Emerging Leaders
What is Emerging Leaders?
Emerging Leaders (EL) is a program for first year dancers that are interested in getting more involved in DMUM leadership. Members work in project teams that span throughout the whole semester. Members get a first look into what it’s like to run a fully student-operated non-profit organization. EL aims to help cohort members develop leadership skills that are applicable to future leadership roles inside and outside of DMUM.
EL meets once a week for an hour alternating between “sync” meetings as an entire cohort and smaller project teams working alongside a committee they are interested in. EL applications open at the beginning of fall semester every school year, so keep checking back for updates on how to apply and our application timeline! In the meantime, check out some other cool DMUM opportunities to get involved in!
Emerging Leaders is a program for first year DMUM students who have an interest in leadership and/or want to join DMUM leadership in the coming years. In Emerging Leaders, cohort members will have the opportunity to work side by side with some of DMUM’s awesome leadership to learn more about what they do as Coordinators and Chairs for their committee and the larger organization. Members will also work to help improve the relationship between the Ann Arbor community and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, including the Little Victors! Improvement efforts range from committee work all the way to volunteering for the many pediatric therapies C.S Mott Children’s Hospital has to offer!
How can I join EL?
Applications for the 2024-2025 school year are open NOW! Fill the form below to apply :). If you have any questions about the application or the EL program in general, don't hesitate to email dmum.emergingleaders@umich.edu.
DMUM Emerging Leaders Application 2024-2025
Already in EL? Here are some helpful links!
Past Projects
INTERNAL
Winter 2024: EL members worked with the Internal Director to create a flier and pamphlet for Victorthon that were given to every participant at the event. The pamphlet included the schedule, all of the sponsors that made VictorThon possible, and an hourly check-in system to support and motivate attendees.
Click here to view this project
Fall 2023: The Internal Project team worked as a committee to create coffee chat groups between dancers and members of Steering/CPT, to encourage dancer participation in DMUM-wide programs throughout the year. These coffee chat groups connected dancers to DMUM leadership members with similar interests as them, as well as also connecting dancers to people within leadership positions they are hoping to learn more about.
Click here to view this project
COMMUNICATIONS
Winter 2024: The EL Comms Committee made various K-12 videos, one to show to elementary schools and one to show to high schools, to explain what DMUM is to increase outreach. The committee also worked on various TikTok opportunities that highlight Victorthon and other Dancer and EL information, acting alongside the marketing coords.
Fall 2023: The Communications team worked with the Marketing and Visual Media committees to highlight dancer-led events throughout the fall semester. Historically, the images on DMUM’s social media accounts mainly highlights members of leadership, so the goal of this project was to feature the majority of our org – the dancers! Members of this team brainstormed different videos and photos to take and delegated roles from taking to editing to posting.
OPERATIONS
Winter 2024: The EL Operations committee created this EL website page. They wrote short paragraphs summarizing what EL is, what they do, and how to get involved. Alongside creating brief descriptions of the past committee projects from the 2023-2024 academic year, this team added important links for EL resources to be more easily accessible. This will serve as a place for prospective dancers to get more information about Emerging Leaders – functioning as an easy way to get and stay involved.
Fall 2023: The purpose of the Fall 2023 semester project was to analyze the data on the outcome of Planning Committee events that have taken place over the past five years, taking into account the pandemic and other obstacles. The Ops team analyzed these events and decided what changes needed to be made at the events, what worked well, and brainstormed ideas for future events. Things such as family attendance, DMUM attendance, and most active time periods were looked at as well as the popularity of specific activities.
Click here to view this project
PLANNING
Winter 2024: The Planning committee worked with the sponsorship committee to get food and snacks for Victorthon. They also reached out for donations to put towards raffle baskets in order to limit the amount of money coming out from DMUM. At Victorthon, they assisted the sponsorship committee to help prepare and distribute the food, gaining insight into working as a sponsorship coordinator.
Fall 2023: The planning team brainstormed and planned various activities/games for each of the DMUM booths present at Spookathon. They ensured enough materials were provided for each activity and that clear instructions were provided. They also created a sign-up system for dancers to work these booths which increased attendance and participation compared to last year’s events. Booths such as the Memory Game, Mystery Box, Pin the Spider to the Web, and the Mummy Relay Race were run by EL and dancers of DMUM.
Click here to view this project
If you have any questions about the Emerging Leaders program, don't hesitate to contact dmum.emergingleaders@umich.edu