{"id":13139,"date":"2025-12-05T09:04:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13139"},"modified":"2025-12-05T09:04:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T15:04:48","slug":"uw-milwaukee-instructors-nonprof-it-brings-alumni-support-full-circle","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-milwaukee-instructors-nonprof-it-brings-alumni-support-full-circle\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Milwaukee instructor\u2019s Nonprof-IT brings alumni support full circle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Adam Hudson leads Nonprof-IT, a program at UWM that connects student teams with local nonprofits in need of low-cost tech solutions. (UWM Photo\/Andy Manis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adam Hudson, a lecturer in\u00a0UWM\u2019s School of Information Studies,<\/a>\u00a0knows the value of partnerships that benefit everyone involved. That\u2019s what led him to found\u00a0Nonprof-IT,<\/a>\u00a0an internship program that connects students with local nonprofits.<\/p>\n

What he didn\u2019t expect was the response from alums, many of whom return as Nonprof-IT mentors. Their involvement creates a snowball effect, growing a web of professional connections for students.<\/p>\n

When he was a college student, Hudson had access to internship opportunities, but most involved working long hours in the summer for the private sector. He realized that setup could exclude some students, especially nontraditional ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cUWM serves a lot of nontraditional students or working adults,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cThe advantage here is those students get experience without needing to quit their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the creation of Nonprof-IT, Hudson focused on two areas of need: tech help for local nonprofits and the lack of flexible internships for students. Nonprofits receive support that may not otherwise be available, and in turn, students get on-the-job experience.<\/p>\n

Former Nonprof-IT student and 2024 grad Brynn Purin says she learned a lot. \u201cAlthough I learned many technical skills, the ones I still benefit from to this day are the soft skills I learned in Nonprof-IT, such as public speaking and time management.\u201d Purin works as an associate IT operations analyst at MGIC (Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation).<\/p>\n

How Nonprof-IT works<\/h3>\n

To get started, nonprofits submit a tech-related project for consideration. If approved, Hudson matches them with three or four UWM students to tackle the project. The students do comparable or even better work than he\u2019s seen in the private sector, Hudson said.<\/p>\n

One of Hudson\u2019s recent success stories centers around the\u00a0Indian Council of the Elderly<\/a>. The organization has been around for 45 years, but didn\u2019t have an online presence. A team of students created everything the council needed, from designing a logo to landing a domain name.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of students suffer from imposter syndrome or think that they wouldn\u2019t be able to do something like develop a website or create a social media campaign for an organization,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cThis is a really safe environment to gain that confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The private sector cost for the services that UWM students provide can be staggering for smaller organizations, Hudson said. Each Nonprof-IT project saves an organization $10,000 on average. \u201cA lot of nonprofits have a very small staff, part-time staff or volunteers, so they may not have the technical aptitude, time or resources to undertake projects like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paying it forward<\/h3>\n

As Nonprof-IT reaches its 10th anniversary, Hudson is seeing his program\u2019s true impact. He and his students have helped over 160 nonprofits \u2014 but he\u2019s equally excited to see alumni returning to UWM as mentors.<\/p>\n

Mentors, who work a variety of tech jobs, meet with students on a regular basis. Students visit their mentor\u2019s workplace, often meeting with recruiters to talk about employment opportunities. Those connections are priceless, Hudson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what keeps me doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many students, Nonprof-IT was the launching pad for their careers. Giamo Rivera was a graduate assistant in Nonprof-IT and co-ran the program. He\u2019s now a data governance specialist at American Family Insurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam presented me with opportunities that were huge stepping stones that helped me get through the early parts of my career, and I am confident that I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today if I hadn\u2019t had the chance to work alongside him,\u201d Rivera said.<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Rachel Maidl<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-instructors-nonprof-it-brings-alumni-support-full-circle\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Hudson, a lecturer in\u00a0UWM\u2019s School of Information Studies,\u00a0knows the value of partnerships that benefit everyone involved. That\u2019s what led him to found\u00a0Nonprof-IT,\u00a0an internship program that connects students with local nonprofits. What he didn\u2019t expect was the response from alums, many of whom return as Nonprof-IT mentors. Their involvement creates a snowball effect, growing a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[107],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-13139","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-milwaukee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13139"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}