At NACAC Conference 2025, we are creating space for attendees to speak up on the issues that matter most. This year’s conference will feature opportunities to engage in advocacy and community service efforts that support change at the local, state, and national levels. Below are just a few ways you can make an impact while you’re in Columbus.
Support Local Columbus & Ohio Organizations
Thanks to our Local Arrangements Committee, NACAC is highlighting additional organizations and service opportunities you can support while you are in Columbus for NACAC Conference 2025. Explore the list below to see how you can get involved.
College Access & Success
I Know I Can
At I Know I Can, we believe that every student, regardless of their background, has the potential to achieve their college and career dreams. Founded in 1988 by four visionary leaders—Art Kobacker, Teckie Shackelford, Clifford Tyree, Sr., and Bob Weiler—we’ve always been committed to empowering Columbus students with the resources and support needed to pursue higher education and fulfill their aspirations.
As the only college access program in Columbus and one of the largest and most successful in the nation, we provide personalized guidance, college and career advising, scholarships, and grants.
College Now of Greater Cleveland
College Now helps students as early as middle and high school students as well as adult learners achieve their dreams of going to and succeeding in certificate, two-year and four-year degree programs.
We reach over 38,000 students and adult learners a year, providing college access success advising, financial aid counseling and scholarship and retention services. Many of our students are from low-income families and are first-generation college students.
Toledo Tomorrow is here to help provide more opportunities to all children in Toledo and Northwest Ohio. We are focused on increasing education attainment in our region through initiatives like increase FAFSA completion rates, professional development in schools, and increased communication with key stakeholders.
Montgomery County Ohio College Promise
Montgomery County Ohio College Promise was founded in 2010 with the goal of providing a life-changing opportunity for 500 students within the community over a 10-year period. The program met the original goal and has continued beyond its initial 10 cohorts. These students, whose lives have been impacted by poverty, are identified and selected during their eighth-grade year. Each student is supported during high school by a caring adult mentor who meets with them on a weekly basis at their high school and through programming offered by the College Promise Program.
The selected students, upon the successful completion of high school and meeting the entrance requirements of the partner college or university, are awarded scholarships that allow them to attend college at little to no cost to them or their families.
GRAD Cincinnati, a community-based nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization created in 2001, improves the chances of success for urban youth. GRAD Cincinnati provides academic support to help students achieve in the classroom, grow as individuals and citizens of the community, graduate from high school and enter and complete a college education. It is specifically targeted to support over 3,650 students and nearly 170 teachers and principals within Cincinnati Public Schools.
Literacy & Education
Columbus Kids Book Bank/2nd & 7 Foundation
Columbus Kids’ Book Bank will accept new and gently used K-6 books, sort them, and distribute them to those who need them the most. The community will be engaged like never before, with the opportunity to get involved in book drives, fundraisers and volunteer opportunities in the book bank.
Youth Development & Mentoring
Re:Source Cleveland
Re:Source Cleveland empowers resettled families to grow roots, supporting them in becoming engaged, self-sufficient and contributing members of their new communities. Programs and services span all age groups and include youth mentoring, sports, arts, and wellness; teen academic support; post-secondary education support; adult tutoring; drivers’ education; and social services access support. We also operate Ohio City Farm, where newcomer farmers are employed to grow organic produce for sale via a robust Community-Supported-Agriculture (CSA) program.
Refresh Collective
Refresh Collective is a nonprofit that empowers youth & adults through the power of hip-hop music and screen printing. We believe that students become better citizens and leaders when they gain the confidence to pick up a mic or design their own fashion to express themselves.
Housing & Economic Justice
Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio
AHACO is a nonprofit organization that uses data, research, education, and advocacy to close Central Ohio’s housing gaps. We are guided by the expertise and experience of our members who compose the spectrum of housing services including homeless advocates, developers, property owners, home-ownership proponents, lenders, and the philanthropic community. And we are lifted up by the pubic-private partnerships that unlock housing solutions. We do this because housing affordability is the key to unlocking security and prosperity for our people and our region.
Food Access & Sustainability
The largest food bank in Ohio works with more than 600 local charities and programs to help neighbors in 20 counties find fresh, healthy food when and where they need it. They collect and grow fresh food, turn it into healthy meals, and make it easy for people to get help.
Partners for Clean Streams
Partners for Clean Streams is dedicated to the health of the streams and rivers of the greater Toledo region and the people who use them. PCS works directly with citizens, businesses, governmental agencies, and other non-profit organizations to take local ownership in our rivers, streams, and lakes. We connect these organizations and individual partners through educational opportunities, conservation programs, stream clean-ups, and outreach programs to promote our local and regional water in Northwest Ohio. We work with these partners and volunteers to make those waterways clean, clear, and safe.
Rural Action
Nestled in the foothills of Appalachian Ohio, Rural Action was founded in 1991 on the principle that locally-based, sustainable, and inclusive development is the main strategy for building resilient rural Appalachian communities. Rural Action’s mission is to build a more just economy by developing the region’s assets in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways. We do this work by focusing on sectors identified as important by our members: food and agriculture, forestry, zero waste and recycling, environmental education, watershed restoration, and energy. Emerging work in social enterprise development and local tourism are more recent parts of our portfolio
Public Health & Safety
Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN)
ODVN’s purpose is to support and strengthen Ohio’s response to domestic violence through training, public awareness, and technical assistance and to promote social change through the implementation of public policy. ODVN maintains a commitment to the empowerment of battered survivors and their children as well as to the elimination of personal, institutional, and cultural violence.
Disability Inclusion & Support
4 Paws for Ability is a non-profit organization that breeds, raises, trains, and places service dogs with children and veterans who have disabilities. 4 Paws for Ability places over 120 service dogs annually, all trained with specific tasks and skills to mitigate the impacts of their partner’s disabilities. To date, more than 2,000 service dog teams have been created thanks to the dedication of our staff, volunteers, and donors.
Passion Works Studio
Passion Works Studio creates opportunities for all people to explore and socially connect through the process of making art. We follow the lead, talents and interests of people with developmental differences and collaborate with people of all abilities, through artmaking, to create vibrant and inclusive communities. We upcycle otherwise discarded materials and produce environmentally responsible artistic items. We elevate, celebrate and transform people, places and things that would otherwise be overlooked or abandoned.
