MA/MBA Students Partner with Local Nonprofit for Hands-On Research Project

One of the unique aspects of Meadows’ MA/MBA in Arts Management program is the ample opportunities for hands-on experiences that produce real-world results, allowing students to learn through doing.

When searching for project opportunities for the first course in the MA/MBA sequence, Foundations of Arts and Nonprofit Leadership, Director of CCPA Graduate Programs Megan Heber ended up connecting with Meadows alum Nikki Koenig (B.A. ’05) who had been aware of the program’s past partnership with the We Are All Homeless initiative and saw potential for a similar collaboration. In addition to being a graduate of the advertising program, Koenig is the chapter host and lead organizer of CreativeMornings Dallas, the local chapter of the world’s largest creative community organization.

The Foundations of Arts and Nonprofit Leadership course introduces students to the distinct qualities of nonprofit work and asks them to critically consider their own career aspirations in this field, and this collaboration with CreativeMornings was an opportunity for students to apply their learnings to a local nonprofit organization.

“It’s essential that our students feel equipped to make an impact early in their education,” Heber explains. “By connecting with community partners like CreativeMornings, students experience firsthand how they can apply strategic, legal and organizational frameworks to help solve the pressing issues that local arts organizations face.”

Photo by Mario Zie

CreativeMornings consists of 244 volunteer-led chapters in 70 countries, all hosting a free monthly lecture series locally on Friday mornings to support, inspire and connect creatives in cities around the world. As a volunteer-led organization, CreativeMornings operates as a nonprofit in the arts space, making the collaboration with the MA/MBA program a great fit as both groups share the same mission to support creatives and cultivate a vibrant creative community in Dallas and worldwide.

The partnership between the MA/MBA program and CreativeMornings Dallas was mutually beneficial: CreativeMornings gained tailored guidance, while students applied their growing skills to a real-world client facing complex strategic choices. Students were able to transform theory into practice and use their education to benefit the community and inspire growth in Dallas’s vibrant arts landscape.

“This collaboration showcases the program’s dual strength in academic rigor and community partnership,” Heber says. “The MA/MBA students are actively impacting the Dallas arts ecosystem while refining the skills they’ll need to lead in the arts and nonprofit sectors.”

In order to enhance the business structure of CreativeMornings, the students explored four potential legal structures for the organization: LLC, nonprofit, sole proprietorship, and fiscal sponsorship, analyzing each for its alignment with organization’s goals. Through this research, the students presented a carefully considered recommendation, explaining how the chosen structure could best support CreativeMornings’ sustainability and growth.

They also developed checklists and processes to facilitate implementation, researched potential partnerships and even initiated outreach to venues and groups to help CreativeMornings expand its audience. By tackling problems that organizations often don’t have the capacity or bandwidth to address, students not only supported CreativeMornings’ mission but also learned the real-world complexities of scaling community-focused projects.

“This partnership with the MA/MBA was truly an enriching experience for me, my team, and our chapter,” says Koenig, who organizes CreativeMornings’ monthly lecture series and cultivates a creative community of more than 4,000 members. “We truly appreciate the insightful research and resources the students provided us to sustainably grow our chapter in our 10th year and beyond.”