Energize Clinton County and Wilmington College are pleased to announce a new partnership for the future of the award-winning Clinton Community Fellows program. In furthering the Fellows program’s mission of connecting local students and recent graduates to place, and Wilmington College’s commitment to Hands-on Learning, the Fellows program will now be administered by the Wilmington College faculty.
Bekah Wall, assistant professor of communication arts, is serving as the Fellows coordinator. “This is an exciting time to be working with the Fellows program and I look forward to welcoming our first students next summer,” she said. “The Fellows always have such an important role to play within our community and I am so happy to share all of my Clinton County experiences with them!”
Wall is crafting an entirely new curriculum and project-based strategy for the Fellows program which will be unveiled later this summer. It is expected that the Fellows program will welcome its first Fellows under this new partnership in June 2025.
“We are ecstatic to partner with Energize Clinton County on this important program that provides opportunity for both community development for the region and professional development for our students,” said WC President Corey Cockerill.
The year 2025 will mark the 15th Clinton County Fellows class and there have now been nearly 50 Fellows who have completed more than 100 projects for local businesses and organizations. Many have been Wilmington College students or have a connection with the College and/or the Clinton County community, while many still serve organizations they worked with or are employed by businesses they worked with as a Fellow.
The Clinton Community Fellows was founded by Energize Clinton County (ECC), the Wilmington-Clinton County Chamber of Commerce, and the Clinton County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) to engage students and recent graduates with local professional opportunities and organizations.
“On behalf of the ECC Board, we are excited to codify this partnership with Wilmington College and continue to welcome future generations of leaders through our outstanding Fellows program,” said Christian Schock, president emeritus of ECC and former executive director of the CCRPC.
The Fellows receive a stipend for their work which is funded by ECC, the CCRPC, the Clinton Community Foundation, HealthFirst and private donations from local citizens. To learn more about the Fellows program, visit <clintoncommunityfellows.org>. Tax-deductible donations to the program can be made through <energizecc.com> and more information about Wilmington College’s commitment to Hands-on Learning opportunities can be found at <wilmington.edu>.