Feature Student: Connor Kirkpatrick

My name is Connor Kirkpatrick! My major is in interdisciplinary studies with a specific concentration in Nonprofit Leadership and Management and I'm from a small rural town outside of Charlotte called Mount Holly, North Carolina. My hobbies tend to change sporadically, but currently I am dabbling in sewing and costume construction, and I'm currently working on costumes for a play and am having a lot of fun with it. Most of the work I do is off campus, but on campus I am a Resident Advisor for Parker Community (Parker Palace!). I am a Youth Advisory Council Member for the National Youth Leadership Council where I help run a campaign around promoting youth leadership and education equity, and I also serve as a hotline advocate and a community educator with the Compass Center, the local domestic violence agency, for going on two years now!
I am in this class because I believe that young people are incredible assets to our communities, but so often they are not given a voice in solving the biggest issues facing our society. As a young person, I am so excited to see opportunities like this class where instead of constantly begging for money for the organizations we care about, as college volunteers constantly are, we are able to flip the script and empower organizations to do amazing work while also challenging traditional notions of philantropy, power, and privilege. I also wanted to learn the ins and outs of philantropy - it has got some great family drama sagas bubbling around! If there was a soap opera about a family philantropy, I'd totally watch it! In the class I serve on the Class Committee where I help facilitate discussions and decisions regarding our grant making process. I write agendas and send out notes after meetings. I've definitely already learned a lot, and it has been amazing being apart of a group of such wonderful, passionate young people who are some really hard workers. It has been such an honor working with them and being challenged by them.