Shine While Your Light’s On: Top 10 Young Nonprofit Professionals on Twitter

March 18, 2009 | Career Advice, Next Generation Leadership, Now Generation Leadership, Shine While Your Light's On, Social Media

Although I think that more young nonprofit professionals should be on Twitter, there are definitely some really awesome folks representing the next generation already. I’m probably following several dozen young nonprofit leaders on Twitter, but I wanted to highlight 10 that I think YOU should be following for sure. I chose these 10 for several reasons:

They epitomize what it means to build a personal brand online as a young nonprofit professional, tweeting with both personality and professionalism.
They all consistently tweet useful information to help other nonprofit professionals.
Most of them also have blogs that further exemplify their knowledge, expertise, and opinions about the nonprofit sector.

Believe me, it’s worth your while to check them out! To make it easy, I’ve linked to each of their Twitter profiles and their blog address, if they have one.

@emortiz, blogging at Onward & Upward
@eclawson, blogging at the National Council of Nonprofits
@heathercarpente, blogging at Nonprofit Leadership 601
@terawoz, blogging at Social Citizen
@nonprofitsos, blogging at Nonprofit SOS
@ajlovesya, blogging at Entry Level Living
@lindseymcdougle, blogging at Leadership as a Field of Study
@missashe
@kgilnack
@samdavidson, blogging at Sam Davidson & Cool People Care

In essence, these 10 have become thought leaders themselves in the process of using Twitter to share online with others. They show us that by being your whole self, you can build a fantastic personal brand.

Do YOU know an amazing young nonprofit professional we should all follow on Twitter? Please add them to my list! Make sure you list their Twitter handle (username) and their blog link, if they have one. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @rosettathurman!

Up Next: Shine While Your Light’s On: How to Turn Your Internship Into Leadership

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Tags: Blogging, twitter, twitter for nonprofits, young nonprofit professionals

Heather Carpenter

I'm a little slow to respond. I responded on twitter but I forgot that blogs have comments. :) Thanks so much for including me on this list. @heathercarpente

I would also add:

@MEnista
@megbusse
Kevin B. Gilnack

I had been wondering how so many cool nonprofit people found me today, and now I've found the culprit. Couldn't ask for a more meaningful endorsement than someone who is as insightful about leadership development and personal branding as @rosettathurman.

Thanks again for the shout-out; I'm looking forward to tweeting with you all soon!

Cheers,
Kevin.
Sam

Rosetta-

You are always right on with your recommendations! Wanted to respond to @lindseymcdougle by saying that @heatercarpente and I (@samuelisaac) - among many others, I'm sure - will be at the West Coast Data Conference on April 3rd & 4th using the hashtag #wcdc2009. Be sure to follow that tag for all the research you could handle!

Keep up the great work, Rosetta. One day I'll be on one of your lists :)

Cheers,
Sam
twitter.com/samuelisaac
twitter.com/aznonprofits
Ashley Schweitzer

Wow , thanks for including me in this list - I'm honored! There are so many amazing young(er) nonprofit professionals on twitter, you all really inspire me and keep me wanting to dig deeper and do more.

I have to give a special shout out to the great community in Minnesota - we have such a vibrant nonprofit sector and some really inspiring emerging leaders. I feel so lucky to be able to work with you, and even luckier to count many of you as friends and allies. Go team!

Thanks!

Best,
Ashley (@missashe)

PS. Gotta second Rick's comment about @nonprofitnicole, a great friend and true leader online and offline.
Elisa

A couple more fantastic nonprofit professionals that I forgot to note in my first comment:

Julia Rocchi who works at the United Nations Foundation and is super cool: @rocchijulia, her blog is Italian Mother Syndrome http://www.juliarocchi.com/

Susannah Ware at College Summit who is also great @suslane and http://www.colorofhappiness.com

Thanks Ro!
Alexia Harris

Shameless plug... My name is Alexia Harris and I'm the community relations manager for Project Learn of Summit County, a nonprofit literacy organization in Ohio that serves the illiterate and nonreading adult population.

Follow me on Twitter @alexiaharris and see what Project Learn's up to by following @projectlearn.
Jonathan Hutson

I'm a human rights advocate and strategic communications leader at Physicians for Human Rights? Feel free to follow me on Twitter, @jhutsontweet
Sam Davidson

Wow! I'm so lucky and honored. I wondered why I got so many new followers this morning, and now I know why! Rosetta is a king- and queen-maker!
Elisa

Thank you Rosetta! I too noticed a big influx in followers this morning and I know it's thanks to you :)
Now I'm off to follow some other young leaders...
Lindsey McDougle

Rosetta: Thanks so much! I am very honored to be a part of such a great list of young nonprofit bloggers and twitter-ers!

I do wish, though, that more nonprofit academics would join the twitter/blogosphere. It's good to have both a practitioner and a research perspective on issues. On that note, congratulations on pursuing your Ph.D. (yes, I did notice that you got accepted to R.U. -- congrats!) I'll be looking forward to reading more of your posts.... and hearing about your (what I am SURE will be) amazing research!

Thank you,
Lindsey @lindseymcdougle
Tera Wozniak

Rosetta,

I am honored you have included me in the list. It is a great list you have, I will definitely have to follow those I haven't yet.

Thanks for continuing to promote young nonprofit professionals. You are the right person for the job!

Thanks!
Tera
Rick B

Great list, but how in the world did you miss @nonprofitnicole (also @smartnonprofits)? I'm kidding, but Nicole and her friends do a great job of staying on top of the nonprofit sector, especially for orgs in MN.
Kristen Denzer

Hey Rosetta-

Thank you! I am honored to be listed. I just got a ton of new followers and was like what is going on?!? So I did a search and saw this post. Great list, I am following most, but will definitely add those I'm not current following.

Thanks!

-Kristen @nonprofitsos
Julia R

Don't forget @kcambell at NCOC! I don't know how she does it, but she's always ON when it comes to sharing pertinent news and updates.
Adrianne Russell

Thanks for sharing! Off to become a new follower...
Elizabeth Clawson

Rosetta- Thanks for the kudos! This is a great list to be on, with great fellow tweeters.
Maxie

Interesting that 80% of them are woman:-)

Will be great to see some UK professionals here too:-)