Marietta College's Nonprofits LEAD program has been awarded the prestigious Spirit of Philanthropy Award in the category of Critical Impact by Philanthropy West Virginia. This honor recognizes exceptional philanthropic contributions to communities throughout the state. Dr. Amy Elliott and Nonprofits LEAD Program Director Shannan Tschopp will represent Marietta College at the annual Spirit of Philanthropy Awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 22, at The Stonewall Resort in West Virginia.
“In 2007, Philanthropy West Virginia founded the Spirit of Philanthropy Awards Program to recognize outstanding philanthropic leaders for their generosity in support of their communities, regions, and state,” Tschopp said. “The Spirit of Philanthropy Awards Program has three awards (Volunteer Leadership, Staff Leadership, and Critical Impact) that are announced at the Annual Conference each year.”
The Critical Impact category receives the highest number of nominations each year, which makes this award even more of an honor, Tschopp said.
“This is a remarkable testimony to the 15 years Nonprofits LEAD has been supporting capacity building in the Mid-Ohio Valley,” Tschopp said.
Housed in Marietta College’s McDonough Center for Leadership and Business, Nonprofits LEAD is a locally specific, research-based program that supports local nonprofits. Nonprofits LEAD grew out of a study of organizational capacity of nonprofit organizations in the Mid-Ohio Valley, completed by Dr. Tanya Judd at the McDonough Center in 2009.
Elliott said one of Nonprofits LEAD's flagship initiatives is the NextGen-LEAD 290 program, which enables current Marietta College students to serve on boards of local nonprofits. Participants spend a semester learning about their nonprofit partners and then contribute as board members the following semester.
Olivia Lemasters ’26 (Ironton, Ohio), a McDonough Scholar and Political Science major with minors in Leadership and Gender Studies, has been actively involved with the Circles Campaign of the Mid-Ohio Valley through the NextGen course, and began serving on its board during her sophomore year. She won a grant competition that funded a marketing intern — a fellow student from Marietta College — for the nonprofit. The national nonprofit chapter supports families striving for self-sufficiency through education and mentorship.
Lemasters said being on the Circles board is especially meaningful.
“For me, working with a nonprofit that helped address generational poverty meant a lot,” Lemasters said. “As a First Gen student who came from three hours away to be at Marietta, I had help from other people to be able to be here. If I could be that help to someone else through my work with Circles, that would be great.”