Chapter Spotlight: How the Organization for Social Change at Clark Atlanta University uses their Chapter to Create Positive Local Impact | Net Impact

Every month, Chapter Spotlight highlights one Chapter in our network doing great work in their corner of the world. This month we will hear from our Chapter at Clark Atlanta University - the Organization for Social Change. 

As a first-year Net Impact Chapter, the Organization for Social Change (OSC) at Clark Atlanta University is challenging students, professionals and fellow Chapters around the world to make important impact in their local communities. OSC has made it their Chapter’s mission to positively impact their local community of Atlanta, GA by committing to community service through Chapter-led events, activities and projects during the academic year. 

At the beginning of the spring semester, OSC partnered with the urban farming nonprofit Truly Living Well (TLW). According to their website, TLW “has used its expertise to demonstrate how food can be a bridge across diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. [Their] goal is to use food production as the plate on which [they can] create a culture of health and wellness in [their] community.” Diamond Gray, President of OSC, reflected fondly on her Chapter’s experience volunteering with the nonprofit and working on one of their urban farms. She mentioned that the Chapter was excited to work with a local nonprofit that shared the same values. Likewise, they enjoyed getting their hands dirty by laying down new soil, making the farm ready for new vegetation and harvesting in future months. 

After returning to classes from spring break, OSC once again gave back to the community by providing meals to homeless citizens in the Atlanta recreation area, Hurt Park. Gray confirmed that the Chapter knew Hurt Park was a popular place for homeless citizens to congregate and that she and her Chapter members wanted to do something to support the less-fortunate. The Chapter spent a Saturday in March organizing and delivering ready-to-eat meals to persons in need around the park. 

As one of the Chapter’s final semester events, the group hosted an induction ceremony and gala. The goal of the event was to welcome new Chapter members and celebrate members who participated in one of Net Impact’s signature programs, Up to Us. The program is a semester-based project that encourages students to think of creative ways to raise awareness on the U.S. national debt both on-campus and in the local community. Students from diverse backgrounds, political affiliations and majors came together to provide real-world solutions to solving this fiscal and economic issue. OSC thanked their supporters of faculty, family and friends and gave certificates of achievement to all new members.

OSC exemplifies the meaning of community in the Net Impact network. They plan to continue hosting service-based events and activities in the upcoming academic year. If you are interested to learn more or are a student at Clark Atlanta University and would like to join OSC, please visit their Net Impact profile page here: https://www.netimpact.org/chapters/organization-for-social-change-clark-atlanta-university. To join or start a Net Impact Chapter in your city, please visit Net Impact’s website at https://www.netimpact.org/chapters.