“I can’t imagine my role or my career without both of those working together,” said Kelsey Harrington, B.A. ’19. Harrington graduated with dual degrees in philanthropy and business, which she says is a beneficial combination.
Harrington is the program impact officer at the George and Frances Ball Foundation – an 86-year-old private family foundation located in Muncie, Indiana. The foundation serves as the backbone organization for Cradle to Career, a collective impact initiative that aims to build equitable education pathways and fulfilling careers for all children in Muncie.
In this role, Harrington co-manages the foundation’s grant making portfolio, which is usually between 60 to 80 different organizations. She also works with their grantee partners and is responsible for several community data-related tasks. In this position, she is able to witness how organizations in her community are focusing on their causes each day. She finds it rewarding to be able to connect these organizations with not only financial resources, but with social capital.
Her path to a degree in philanthropy started at IU Bloomington while taking a nonprofit leadership class. Her instructor had just completed his master’s degree in Philanthropic Studies. During one of the classes, the instructor focused on the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the spectrum of charity to philanthropy. This piqued her interest in the school’s programs.
Shortly after that class, Harrington visited the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. During the visit, she learned she could earn degrees in both philanthropic leadership and business, the latter with the IU Kelley School of Business. Soon after, she decided to transfer to IU Indianapolis to pursue the dual degrees.
My philanthropy degree helped me understand the why behind the work that we do. The business piece gave me the technical skills when it comes to helping an organization thrive and succeed.
Even though the thought of studying philanthropy was new to her, philanthropy wasn’t. Growing up, Harrington had been in involved in volunteerism and fundraising in her community. “I’m from a small rural community and I had a lot of opportunities to participate at a very young age in my church and different civic places.” She knew studying philanthropy would allow her to pair her passion with her business degree.
Harrington encourages others to attend IU Indianapolis because of the opportunities the location provides, such as volunteerism and internships. Harrington says she had experiences that don’t exist in most places. She was able to meet a number of national and international research leaders who came to the school as speakers. She even got to attend an event for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. “If you want to engage the opportunities, there is a space for you to do that,” said Harrington.
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