LaShae Copeland, The Florida State University

LaShae Copeland, an Florida State Univerisy (FSU) junior majoring in Political Science and International affairs, serves multiple posts as an effective and innovative bridge between crucial resources and communities of need. LaShae serves as an FSU Community Ambassador to the Renaissance Community Center (RCC), a new local non-profit that provides a myriad of services for the people in Tallahassee experiencing homelessness. As an Ambassador it is her responsibility to connect the agency with university resources and help build the capacity of the agency to more efficiently meet its goals. She has taken a leadership role in her position; as a self-appointed volunteer coordinator she’s recruited more than fifteen new volunteers for the organization in less than two semesters, and has begun a multi-partner, community garden project in response to a need she saw in both her agency’s clients and the surrounding neighborhood. This year, LaShae was one of only six FSU students chosen for the Moellership Program, which provides funding for students to focus 8 – 12 weeks of their summer to full-time service at a non-profit agency. LaShae’s winning proposal places her in Ghana, Africa this summer at The Cape Coastal Social Welfare Department, where she’ll be working to connect non-profit organizations with the Department in order to increase their access to available resources.