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Matt Swope and John Herbert Cranford Jr. look over a presentation for the Young Professionals in Philanthropy, a new organization they are leading for the Newnan-Coweta Chamber and the Coweta Community Foundation. |
Coweta County’s philanthropic and business communities are
teaming up to help grow the next generation of givers in Coweta through a new
group, the Young Professionals in Philanthropy. A partnership of the Coweta
Community Foundation and the Newnan-Coweta Chamber, the YPs in Philanthropy will hold its first quarterly meeting on August 15,
2017 at the University of West Georgia in Newnan.
Two Coweta attorneys, John Herbert Cranford Jr. and Matt
Swope, are leading the new group. Cranford is an assistant district attorney
who sits on the board of the Coweta Community Foundation. Swope, a former legal
advisor to the Chamber and a board member of both the Newnan/Coweta Boys and
Girls Club and Communities In Schools, is an assistant solicitor at the Coweta
County Solicitor General’s Office. The two hope to tap a reservoir
of young professionals—those under age 45—who are eager to serve in Coweta
County but don’t know how to get plugged in.
The goal of the YPs in Philanthropy is simple, “to engage and
educate young professionals in volunteer community service and philanthropy.” Cranford
and Swope said they plan to accomplish this with short, productive quarterly
meetings. In fact, the two said they are committed to having only 30-minute
meetings. The YPs in Philanthropy will learn about an array of local
nonprofit agencies, and they will have the opportunity to gain practical
experience, perhaps by attending a board meeting or committee meeting or even
helping set up at an event. Various opportunities will be offered, and once the
participant checks off a certain number of these items, he or she will be
connected to a nonprofit agency for further service.
Cynthia Bennett of the Chamber said the new group shows some
of the many ways that Chamber membership and support of the Foundation benefit
the community. She said, “The Newnan-Coweta Chamber Young
Professionals program was seeking a way to positively impact Coweta County, and
the Coweta Community Foundation was hearing of a need for volunteers to serve
on local nonprofit boards and committees. The discussion moved quickly into a
commitment for collaboration, and rather than create two separate outreach
mechanisms, the YPs in Philanthropy were born.”
The next meeting of the Young Professionals in Philanthropy
will be August 15, 2017 at 6 p.m. at the University of West Georgia Newnan Campus,
Room 140, at 80 Jackson Street. The topic will be “Conducting due diligence on
the nonprofit agency.” For more information, contact John Herbert Cranford Jr. at
jherbertcranford@gmail.com or Matt
Swope at
msswope@gmail.com.