Michelle Guobadia, longtime fraternity and sorority professional and AFA Foundation donor, announced a $25,000 commitment to ‘Elevate the Standard’ to expand professional development opportunities and resources available to graduate students and early-career professionals in the fraternity/sorority industry. This commitment was amplified by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Fraternity and Sorority Life community and Dr. Kevin Bailey, vice chancellor of student affairs at UNC Charlotte, with an additional $10,000 commitment to the AFA Foundation.
“Early investment in our people, the professionals doing the work on the front lines, is paramount,” said Guobadia. “We have to give the tools and resources so they can thrive. Their successes are our successes – for our campuses, students and organizations. That is the reason I wanted to expand my endowment; to ensure graduate students and new professionals get the best start possible.”
The renewed commitments will expand the Guobadia Graduate Experiences Endowment, originally established in 2016, and rename it the ‘Guobadia Graduate and Emerging Professionals Endowment.’ To date, the AFA Foundation has provided more than $10,000 in on-going support for graduate student success, programs, and access to the AFA Annual Meeting through this endowment.
Through this expansion, the endowment will be used to fund professional development initiatives for both graduate students and emerging professionals in a new ‘Guobadia Graduate and New Professionals Training Track,’, and provide scholarship support for graduate and emerging professionals to access the AFA Annual Meeting and/or other programs directly designed to set graduate students and emerging professionals up for success in our industry.
