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Nonprofit Leadership Alliance seniors graduate with flying colors
Story and photos by Troy Hill, ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation
May 17, 2022
The ASU Nonprofit Leadership Alliance Student Association (NLASA) celebrated another round of graduating seniors at their annual senior celebration this year on April 25, 2022. It is the first time in two years that they’ve been able to hold the ceremony in-person due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The theme for this year, and by extension the senior celebration, was “with flying colors.” Anne Kotleba, the program coordinator for the NLASA and a lecturer at the ASU Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, said the theme came from the group wanting to celebrate how they overcame many difficulties throughout the pandemic.
“[When the group was] thinking about how the seniors have had to adapt and change and what they've kind of endured, we were thinking we want this to be a really fun celebration of being all back together,” Kotleba said. “So it's kind of a nod to the feeling of being let loose and being freed into the world.”
Students in the NLASA program, who can come from any undergraduate degree program, work towards their Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) credential, a coveted mark of distinction for these emerging nonprofit leaders. This year eight students received their CNP credential, and many awards and scholarships were given out at the celebration.
Hannah Lazere, one of the NLASA graduates this year, earned the CNP credential alongside a bachelor’s degree in nonprofit leadership and management from ASU’s Watts College. She was present at the celebration and has been involved with the NLASA for the last two years.
Hannah Lazere and friends sit in the audience of the ASU NLASA Senior Celebration in Phoenix on April 25, 2022.
She said that, despite how difficult her junior and senior years were, she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I learned so much, not only about other people and about my major of study, but about myself and what I want to do and the type of work I want to do, specifically in the nonprofit sector,” Lazere said. “A lot of that came out of my time at ASU and the classes that I completed at ASU.”
She didn’t even start off as a nonprofit major, but changed it earlier in her college career.
“Immediately when I entered the nonprofit program and the NLA CNP program, I knew, ‘Okay, this is where I'm supposed to be, this is what I want to be doing. This is what makes me happy and fulfills me,’” she said.
As a part of her certification, she took a series of classes and workshops and participated in a fundraising campaign for their annual Alliance Management Institute, a conference for Nonprofit Leadership Alliance chapters at universities across the country.
“[The NLASA prepared me] by giving me perspective and really opening my eyes to the reality of the sector and what type of work I'm going into,” she said. "[As well as] being able to professionally grow through our classwork and running an entire campaign.”
As Lazere enters the workforce, she currently doesn’t have any hard plans set for the future and is currently looking for a sustainability position, but she feels very excited to move into the next phase of her life.
Anne Kotleba addresses the audience at the ASU NLASA Senior Celebration in Phoenix on April 25, 2022.
A senior receives her cords for graduating from the NLASA at the Senior Celebration.
NLASA students Jordan Fezler and Gabriella Billett address the audience at the ASU NLASA Senior Celebration.