Nathan Baer

Nate Baer is a junior from Chicago, IL majoring in management. Nate is currently involved with an internship with Chick-fil-A’s Lifeshape Foundation called “Communities in Transformation.” The goal of Communities in Transformation is to break financial poverty in underprivileged communities. He works in the Walton Ridenour Apartment complex in Kennesaw, Georgia where he works with children ranging in ages from elementary school to high school. He teaches the elementary-aged children Chick-fil-A CORE Essentials and he teaches CORE to the high school students within the community (you can learn more about the program at http://www.coreessentials.org ). Nate says, “I am always on the lookout for ways to educate and develop children so that their family cycle of financial poverty can be broken.”  

Nate says his favorite part of this internship has been the relationships he has been able to build with the residents of the community. He said, “I love nothing more than helping to shape a child’s future and promoting optimism within the community.” 

Nate also participated in a Chick-Fil-A leadership development program called IMPACT 360 in Pine Mountain, Georgia last year (to learn more visit http://www.impact360.net/info ). The program is designed for students ages 18-20 who display leadership abilities and seek to learn values based on leadership that extends into the community and the marketplace. The program is taught and mentored by Chick-fil-A senior management at Chick-fil-A corporate offices. Nate was able to travel with Chick-fil-A president, Dan Cathy, to participate in operations during Chick-fil-A grand-openings. Through the program, Nate was able to travel with Chick-fil-A to Brazil for a month to transform less fortunate communities. Nate said the program helped him to learn how to adapt leadership principles, critical thinking techniques, and skills on how to defend what he believes in. 

Nate is also very involved with Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE). He was the project manager for the “Let’s Can Hunger” canned food drive in November. http://www.reinhardt.edu/academics/Business/canned-food-drive.html . Nate will be presenting his project at SIFE competition in Atlanta in April.