BVU, Firefly Connect Through Strategic Partnership
Collaboration with Buena Vista University broadens educational benefits for Firefly employees and their eligible family members.
Buena Vista University (BVU) and Firefly have entered a Strategic Partnership that mutually benefits both organizations as they strive to strengthen the communities they serve.
This partnership allows for employees of Firefly, as well as eligible family members of full-time employees, to receive grant funding to lower the overall cost per credit hour while enrolled in BVU’s convenient online undergraduate programs or the organizational leadership graduate program. Partner grant funding also lowers the cost of education for students enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus.
“Offering educational opportunities and opportunities for professional development raises the quality of services and the expertise of our front-line team members who are hands on working with the families we serve, which is so critically important,” says Firefly Executive Director Kimberly Kolakowski. “The work that we do at Firefly is largely focused on really influencing the relationships and circumstances that children are in during the most critical years of their brain development—the first five years—and our whole effort is to ensure they are entering school ready to learn, so we, as an organization, as a business, and as an employer, should be investing just as much in our team members and helping them look for opportunities to continue their learning and continue their own growth and career development, so this Strategic Partnership with BVU makes perfect sense and aligns with our mission.”
“The work that we do at Firefly is largely focused on really influencing the relationships and circumstances that children are in during the most critical years of their brain development—the first five years—and our whole effort is to ensure they are entering school ready to learn, so we, as an organization, as a business, and as an employer, should be investing just as much in our team members and helping them look for opportunities to continue their learning and continue their own growth and career development, so this Strategic Partnership with BVU makes perfect sense and aligns with our mission.”
Firefly Executive Director Kimberly Kolakowski
Firefly—formerly FAMILY, Inc.—is a nonprofit organization that aims to engage and educate its communities, inspiring a healthy future through literacy, family, and public health services. Headquartered in Council Bluffs with an additional location in Walnut, Firefly provides public health and family support services to women, children, and families in Cass, Shelby, Mills, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Monona, Woodbury, and Ida counties in western Iowa. Firefly’s primary goal is to assist parents in becoming their child’s first and most influential teacher through education, empowerment, and wellness, and the organization offers various programs to ensure families have access to the services and support they need to allow their children to enter school healthy, safe, and ready to learn.
“As a nonprofit, every bit of our resources are stretched to maximum capacity, so to have a partnership with BVU that helps support our team in a collaborative way and does not cost our organization anything is incredible,” says Kolakowski.
BVU has long enjoyed strong educational ties in and around Council Bluffs, home to Iowa Western Community College, a campus that has collaborated with BVU for decades. Students enrolled in a program through Iowa Western can seamlessly transfer their credits toward their bachelor’s degree at BVU. Students receive personalized support including admissions and enrollment counseling and academic advising right in Council Bluffs through BVU’s office on the Iowa Western campus.
“Buena Vista University is thrilled to partner with Firefly, an organization focused on guiding and enabling parents to thrive in parenthood and wellness,” says BVU Director of Strategic Partnerships Laura Todd. “As BVU believes an accessible and affordable education remains at the heart of building stronger individuals and communities, we look forward to the opportunities this Strategic Partnership creates.”
For more information about BVU’s Strategic Partnerships and partner opportunities, please visit the BVU website at bvu.edu/strategic-partnerships or contact Strategic Partnerships at StrategicPartnerships@bvu.edu.