OD&L STUDENTS RECEIVE REAL - LIFE CLIENT EXPERIENCE DURING CAPSTONE COURSE

Students in the M.A. in Organizational Development and Leadership program have an opportunity to put theories and learnings into real-world practice.

The OD&L program’s seven-week capstone allows students to work with nonprofit, governmental, and other organizations across the United States on critical issues.

“It is a great opportunity for Fielding to contribute and show impact in the community,” said Jarrod Schwartz, EPG, OD&L faculty. “Here is this incredible resource of highly skilled and now highly trained OD professionals who could be available to organizations who otherwise might not be able to afford a consultant of this caliber to help them with a critical issue.”

Erika Welsing and Michelle Salvado worked with the organization Connected Learning on its succession planning.

“It's a matter of taking all that you've learned and actually applying it to a real-life client,” Erika said. “I think it helps to build so much confidence in doing that as you work through issues and successes with your client. For me, it was always like the imposter syndrome, where I asked if I could really do this. We have the knowledge and skills to do this with real clients.”

The organizations also benefit from the students’ support and services.

“The work together continues to ripple out and positively impact us," said Cassy Brezner, Board chair of the Santa Barbara Response Network. “The student provided such rich material, information, and guidance for me to bring to our Board of Directors to continue our journey with creating a stronger foundation and building toward a sustainable future. To me it seems having an outside person conduct one-on-one interviews offered honest reflections on our Why and reinvigorated our Board. Her support with transition planning was invaluable, especially since this is uncharted territory for our current Board.”