Alexander started his job with United Way in February after graduating from Grand Valley in December 2005 with a B.S. in Public and Nonprofit Administration. He is responsible for managing some of the top 50 accounts within the manufacturing sector. In addition, he is working with his alma mater for the university campaign, which runs Oct. 2-16. As part of his job, Alexander routinely tours agencies like God's Kitchen, Degage Ministries and Senior Meals on Wheels.
"That type of experience is eye-opening," said Alexander. "It's been great. I love the people, I love what we do, I love hearing about the different agencies and programs that we serve. I'm still learning."
Alexander credits his work at Grand Valley for preparing him well for his career.
"For my first two years at Grand Valley, I was an education major," he said. "But I couldn't see myself being a math teacher or a science teacher or an English teacher. I was looking through the GVSU catalog, and Public and Nonprofit Administration seemed to be the closest fit for helping me give back to the community."
Alexander said he took a few classes to test the waters, and he fell in love with the exposure to nonprofits. As a result, he became involved with American Humanics, an award-winning certificate program at Grand Valley for undergraduates from all academic majors who are interested in working with nonprofits after graduation.
"That was the light bulb for me. In that program, not only did we take the coursework, we were actually able to go out into the local Grand Rapids community and to volunteer," he said, noting that he was able to work with organizations like Mel Trotter Ministries and the Ronald McDonald house. "It was that personal connection. I said 'This is what I want to do.'"
In last year's campaign at Grand Valley, giving increased in three key benchmarks. The number of faculty and staff members giving to the United Way campaign increased, as did the percentage of participants and the total amount raised. But even with those positive signs, there's still room for improvement when Grand Valley is compared to other employers.
"There's still room for growth. There's a lot we can tap into, be it among the faculty and staff or the students," Alexander said.
Growth is an apt metaphor, because this year's United Way campaign theme is "Planting Hope."
"We're increasing our focus on prevention, as opposed to concentrating on services that focus on intervention," said Alexander. "We want to plant the seed, we want to ensure that our flower -- our community -- grows to be successful."
He cited a program in which he participates called Families and Communities Together for Students (FACTS). That program has adults mentoring and reading to a child for a half-hour a week.
"We're attempting to get at the root causes of poverty and stop the cycle of homelessness and hopelessness. We're attempting to tackle those issues and decrease the illiteracy rates in Grand Rapids," Alexander said, adding that 70 percent of Grand Rapids Public Schools' students aren't reading at grade level.
