demographic information, visit http://www.idealist.org/media/pdf/fairs/GF_Demographics_ALLCITIES.pdf. For questions or concerns, contact Chris Machuca at chris@idealist.org or at 503.227.0803 (x108).

Idealist.org Public Service Graduate Education Resource Center

The Idealist.org Public Service Graduate Education Resource Center, launched in 2008, provides online support and comprehensive information to individuals researching their graduate education options. It features articles such as “Setting yourself up for success” and “Admissions and the application” as well as explanations of a range of graduate study options and a group of bloggers who convey their grad school experiences. Soon, the resource center will include podcasts featuring insights from admissions professionals, detailed overviews of degrees, and in- depth profiles of graduate programs.

Please visit the resource center at http://www.idealist.org/gradschools. For questions and concerns, contact Jung Fitzpatrick at jung@idealist.org or at 503.227.0803 (x106).