State Farm: I worked in multicultural business development doing research on Hispanic, African American, and LGBT markets. The research will be used to show the business opportunity and need for an updated marketing strategy for these markets. I also did some work with public affairs to develop a self-assessment tool for nonprofits to use to evaluate the strength of their management and gathered resources to help them once they discover their strengths and weaknesses. 
Community: I worked at the West Bloomington Revitalization Project as the volunteer coordinator. I created materials such as a consolidated list of volunteer opportunities and a volunteer manual. I also conducted a survey of west Bloomington residents to assess what those who live in the area see as the assets and needs of the community.
Grant: This summer, residents of West Bloomington made the West Bloomington Revitalization Project aware of the types of the events they would like to attend in the community through survey administered by our organization. To our surprise, “live music events” was the most popular answer. The community also expressed a strong desire for family-friendly events and events for children. Each October, the West Bloomington Revitalization Project hosts the Harvest Festival in the Community Garden. This event has been well attended and positively reviewed for the past five years. In order to address the wants of our community and grow the event, the $500 will be used to bring a local band and ice cream from Carl’s Ice Cream to the festival. The event will be planned by a student in the Action Research Seminar at Illinois Wesleyan University and students participating in Alternative Fall Break will volunteer to help carry out the event.
Message from Nettie- “A huge thank you to everyone at state farm and in the community who helped make this opportunity possible and who added to my incredible experience this summer.”