The Capstone Experience
Discover the magic of the immersive course Odell teaches at Columbia University in the Nonprofit Management Program.
The penultimate experience of the Non-Profit Management program is the challenging and yet rewarding Capstone. Capstone can be described as “two parts rigor and focus, one part creative and critical thinking and one part magical” if all goes well! It is critical that students in Capstone connect the academic rigor of the program with the highly disciplined practice of client engagement and teamwork. The Capstone experience is about taking your knowledge base, as a consultant or advisor, and sitting that knowledge next to the “needs” of a client. In other words, “you not only have to know something, but you must understand how to apply what you know in order to problem solve.”
This past Spring the Capstone client was the American Ballet Theater (ABT), one of the most preeminent ballet companies in the world. ABT has a rich history and tradition as storytellers using classical ballet. Our challenge was to take this institution’s desire to globalize their branding while expanding its audience more fully. My class was filled with enthusiasm and intelligence especially after we visited the ABT studios and received an incredible tour. The work began by focusing the client's desire with the constraints of a semester long class. We also had to continually ask ourselves “What was the client really trying to do?” My role as instructor and practitioner was to provide guidance and practical context for the students in how to “read a client’s needs”.
The rigor and focus of Capstone were further complicated by the onset of the pandemic which forced the class to pivot their work and rethink the client’s needs and the actual presentation of recommendations. It was the perfect example of a “real world, life changing event” being thrust into an academic experience. This is what happens in the world and you must be adept at responding. My class took this opportunity and did an excellent job at creatively rethinking their work in the time of COVID 19.
Ultimately the final product, a professionally written report and amazing presentation for the client, was not only well received by the client’s management team but we were asked to give an encore performance for the trustees and full leadership team. The one part magical was having the client enthusiastically embrace all the recommendations presented by the class. The recommendations were clear and accessible to the client and ABT has been able to move toward implementing several of the recommendations even during the suspension of their season. The idea of creating a blog about the performers and the people behind the scenes was a recommendation that ABT has just launched. This is the “magic” of Capstone.
Post the extraordinary “teaching to practitioner” experience with the American Ballet Theater, I am thrilled and honored to have been invited to join the American Ballet Theater’s RISE Advisory Council, 2020-2021 ABT RISE Creators - American Ballet Theatre which will focus on increasing diversity, inclusion, and equity as a core value for ABT.
Stay tuned as I talk more about this exciting work as it unfolds!