2023 Cohort Update – FAO Schwarz Fellowship

The FAO Schwarz Fellows Newsletter

2023 Cohort

Jasmin Norford

Jumpstart (NYC)

This final year of my fellowship has been full of growth, leadership, and support from Jumsptart, the Fellowship, and the early childhood advocacy community in New York. In the last year, I have significantly grown my network and have taken on several exciting projects from building out our New York Policy agenda, joining ECE policy and advocacy coalitions, and supporting our coalition of organizations in pushing for an increase in the Federal Work Study set-aside. In these last few months, I have continued to form relationships within the organization. Post-Fellowship, I am pursuing a Masters of Public Policy to continue growing my skills in education policy while hopefully working in the advocacy sector. I am excited for these final months of my Fellowship, to continue growing relationships within the organization, and for my next steps in social impact.

Kira Azulay

Museum of Science (Boston)

It has been a pleasure working at the Museum of Science for the past 1 1/2 years. I’ve been able to form amazing connections with students through our year-long school partnership, over which we’ve learned about Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, and Science Identity. Recently I organized an event around Mental Health and moderated a panel of mental health professionals. Last October, I co-led alongside the other Boston-based fellows, the fall FAO Fellow retreat in Boston which was truly a professional growth experience. I have really appreciated the experience of getting to know and work with this amazing group of fellows and I’m looking forward to collaborating with them further in the last 6 months of my fellowship.

Nia Atkins

Year Up (NYC)

My experience with Year Up has been exciting, fulfilling, and eye-opening. Since my first day a year and a half ago, I’ve gotten to meet incredible people, work on numerous projects, and even learn new things about myself. Recently, I led my fourth and final all staff event where we discussed the most pressing data points relating to our most recent classes of students. I’ve also gotten to see my second group of coachees graduate from Year Up and I couldn’t be more proud. I am so thankful for this opportunity to be a part of the FAO Schwarz Fellowship and of Year Up, and I know that I will use what I’ve learned from this experience throughout the rest of my career.

Ryan Telingator

Jumpstart (Boston)

Almost a year and a half into my Fellowship, I can confidently say that this experience has exceeded my expectations. I am so grateful for the professional opportunities offered to me by Jumpstart and the Fellowship, and am continually inspired and excited by the other members of the cohort. For special projects, I work on Jumpstart’s Policy and Government Relations team (with Jasmin!) focused on Massachusetts policy. The state is on the cusp of passing a major early education reform bill for the first time in over a decade, and I have been fortunate to participate in the lobbying, testifying, strategizing, and creation of the bill alongside the Common Start Coalition. On the direct service side, I have been working to build out the new Massachusetts Community Impact team, partnering with other Massachusetts nonprofits (including the Food Project) to spread Jumpstart’s materials to the broader community. This has been a great experience and opportunity for personal connections and professional growth, and I can’t wait to see what the final quarter of my Fellowship has in store.