GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Greensboro non-profit helping college students land jobs is getting a big boost after winning $100,000 to help with its initiative.
The Campus Greensboro Fellows program is a competitive 10-week summer program that includes a paid internship with a business in Greensboro and opportunities for college students to gain a community of mentors. Campus Greensboro is run by Action Greensboro.
Bramley Crisco is the Director of Talent Development. She said more than 400 college students have benefited from the program in the last seven years.
“We think that the talent that sits right here in Greensboro in our universities is amazing and everything we can do to connect them to our community and show them what we have to offer and hopefully keep them here is very important," Crisco said.
Cydnee Mebane is currently the Assistant Marketing Director at Downtown Greensboro Inc. She took part in the Campus Greensboro Fellows program ahead of her Senior Year at UNCG. As a media studies major, she said the fellowship helped her figure out what she wanted to do after graduation.
“I was able to apply for the program, get in the internship and develop all of the professional skills that I wouldn't have done otherwise,” Mebane said. "Action Greensboro has been a huge help to really get me started in my adult career."
Campus Greensboro will soon be able to help more students like Mebane. The organization was recently granted $100-thousand dollars as part of a first-place award in a national competition designed to boost youth employment. Crisco says it's all a part of the "Big Ideas, Bright Cities Challenge."
"This grant, in particular, will allow us to expand our services with minority and women-owned business enterprises here and so it will provide funding for an intern to work with those businesses over the summer, and then that intern will also get to go through our summer fellows program," Crisco said.
Campus Greensboro provides resources for the seven colleges and universities in Greensboro.