Lucas Center Receives Grant to Help Nonprofits

The Art & Lindee Lucas Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Coastal Georgia is excited to announced that it has been awarded a $450,000 grant from the St. Marys Methodist Foundation. The transformative funding, which will be distributed over the next three years, will fuel the expansion of the ACCELER8 NonProfit program across the region, enabling the Lucas Center to provide even greater resources, mentorship, and growth opportunities for nonprofit leaders and their organizations.

“We are honored to receive the grant, which marks a major milestone in our mission to support and empower entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofit leaders,” said Executive Director of the Art & Lindee Lucas Center for Entrepreneurship Ande Noktes.

The ACCELER8 NonProfit (ACCELER8 NP) program focuses on equipping nonprofit leaders with the tools, strategies, and networks necessary to scale their missions and maximize their community impact. It is an eight-week course where participants will have lessons on goal setting, communication strategies, marketing, financial management and budgeting, strategic planning, board development, and fundraising. The new funding will expand access to more organizations and enhance the comprehensive support system it provides to participants. The Lucas Center will open a location at the College of Coastal Georgia’s Camden Center as part of this expanded programming.

“We are excited to partner with St. Marys Methodist Foundation in supporting our regional nonprofits as we amplify the reach and impact of our ACCELER8 NP program, and work alongside even more organizations dedicated to creating meaningful change across our region,” Noktes said.

The Lucas Center believes that entrepreneurship is a vehicle for economic empowerment, transforming families and communities by breaking cycles of poverty, creating value, and solving community challenges. The next ACCELER8 NP cohort will launch in January 2025 and registration will open December 1 on the Lucas Center Eventbrite page at https://lucascenter.eventbrite.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.ccga.edu/lucascenter or contact lucascenter@ccga.edu.