ICM, CNM scholarship winners hail from Vanderbilt and Hands On Nashville
Janel Shoun-Smith |
Rhonda Phillippi, executive director of Vanderbilt University/Tennessee Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC), and Jaclyn Mothupi, the director of sustainability at Hands On Nashville, have been selected as the 2013 recipients of The Center for Nonprofit Management (CNM) and Lipscomb University Institute for Conflict Management (ICM) scholarships for CNM members.
The scholarships are for the ICM’s graduate certificate in conflict management, a 15-hour graduate program (worth approximately $16,000) that can be applied toward a master’s degree or earned on its own. The program can be completed in as little as six months.
“It is exciting that our scholarship honorees this year come from two industries where conflict management skills are greatly in need: health care and environmental sustainability,” said Steve Joiner, managing director for the ICM.
“It is estimated that lack of conflict management skills among medical personnel and administrators ends up costing the health care industry millions each year. And sustainability practices are still resisted in many segments of the business world. So these two Nashville nonprofit professionals will have plenty of opportunities to display the value of successful conflict management in our local community,” he said.
The Center for Nonprofit Management has partnered with Lipscomb’s ICM to provide conflict management education to nonprofit professionals in member organizations since 2006. Scholarship winners have come from organizations such as CASA, the Tennessee Alliance for Children and Families, HomeSafe, Oasis Center and Park Center.
“Rhonda and Jaclyn will both make major contributions to the nonprofit sector through the new knowledge they will gain from this opportunity. We remain grateful to Lipscomb University for their partnership with us to make it happen,” said CNM President Lewis Lavine.
About Rhonda Phillippi
Phillippi began her career as a critical care nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 1984 and worked her way up to executive director of the EMSC program, along the way serving as project coordinator of Tennessee EMS for Children and as the director of Vanderbilt Children’s Health and Injury Prevention Program. She earned her bachelor’s in management and human relations from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2006.
Phillippi said she experiences conflict in her work every day as she works to bring together clinicians and administrators, industry representatives and legislators to create and enhance health care policies and resources that benefit the health of Tennessee’s children.
“To develop strategic choices in conflict to possibly prevent the escalation from one stage of conflict to the next would be a valuable personal and professional asset,” she said.
In 2009 she won a Rural Health Association of Tennessee Al Grant Award in recognition of exemplary work in protecting the lives and health of Tennessee’s children throughout her career.
About Jaclyn Mothupi
Mothupi oversees all Hands On Nashville external and internal sustainability initiatives for the agency, events and projects. She created and manages the agency’s Home Energy Savings (HES) Program that partners with the Nashville Mayor’s Office and the Tennessee Valley Authority to reach out to low-income Davidson County homeowners to complete energy retrofits.
“I had the opportunity to take the “Survey of Conflict Management” course (at Lipscomb) and was immediately inspired by the subject,” Mothupi said. “I quickly realized these powerful skills would be a valuable asset to me in my work… which requires me to collaborate with diverse stakeholders who have varying beliefs and agendas.”
She plans to use her acquired conflict management skills in a new partnership with Village Real Estate Fund and Go Green Nashville to complete additional energy retrofits on low-income homes within city council District 17.
Mothupi has also worked for Habitat for Humanity, locally and globally, and the St. Paul Public Housing Agency during her career. She earned a master’s in sustainability from Lipscomb University in 2012 and has been a LEED accredited professional since 2010.
About the Institute for Conflict Management
Lipscomb University’s Institute for Conflict Management (ICM) provides academic and business resources to equip students, organizations and professionals with skills to minimize the costs of unresolved conflict. Growing out of the internationally recognized dispute resolution work of L. Randolph Lowry, Lipscomb University president, the ICM provides degrees, certificates, seminars and research dedicated to the advancement of conflict management disciplines. For more information about the Institute visit icm.lipscomb.edu.
About the Center for Nonprofit Management
CNM, established in 1986 by the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and The Frist Foundation, provides training, consulting, research, evaluation and recognition to more than 750 nonprofit agencies. It provides these services with a staff of seven employees, 20 consultants, 50 specialized instructors and an annual budget of $1.6 million. For more information on the center visit www.cnm.org.