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FAO Schwarz Fellowship Announces Increase in Fellowship Salaries for 2023-2025 Cohort

BOSTON — July 19, 2022 The FAO Schwarz Fellowship has announced an increase in salaries for Fellows starting with the 2023-2025 cohort. 

When they start next summer, new Fellows will receive a salary of $40,000 in their first year,  which includes a $2,000 start-of-Fellowship bonus. In their second year, they will earn $45,000, which includes a $3,000 end-of-Fellowship bonus. In addition, 100 percent of the cost of health insurance premium coverage will be paid for both years (with an approximate value of $12,000/year), and Fellows will receive a monthly subway pass (with an approximate value of  $1,200/year)—for a total value of approximately $111,400 in compensation over the course of the two-year program.

The Fellowship will continue to monitor salaries in the cities where we offer Fellowships and ensure that Fellows receive a living wage along with the professional development, mentoring and experiences they need for a career in social impact.

Salaries are paid by the host organizations with funding support from the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation.

“The FAO Schwarz Fellowship program offers Fellow salaries that are very competitive with salaries and benefits offered by other selective Fellowships,” said Priscilla Cohen, Executive Director, of the FAO Schwarz Fellowship program. “Add in the professional development that the Fellowship includes, and it’s clear that it is a valuable program for young people seeking careers leading social change.” Completing the two-year program can also “help young people advance more quickly to management positions leading social change.”

“We’re grateful that we can support this increase in partnership with our nonprofit host organizations,”  added Cohen. “The Fellowship will continue to monitor salaries and the cost of living in each of the cities where we offer Fellowships and ensure that Fellows receive a living wage along with the training needed to jump-start a career in social impact.”

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2024 Annual Fellowship Newsletter

Each year, Fellowship alums share personal and professional updates, which make up our annual newsletter. Fellows from cohorts since 2008 share what they’re up to, from promotions to new roles, and from new degrees to new family members. 

Here’s a taste of what alums have achieved:

  • Became an executive director
  • Started a new role in restorative justice
  • Moved from Serbia to Zambia
  • Finishing their Master in Social Work
  • Starting an MBA in July

… and so much more! Read our latest Fellowship newsletter to learn more about what our amazing alumni are up to across the spectrum of social impact, and beyond!

 

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The Power of Field Trips

Most of my direct service consists of teaching interactive, fun and meaningful field trips for K-12 students in the Museum of the City of New York’s special and ongoing exhibitions. Through teaching, I have come to understand the impact that museum field trips and museum education at large provide for students. 

I have seen students really respond to seeing themselves or their stories represented in the Museum’s objects because many view museums as the representation of a community and its values.

Seeing real objects from the past, close-up and in person, is a powerful way for students to understand that the past was as real and material as their lives now. During the field trips, students see some of the objects that are part of the Museum’s collection, some of which are quite old. A question I always get from students while looking at these older objects in galleries is: “Are these things real?” When I respond that they are, the students’ reactions range from awe, to disbelief, and to curiosity, to name a few. There is something special about looking at an artifact up close and in person, especially when so much learning and life takes place on digital platforms. 

Field trips are impactful because students are prompted for personal reflection. I have seen students really respond to seeing themselves or their stories represented in the Museum’s objects because many view museums as the representation of a community and its values. In one of our galleries that speaks to the diversity of New York City, we have a guira, a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic. I have had many students on field trips get so excited when they see the instrument because they recognize what it is and want to share their knowledge with me and the class.  Students also see other stories or experiences that may differ from their own lives during field trips, helping them become more self-aware and understanding of others. 

Finally, field trips are impactful because they provide students with a one-of-a-kind experience. I did not go on many field trips growing up but for the ones I went on, I still remember where I went, what I did, and what I learned, all while having fun. During field trips at the Museum, students participate in hands-on learning that is inquiry-based and driven by the objects they see in the space which can be different from how they learn in the classroom. They also serve as a supplement to the material they are learning in class, reinforcing what they’ve already learned or will learn within a different context. 

These are just some of the ways that field trips are impactful for students of all ages – I could go on for a while! I love teaching field trips and can’t wait for the many more I will do this school year as my direct service work. 

Natalia Wang

Natalia Wang

Natalia (she/they) is the FAO Schwarz Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York.

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Talking with Kayla Johnson, FAO Schwarz Fellow at The Clay Studio

A second Fellow will join The Clay Studio in 2024. Thanks to the team at The Clay Studio for creating and sharing this video with us! 

Kayla Johnson

Kayla Johnson

Kayla (she/they) is the After-School Program Coordinator & FAO Schwarz Fellow at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia.

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Day in the Life: Teaching Artist

In my role as an FAO Fellow here at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, I get to enjoy lots of variety in my day-to-day experience. My direct service work in the fellowship is working with Claymobile, our mobile engagement community program. The majority of this work is centered around teaching ceramic classes in schools, but I also get to teach in community centers, libraries, and farms. I began in this role acting as a teaching assistant, which means that I worked with the lead teacher in setting up the materials necessary for the class and supported students in their creative process. More recently, I have begun lead teaching in classrooms; it has been a wonderful process starting from having no knowledge about ceramics, to learning how to assist, then to leading a residency. Last week, I had my first class lead teaching at Steel Elementary. I started my day at the studio packing all of the necessary materials and then driving to the school. On arrival, we bring all of the materials to the classroom and introduce ourselves to students. 

Each day at work is different and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

As a lead teacher, one of the main components is teaching a demonstration of the ceramic project we will be completing. For this particular class, we made coil bowls which are made of small ceramic spirals using a plastic bowl as a mold. During my demonstration, I focused on the feeling of the clay as it was many student’s first experience with it. Teaching how to make a coil, how to smooth the inside of the bowl, and glazing are some of the main focuses for this project. After the demonstration, the rest of the class is spent moving around the classroom, checking in with students and answering any questions that arise. Many students shared ideas of projects they want to make in the future, what they might eat out of their bowls and share information about themselves and their families. The classroom teacher took pictures of each student with their finished bowls and we said goodbye, all in under two hours. 

After a Claymobile class, I’ll switch over to my special project work which is teaching in our new after-school program. The after-school program started last year, and we are now working with four schools in the area. After unpacking and taking lunch, I’ll set up our studio with the tools and demonstrations necessary for our class. Then, I walk to the school that we work with that day to pick up students at dismissal. After all of the students arrive, we walk to the studio together. Once we arrive, we have snacks and homework help which is necessary time for students to relax and connect with each other. Then we switch to studio time. Teaching in the after-school program can be similar to the style of Claymobile teaching, but as it is a smaller group who have had practice in multiple making techniques, it runs more independently. Some days we offer a full demonstration, others are free-making days where students choose what they want to make, but most days fall somewhere in between. This is a long-term program for students, so the curriculum is built particularly for the students from each school. Connecting with students on a weekly basis is one of my favorite parts of my job, and being able to provide a fun and safe space for students to make art and chat with friends. Working within the after-school program lends itself to a stable consistent schedule which is nice for me and Claymobile gives my schedule some flexibility and fun. Each day at work is different and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Kayla Johnson

Kayla Johnson

Kayla (she/they) is the After-School Program Coordinator & FAO Schwarz Fellow at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia.

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Reflecting on College and Finding Your Passion

Being in a space of reflection is always uncomfortable for me, but I find that I feel at my best when I am living in that discomfort. I’m reaching the halfway point in my first year with the fellowship, I am starting my goal-setting process at Jumpstart, and in a week and a half, I will be back in Baltimore for my first-ever Alumni weekend. So as I am typing this, I am nose-deep in that reflection discomfort. Hopefully what follows will be helpful for my friends in the fellowship, for myself, and for everyone who has just submitted an application for the 2024-26 fellowship cohort as you head toward graduation and discern if this fellowship is right for you. 

Looking back, looking forward, and looking to where I am now—I realize being present is the secret... It connects you to your senses and helps decide if what you’re doing serves your passions or not.

As I begin this process, and ask trusted coworkers, friends, and family members about navigating professional goals and my early 20s, I have also been thinking back on some of the things I was told when I started college in August 2019 (a completely different world). I remember so much emphasis being put on what my major would be, how I would plan out my class schedule to help me four years down the line, and what clubs I wanted to participate in to make me a strong internship candidate for junior year.  I remember being told that the next four years would be “the best years of my life.” When I look back, I see how unnecessary and harmful that could have been—if it weren’t for Loyola University Maryland’s… shall we say… comprehensive core requirements that forced me to try a little bit of everything and fall in love with learning again. I think we are doing ourselves, and society, such a disservice when we are constantly forward-focused. The purpose of college should not be, and never before was, to set up whatever comes next. College, for those lucky enough to go, is the one time in life where you can learn for the sake of learning. There is no one handing you a curriculum that you can’t deviate from; there are so many options,and through (excuse the cliché) casting a wide net you might just stumble upon your life’s passion. 

As someone who was an overachiever, and whose high school extracurricular list looked like Santa’s Christmas list, I entered college with a clear trajectory. I would take a mix of political science classes but focus on constitutional law, take the LSAT, and apply to law school. I had a ten-year plan mapped out which included moving to New York and becoming a district attorney. But at 1:05 pm on my first day of class I walked into PS 101, Introduction to World Politics taught by an incredible political theorist. His charisma, and brilliance, and ability to make his students engage in questions that have been asked for millennia made me reconsider. I walked out of that class still sure I wanted to go to law school, but thought I might need to take some more classes with him (I would go on to take 5 with that professor—ranging from democratic theory to a seminar on warfare). Class after class, semester after semester I was exposed to things outside of my ten-year plan. Loyola required me to take two philosophy classes, the second of which was dedicated to a small segment of philosophy focused on the environment (recall my mention of stumbling upon passion).

But still, my life and career plan persisted until the summer between sophomore and junior year when I was studying for the LSAT and realized I actually had no desire to be an attorney. I cared about the law, sure, and I have research and debate skills, so I could be successful. But it wasn’t what I cared about. I remember walking up to the living room where my mom was watching a rerun of M*A*S*H, and breaking down in tears because I now had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Except I did. I did because rather than restricting myself to taking only the classes that would direct me to where I thought I wanted to go, I discovered that I was passionate about environmental justice and peace studies. 

I am where I am today, setting goals for the next fiscal year, and thinking of how I am going to make an impact because of that mindset I took in college. I took the fellowship because it gave me the opportunity to do meaningful work while being part of a network of fellows doing incredibly cool and different work than me. Hearing about Kayla’s work had made me want to rent a pottery wheel, and visiting Sarika and Natalia at their museums in New York City inspired me to spend my Sundays visiting different museums in Boston. 

This exposure to difference has been the key to my journey so far. Looking back, looking forward, and looking to where I am now—I realize being present is the secret. Being present connects you to your community. It connects you to your senses and helps decide if what you’re doing serves your passions or not. Most importantly it connects your heart to your mind. So to anyone reading… try everything and your life’s passion will uncover itself. 

Ryan Corrigan

Ryan Corrigan

Ryan (he/him) is the FAO Schwarz Fellow at Jumpstart in Boston.

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Why I Chose Breakthrough as My Host Organization

When I was admitted into college, I could not express how unpredictable my journey up to that point was. Little did I know that, at a point when I thought I had a general idea of what my life would look like during and after my time in higher education, I would encounter the same unpredictability.

I was raised in an area where schools didn’t always have the most resources to cater to their students. During my time in elementary school, in parent-teacher conferences, my teachers would consistently express to my parents how they should pull me out of my current school and get me to apply to magnet schools, if not move to another district area. Initially, my family was able to get me to another school district for my fourth-grade year. The difference was immediately noticeable in the sheer amount of resources that the school and teachers had at their disposal. The school I attended had an ‘Exemplary Campus Distinction’ that followed them for years, indicating that the students performed highly academically. Unfortunately, it wasn’t sustainable for me to continue my education at that school, so I returned to my designated elementary school to finish my time there, all while looking into and applying to magnet schools to continue my middle school education. 

[Breakthrough's] devotion to long-term support for students, focusing on low-income students of color in sixth grade through college, is something that I wish I had growing up.

I completed the remainder of my middle and high school years in magnet schools. While my time in these schools proved to be very stress-inducing, challenging, and overwhelming, it overall prepared me for the standardized tests that would prove useful when applying to college. They also exposed us to many opportunities to grow professionally, from partnerships they had with outside organizations/institutions to providing us with courses diving into specialized topics of our choosing that we wouldn’t otherwise find in other schools. They taught us to write resumes, cover letters, answer college admissions questions, how to conduct ourselves in interviews, etc. As a first-generation student, these schools became a learning ground for both my family and me. 

All of that being said, it also was a very toxic space to be in. These schools train students to excel academically and do everything possible to present an impressive profile for recruiters, whether for college or their careers. However, they failed to create an environment where students were seen beyond their grades and achievements, they failed to create a space that allows for a student to view themselves holistically. I remember the competitiveness of students with one another reaching boiling points, with rankings hinging on minute differences in overall GPA between students. Some students who transferred out of these schools even managed to rank #1 in their designated public schools, a stark contrast to their standing within the competitive environment.

After being admitted into college, some of my colleagues and I, as first-gen students of color, imagined ourselves pursuing medical or law school, aspiring to become successful professionals in our respective fields. After having a long conversation with myself, and really questioning the reasoning behind my actions, I realized my passions didn’t align with medicine or law. So, I began to explore other areas of interest and found myself studying Anthropology and Race and Ethnicity Studies for the remainder of my time in college. In my final year, I focused my capstone project on the reproduction of whiteness in higher education institutions, with a specific focus on the Hispanic and Latinx communities. Through the project, I was able to reflect on my own experience, as well as interview others to gather narratives of everyone’s journey through the education system. 

My path post-graduation didn’t become clear until less than a month before attending my commencement ceremony. I remember the anxiety when thinking about my next steps and whether I would even find something that would fulfill me and allow me to continue to grow. I knew that I would be interested in joining a non-profit organization, but then found myself debating what cause I would search for. In my search, I came across the FAO Schwarz Fellowship and found myself intrigued by Breakthrough Greater Boston. Their devotion to long-term support for students, focusing on low-income students of color in sixth grade through college, is something that I wish I had growing up. The organization takes the valuable resources of magnet schools while eliminating the toxic competitiveness and individualistic mindset, and emphasizing key values like spirit and student-centeredness. I chose Breakthrough, as it was a natural transition toward my interests and future aspirations. 

Since being at Breakthrough, I have learned a lot of things that I did not even throughout my time in college. As my time in the fellowship is coming to a close, I find myself in a similar position as I have in the past, uncertain of what’s to come. What’s different now is that I’ve learned to live with uncertainty, embracing what’s to come in this next chapter of my life and carrying with me all the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Breakthrough has let me have a hand in college success work, engage in programming throughout the school year and summer, delve into development and operations, and foster alumni relations. Although my future remains uncertain, I feel better equipped to tackle what comes next as I continue pursuing my interest in the social impact sector.

Juan Mojica

Juan Mojica

Juan Mojica (he/him) is the College Success & Alumni Coordinator FAO Schwarz Fellow at Breakthrough Greater Boston.

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You Want What I Want: Research, Rapport, and Surveys

It’s January at Year Up New York|New Jersey, and I’m once again compelling 292-odd program participants to participate in a research study. That is, a survey-reliant research study.

Ever tried to get hundreds of people to do a survey? It’s harder than you would think. 

The first hurdle: having people even consider it. In client-facing contexts, many potential participants view corporate surveys as “lacking in empathy” and as a general inconvenience (Dholakia 2021). Employee engagement surveys—intended to gauge areas of discontent and improvement within organizations—sometimes exacerbate ongoing issues, failing to address the concerns workers actually have (Wahba 2023). According to a 2022 analysis, online surveys have an overall average response rate of 44.1%: even getting a tenuous majority of potential participants to respond is a major victory for researchers (Wu et. al 2022). Ultimately, whereas sloppy studies erode popular trust in surveys and their application, a good survey is always delicate, intentional, and targeted. Like a coffee shop.

Chat with your future participants. Block out time for them. Make your intentions, methods, and motivations transparent. Take notes on just about everything.

The reason, of course, that you would ever invest time (and sometimes money) in such a particular, harder-than-it-looks research method is the data. You probably want lots of data. Lots and lots of quantitative data. (Kind-of) fast and cheap. Even the best surveys are a relatively quick and standardized method of gathering data on a population: interviews take days if not weeks to process, observational studies require precise planning and timing, and usability studies often necessitate proprietary tools and training. In the context of social impact, particularly in the non-profit space, internal surveys can churn out numerical insights without the budget crunch of an outside consultation.

Year Up, for example, loves its quantitative data—it’s part of its pervasive “Feedback Culture”. The national organization, headquartered in Boston, charts outs surveys across the participant life cycle, meant to track engagement and opinion metrics at critical touchpoints of a trainee cohort’s journey. These “Direct Service Survey” metrics are then, among a myriad of other functions, analyzed by a dedicated team, shared with corporate partners, and play a critical part in the organization’s overall and agile Service Design. Data is used to make data-informed decisions by data-informed teams. Year Up’s New York|New Jersey market, in turn one of the largest across the organization, has its own pattern of surveys and evaluations. After all, as useful as national metrics are, the needs of individual cities, tracks, and cohorts can be very different. That’s where I come in.

My first survey at Year Up, conducted in only my first three weeks of employment, was focused on our contemporary Learning & Development (L&D) and Internship cohorts. Preparation for the Program Evaluation segment of LC Lookback, a biannual market-wide meeting of staff, required a rapid and targeted collection of student metrics. I did what I could with the resources I had available to me—a detailed guide left by the previous Fellow, Nia. Yet, despite still hovering above the 44.1% average recorded by Wu’s 2022 team, I still felt a bit nonplussed at an ultimate L&D response rate of 51.6%. I hadn’t been fully acclimated to Year Up’s organizational culture, wasn’t entirely sure of the research goals of our study, and definitely lacked the time to become familiar with my study participants. As good as the insights we drew, I had a constant feeling that they could have been better. It seemed like trainees, in the midst of organizational changes, had viewed my research with raised eyebrows.

I was missing a rapport between researcher and participant.

Thus, I decided to roll out my own strategy for rapport building. Starting with the next L&D cohort, set to graduate July 2024, I adopted four, simple research practices. If you ever find yourself designing internal research, always try to:

1. Make your research meaningful

Appeal to your study participants’ interests, emotions, and experiences. It might be a Rousseau-flavor cliché, but people like helping other people. People, of course, also like helping themselves. Inform participants of the benefits of participating in your research: let them know that, with the data that they may provide, you can improve not only their experience but those of others. Rather than positioning researchers as exclusive arbiters of knowledge and authority, emphasize the collaboration inherent in your work. Align your interests with theirs. Human-focused research is ultimately the culmination of a researchers’ skills and interlocutors’ contributions. If a survey evaluates the design of a longer-term service (such as the L&D period at Year Up), actively cultivate trust between researchers and participants. Contributing to research becomes helping researchers out!

2. Make your research practical

In the case of surveys, do not make your survey openable only on the second blue moon of a leap year. Do not make your survey consist of 50 consecutive matrices. Do not make your survey a series of 30 required open-ended questions with minimum 100 word counts. Do not compel your participants into responding in a time window that biases their responses. Do not make your survey a combination of the above. Surveys, at a minimum viable state, should be painless to access, complete, and submit. Completion is the second hurdle of a survey, and a difficult survey diminishes data quality and participant trust. Minimize the length of your engagement. Provide gentle-ish reminders. To whatever extent you can, anonymize results and remove personally identifying information. No one enjoys being given a hard time. In particular, no one enjoys being given a hard time in the form of an over-extended Google Forms sheet. Research, at its best, becomes an opportunity to share information.

3. Make your research insightful

Discerning an actual takeaway from research serves as a third hurdle: results should be analyzed, then translated. When elaborating on a previous study, track ongoing trends and patterns: how have organizational changes been reflected in your metrics? Identify your set of key performance indicators, and drill down where and when you can. Document opportunities for expansion in future elaborations of the study. Archive your findings in a way that remains accessible to future researchers and stakeholders. Above all else: make sure you can digestibly communicate your findings to those outside of the research team, especially your participants. To build trust towards your research and those of future researchers, your findings must be actually legible. Research is the production of information. When you perform good research, you begin to assign that information meaning.

4. Make your research actionable

Ideally, indicate immediate actions that can be taken in accordance with your findings. Carry out the easy fixes and continue on the clear points of success. Action—or, at the very least, a plan of action—can make or break the trust of your participants. If you are cultivating trust on the basis that your research will work to the benefit of the participant group, it should work to the benefit of the participant group. Find the bravery to challenge institutional assumptions: at what points can we alter the course of our design or implementation, should it be to the benefit of our interlocutors? Recognize your study’s failings, limitations, and opportunities for improvement. Ultimately, champion a sustainable path forward. Any path of action shouldn’t lead to burn out: it should lead to progress. More than simply considering your research, stakeholders should be able to work with it. Action leads to better outcomes, which lead to better trust, which in turn leads to better research. Some would call it a virtuous cycle.

While these blocks of text may make things seem complicated, these maxims are fairly simple in practice. Chat with your future participants. Block out time for them. Make your intentions, methods, and motivations transparent. Take notes on just about everything. 

Not only have these practices increased trainee trust towards organizational research, but they’ve grown both the volume and quality of our data. I’ve been able to gather contextual research on the experiences of participants throughout the Learning & Development Phase. I’ve been able to build upon the work of of previous fellows, crafting a qualitative research protocol for Year Up New York|New Jersey. I’ve been able to become a trusted advocate for our participants. And most metric-friendly, I’ve been able to raise the response rate from a passable 51.6% to a new high of 95.7%—and still counting!

But as you refine your own research practice, life goes on at Year Up New York|New Jersey. The reminder emails to the remaining 20% continue to fly out of my outbox. My little T-tests continue to sort out random chance from statistically relevant phenomena, my presentation decks prepared for their deployment. Participants pop up at my desk, asking for everything from advice to a laptop charger.

Yet in-between all of my little notes, projects, and ambitions—and a wave of organizational change—our site still had our own End of Year meeting. There, I was rewarded the “Newbie Award,” tagged as a new staff member that had already greatly contributed to the Year Up New York|New Jersey collective. Presenting to the entirety of our market staff, my supervisor cracked a joke about how I was able to bring data into any conversation, presentation, or strategy. Our market laughed. As I accepted my neatly printed certificate, I couldn’t help but flash a guilty smile. 

I suppose, then, I’ve been doing something right.

 

WORKS CITED

Dholakia, Utpal. “Why Customers Hate Participating in Surveys.” Psychology Today. June 6, 2021. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-behind-behavior/202106/why-customers-hate-participating-in-surveys

Wahba, Phil. “Too Many CEOs Don’t Know What Their Workers Need. Employee ‘Engagement’ Surveys Can Make the Problem Even Worse.” Fortune. July 12, 2023. https://fortune.com/2023/07/12/employee-engagement-surveys-dissatisfaction/

Wu, Meng-Jia, Kelly Zhao and Francisca Fils-Aime. “Response Rates of Online Surveys in Published Research: A Meta-Analysis.” Computers in Human Behavior Reports 7 (2022). August 2022. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958822000409#sec1

 

Avery Trinidad

Avery Trinidad

Avery Trinidad (he/him) is the FAO Schwarz Fellow at Year Up in New York City.

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A Strong Foundation: How the FAO Schwarz Fellowship Shaped My Career

Seven years since graduating from the FAO Schwarz Fellowship and 9 years since the start of my fellowship, the formative experiences, support system, and friendships developed within the fellowship have been foundational for finding and building my professional path.

The value most visible from the surface is a means of accessing a two-year, salaried, entry-level position at a leading non-profit organization. Finding entry-level jobs in the social impact, education, or environmental non-profit space is extremely challenging. Following a long and challenging search, I was hired in 2015 for an FAO Schwarz Fellowship at Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization with a mission to protect and restore the Hudson River from source to sea. After graduating from the fellowship in 2017, I remained on staff at Riverkeeper in various advocacy, volunteer management, and community engagement focused positions for another 5 years. My passion for environmental advocacy, community engagement, and the Hudson River watershed was fully realized while at Riverkeeper and has remained my focus ever since. The FAO Schwarz Fellowship program not only provided an opportunity to enter my desired field, but also provided opportunities for professional development, reflection, and an invaluable cohort experience.

Reflecting upon my almost decade-long career, the influence of the FAO Schwarz Fellowship is clear. I’ve been better positioned to navigate the professional landscape, including salary and benefit negotiations, job applications, creating job descriptions and hiring, and project management.

Below the surface, the FAO Schwarz Fellowship is much more than a means of entering the non-profit sector. 

What isn’t as visible is the relationships you grow within the fellowship network and through the cohort experience. Each year, 6-7 fellows are hired to work at youth- or young-adult-serving nonprofits in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, creating a cohort who goes through the program together and connects through formal methods such as planning and experiencing retreats, working on shared projects within the fellowship, professional development sessions, and informal means inside and outside of retreats. By spending time together, fellows develop friendships within their cohort, and within the cohorts above and below them. These relationships have been invaluable both to my professional development and to me personally—from having understanding and listening ears to talk through how to navigate the dynamics of professional environments, to sharing time-management tools, to finding life-long friends.

Another major component of relationship building within the FAO Fellowship is mentorship: each incoming fellow is paired with an alumni fellow who often shares a career focus. Alumni mentors provide advice, share about their career paths, and support the fellows in thinking through career next steps. These relationships often continue beyond the fellowship, with mentees and mentors connecting at bi-annual reunions and keeping in touch over the years.

The Executive Director of the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation is a tremendous resource. Priscilla has a deep well of advice, support, and kindness to offer as fellows navigate their fellowship roles, but also as alumni navigate future career moves within and outside the nonprofit sector. Priscilla’s support and advice have been invaluable—and her relationships with the alumni network allow her to make networking connections between fellows and alumni.

The Fellowship retreats, which take place twice each year and rotate between the cities where fellows live and work (New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia) are a blend of experiencing the work of each host organization, professional development sessions shaped by the needs and interests of the fellows, and unstructured time for the fellows to connect. Examples of professional development sessions include: disability accessibility and inclusivity at museums, how direct service and systems change work complement each other, personal mission statement development, exploration of leadership styles, and more.

Reflecting upon my almost decade-long career, the influence of the FAO Schwarz Fellowship is clear. I’ve been better positioned to navigate the professional landscape, including salary and benefit negotiations, job applications, creating job descriptions and hiring, and project management.

Advice from Priscilla and others in the FAO network helped inform my decision to return to school part-time in 2019 to pursue a Masters of Environmental Policy at Bard College, which I completed while working full-time.

More recently, in July of 2023, I became the new Director of Environmental Action at the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a regional environmental non-profit organization with a mission to protect the Hudson River by inspiring lifelong stewardship of the river and its tributaries through education and advocacy. My role sits at the nexus of advocacy and community engagement—collaborating with communities, individuals, and other organizations to protect the Hudson River, and is one I hope to hold for years to come.

Whether I’m between jobs, hiring interns, managing advocacy campaigns, or educating the public, the foundational skills and experiences I had during my time as a FAO Fellow have been foundational to my career, and personal and professional development.

Jen Benson

Jen Benson

Jen Benson (she/her) is the Director of Environmental Action at the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a regional environmental non-profit organization with a mission to protect the Hudson River by inspiring lifelong stewardship of the river and its tributaries through education and advocacy.

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Jocelyn gives a talk on stage at a Museum of Science event.

Steps to Belonging: From Visitor to Educator

Just 10 minutes away from the Museum of Science in Boston is one of my most memorable places growing up, the city of Chelsea. Although a small city, it is packed with an abundance of people and places to experience. From a great view of the Boston skyline to the amazing food found on every corner, it has its perks. However, one of the best advantages of growing up in Chelsea was being just a short ride away from Boston, and specifically the Museum of Science. I can clearly recall the field trips that I had to the Museum. I got to experience “Night at the Museum” twice with their overnight program, and I would spend hours at Science in the Park with my family whenever we visited. One of my favorite parts of the Museum was getting to visit the chicks that were already, or soon to be, hatched. Having visited numerous times, I did not think it could get better.

Something important that I have learned throughout the past couple of months is how to make the Museum a place where everyone feels like they belong, no matter their background.

Fast forward some years later, with experience working in Education and having graduated with a degree in Anthropology and Biology, when looking for a job post-grad, I was primarily interested in finding a job in informal education, preferably in the STEM field. And, loving where I grew up and the experiences that I had, I immediately went to see if the Museum of Science in Boston was hiring. You can imagine my excitement when I found out about the FAO Schwarz Fellowship role at the Museum. The excitement did not just come from the fact of where I would be working, but also because of the mission behind both the Fellowship organization and the host organization. The Museum of Science’s mission “to inspire a lifelong love of science in everyone”, in unison with what the FAO Schwarz Fellowship and foundation stand for: social impact, leadership, and education. Both reinforced one of my values: education and science should be accessible to anyone and everyone. 

Taking on the role of the new FAO Schwarz Fellow at the Museum of Science caused that excitement to turn into joy. Since starting in June of 2023, I have been able to do what it is that I am passionate about, every day. I have collaborated with different departments throughout the Museum to better support our Summer Youth Interns. I got to plan and lead my first High School Science Series focused on Artificial Intelligence. I even got to work with ferrets to promote my first live animal presentation about “Why Do Animals Make Us Happy?” Being able to experience what it takes to put all these events and shows together is an inspiring opportunity. 

One of my favorite events that I found truly inspiring, from both a visitor and educator standpoint, was our Hispanic and Latinx Heritage weekend celebration in October, an event I heavily and proudly supported. From securing guest speakers to performance groups to creating a bilingual activity for the weekend, the hard work that was put into this event was noteworthy. To me, the most important part of this weekend was being able to see myself, my small city of Chelsea, and other people of Hispanic and Latinx heritage, belong at the Museum of Science through the celebration of our cultures. This has not always been the case, but I am glad it is now. This is only one of the various heritage weekend celebrations that the Museum has committed to furthering.

Something important that I have learned throughout the past couple of months is how to make the Museum a place where everyone feels like they belong, no matter their background. Thinking back to my time as a visitor, experiencing the joy of learning and seeing the live shows, there are some aspects that I would have appreciated having at the Museum, such as heritage weekend celebrations or bilingual exhibits. But now, as an educator at the Museum of Science, being able to contribute to that change, and to create a more inclusive and accessible Museum means a lot to me, and to all our visitors. I know that eight-year-old Jocelyn, eating her rock candy from the Museum gift shop, would be ecstatic to learn that life as a visitor at the Museum of Science can get better. Just ask those who work there.

Jocelyn Poste

Jocelyn Poste

Jocelyn (she/her) is the Youth Programs, Community Engagement Department FAO Schwarz Fellow at the Museum of Science in Boston.

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