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The Phoenix Project (Virginia)
Encyclopedia
The Phoenix Project is a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, that seeks to alleviate poverty by building a sustainable partnership between Virginia higher education and the commonwealth’s most distressed communities that adds civic capacity to communities, strengthens the mission of universities, and provides a powerful context in which to prepare nonprofit and social entrepreneurs for tomorrow’s Virginia.
History
The Phoenix Project was founded in January 2006 by Virginians who believed in the power of the commonwealth’s universities to effect positive change in severely distressed communities and in the need to prepare a new generation of social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders to devise solutions to Virginia’s greatest challenges, especially those faced by communities in which 750,000 Virginians still live in poverty.University-Community Partnerships
The Phoenix Project’s university-community partnerships engage Virginia colleges and universities in the commonwealth's most distressed communities. The aim of the partnerships is to provide distressed communities with resources to address economic and community development challenges and partner institutions, their administrators, faculty and students, with opportunities for teaching, research and service. The central principle of the Phoenix Project’s partnerships is that the community should set the agenda, and that university resources should be deployed to assist with projects identified, defined and prioritized by the community.Nonprofit Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program
The Phoenix Project’s summer Nonprofit Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program is the first statewide initiative to prepare college students for careers as social entrepreneurs. Undergraduate and graduate students from universities across Virginia compete for admission to the intensive program through which they gain valuable knowledge, skills, connections and experience. All students attending Virginia universities, as well as Virginia residents attending college out-of-state are eligible to apply. The Phoenix Project enrolls a diverse and talented class of students with a demonstrated commitment to service and leadership. The program is held in Petersburg, Virginia, a city that offers students the opportunity to live and learn in the context of one of the Virginia's most distressed communities, and to be of service to a community in need.Funding
In September 2008, the Phoenix Project received a federal grantFederal grant
In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of...
of $550,000 from Learn and Serve America, a program designed to support service learning in America's youth. This grant will be used by the Phoenix Project, George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, and the Craigslist Foundation to research using social media tools to increase student engagement in nonprofit work.