Beyond the Fellowship

January 1, 2025 In Beyond the Fellowship, Social Impact

Nature’s Lessons for a Season of Giving

During the transition out of the holidays and into the New Year, I always find myself reflecting on the deeply unsatisfying nature of the hyper-consumption that comes to dominate the season. In an effort to show gratitude for the simple things in our lives and bring us and our loved ones, we as a culture scramble desperately for the best, newest, or cheapest consumer goods we can get our hands on. In reality, this practice only feeds a transactional economy that enriches large corporations at the expense of combined human and environmental well-being.

We want so desperately to embrace the holidays as a season for giving and connection with our communities with 88% of Americans agreeing that the holidays should be more about family and caring for others. Despite this, 84% of Americans still think that we place too much importance on giving gifts and 90% wish the holidays were less materialistic, (Dennings, 2022)

In my work with Audubon Mid-Atlantic, I aim to nurture the reciprocal relationships between the members of our community and the shared environments in our neighborhood.

This dissonance between the imagined ideal of the holiday season and the pressures of our hyper-consumerist reality make this time of year uniquely burdensome for so many with spending too much or not having enough money to spend being cited most often (58%) followed by finding the right gifts (40%) by U.S. adults as sources of increased stress during this time, (APA, 2023). 

Not only are these practices harming human health, but they also place additional pressure on already over-burdened natural systems through increased fossil fuel and natural resource use coupled with dramatic increases in household and commercial waste, (Dennings, 2022). This begs the question: How can we cultivate the abundance we crave in this season without further exacerbating these issues, and more importantly, what practices can we implement into our daily lives this year to lay the groundwork for a less extractive, more peaceful holiday next year?

I would argue that a promising answer is, funnily enough, exemplified by the interconnectedness of those same natural systems. It requires a shift from this transactional economy – encouraging consumption of ever-increasing amounts of resources in the hopes of perpetual economic growth – to a gift economy – where resources are shared, and value is measured in relationships rather than transactions. 

In her 2024 book, The Serviceberry, Indigenous scientist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer notes how the eponymous tree exemplifies this reciprocity. The serviceberries on these trees provide food for birds who, in turn, spread the seeds to new locations and enable the ongoing proliferation of the species, (Illingworth, 2024). The birds are showing their gratitude to the serviceberry by passing on its gift of food to the surrounding environment by ensuring new opportunities for more serviceberry trees to grow and nourish future birds. 

Another example of this gift economy I often use in lessons with students in my role at Audubon Mid-Atlantic is all the natural relationships formed around oak trees. For example, just one native oak tree can provide a home to over 500 species of caterpillars, and those caterpillars pass that gift along to local birds like chickadees by providing the necessary nourishment to raise fledgling broods to adulthood, (Appalachian Audubon Society, 2023). Beyond this, when oak trees drop their acorns in the Fall, they provide food for local small mammals like squirrels as they prepare for their hibernation. The squirrels then pass this gift back to the oak trees by dispersing and burying these acorns throughout their shared ecosystem – paving the way for more future oak trees to grow and continue nourishing and housing the next generation of insects, birds, and mammals.

These examples show us how we can cultivate abundance in our communities by not just saying “thank you” or exchanging material goods but opening opportunities for ongoing relationships of reciprocity. Implementing this in our own lives can look like inviting loved ones over for a potluck, starting or donating to a little free library where knowledge can be continually given and received, or teaching a loved one a skill so that they may use it to give back to others. 

In my work with Audubon Mid-Atlantic at The Discovery Center in Philadelphia, I aim to nurture these reciprocal relationships between the members of our community and the shared environments in our neighborhood by opening opportunities for students and neighbors to connect with local birds and ecosystems. 

Building these connections and encouraging ongoing land stewardship is the basis of an ongoing Nature Journaling and Crafting series I host at the Discovery Center. This month, I encouraged attendees to share the abundance of the holiday season with our local birds by making decorative pine-cone bird feeders that will nourish them through the coming Winter. By hanging these feeders outside our homes and in our neighborhoods, we passed on the gifts like cleaner air and water, cooler temperatures, pest control, and general beauty and liveliness that local and plants and birds provide for us back to them – setting the stage for the continued exchange of these gifts over time. 

 

So, if this holiday season has left you feeling, like so many Americans, stressed and overwhelmed by the never-ending list of things to do and buy, I encourage you to reflect on where this pressure to buy so much for our loved ones originates. It stems from a desire to show our care and appreciation that large companies exploit to sell ever-increasing amounts of consumer goods that have lasting negative impacts on our natural environments and collective wellbeing.

However, by taking a step back and reflecting on the reciprocal relationships all around us in the natural world, we can gain inspiration for how to shift to a more gift-based economy in our own lives. Not only will this reduce pressure on already overburdened natural systems but also ease our stress and strengthen the bonds that we value most, not just during the holidays, but all year long.  

Sources:

https://theconversation.com/the-serviceberry-this-indigenous-understanding-of-nature-can-help-us-rethink-economics-243190

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/11/holiday-season-stress

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/unwrapped

https://www.appalachianaudubon.org/plants-for-birds

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Julie Kleaver

Julie (she/her) is the FAO Schwarz Fellow at Audubon Mid-Atlantic in Philadelphia.

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November 26, 2024 In Beyond the Fellowship

Avenues of Connection: The Intersection of Hobby and Community

For those who attended a four-year university or college—and especially for those who, during these years, lived on their college campus—moving to a new city, state, or country can be jarring. After accepting the offer to be the FAO Schwarz Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York, I found myself being quickly thrust out of my small, quiet hometown in New Jersey and into a large, bustling city alone. With my newfound independence and a surprising amount of free time, I struggled to cope with the loss of the forced community that dorm life and college campuses offered. However, in the few months that I have called New York City my home, I have found ways to both fill my spare time and find community that may be helpful to those who have recently found themselves alone in a new place.

I can imagine that as the remainder of my time as an FAO Schwarz Fellow progresses, I will only continue to discover who I am and further witness how my hobby-driven community expands alongside my own growth.

When looking up advice on how to find community in a new place, I was met with a lot of the same answers: walk around your neighborhood, become a regular at your local coffee shop, and attend local events. While all of these are good pieces of advice, I am not, and will likely never be, an extrovert who can dive into conversation with strangers at a cafe or street fair despite how much I try to be. So, at the start of my fellowship and the beginning of my time in New York City, I found myself relying solely on my new roommates for community. And while I was, and am, thankful for their company, I also craved a space that was my own. However, the difficult thing about community in New York City is not that there are a lack of groups or circles to join but rather trying to find your place in the thousands of niche communities across the city. Thus, I began my search for avenues of connection.

The most successful route to community that I have leaned into is that of hobby. An important thing to know about me is that I am a person who aspires to do anything and everything—I want to be good at every artform, speak every language, and play every sport. Unlike in college, working a 9-5 job has given me the privilege of free time as well as the financial resources to pursue new passions. That being so, I looked back at all the “saved” posts and open Google Chrome tabs that featured hobbies I had always hoped to pursue and got to work.

Hobbies such as crochet and visiting museums were some of the first that created concrete moments of community building for me, some of which have even transcended geography. My love for art museums, for example, led me to attend an art tour hosted by the New Museum throughout parts of Lower Manhattan. There, I shared powerful conversations with strangers all focused on the lives and work of some of New York City’s best known contemporary artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Even if only for an hour, I was part of a tight knit group of 11 individuals who shared the same interests and passions. I have had other similar experiences to this in becoming a frequent visitor to many museums across the city where I often exchange thoughts with other solo museum goers about art. Creating my own art has also opened unexpected paths for connection. Through wearing my finished crochet projects, I have had many conversations with strangers about crochet and fiber arts in places ranging from the subway to a street corner. Recently, on a trip to Portland, Maine, my interest in crochet allowed me to connect with countless artists at craft shops and vendor fairs, demonstrating how far reaching the hobby community extends. Never did I imagine what looking at a work of art or wearing a crocheted scarf could do for me.

This brief reflection on hobbies and community is not meant to be a proclamation that I have cracked the code on how to make hundreds of friends in a new city. There are many days that I only speak to my coworkers or roommates and even more days where I don’t engage with any of my hobbies or their respective communities. However, experiencing the intersection of hobby and community firsthand has given me a new perspective on what life in a big city can be like. It has shown me that community can, and should, take many forms. For me, community has many meanings and feelings. Some days, it is made up of the tight-knit group of friends and peers with whom I share my worries and successes with. On others, community transcends the individuals that make it up and instead represents the feeling that no matter where I go, I am not alone.

For me, community is felt when I am walking through the aisles of craft stores and see people of all ages looking at sewing needles or crochet hooks. It is the few words exchanged as another artist says “excuse me” as they reach for the same yarn I was contemplating buying. It is a group of art lovers contemplating a statue from thousands of years ago. These passing flashes of connection have shifted my understanding of where I fit in outside of work and academia entirely. I can imagine that as the remainder of my time as an FAO Schwarz Fellow progresses, I will only continue to discover who I am and further witness how my hobby-driven community expands alongside my own growth. I can excitedly say that I look forward to all that this experience in New York City has in store.

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Alex Gabriel

Alex (they/he) is the FAO Schwarz Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York in New York City.

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Feature image by Filip Wolak.

August 26, 2024 In Alumni, Beyond the Fellowship, Career

What the 2024 Fellows Are Doing Next

This summer, our second-year Fellows finished up and graduated from their Fellowships. Emphasizing their passion for social impact, each of our seven graduating Fellows has secured roles in the social impact sector. Learn a little more about what each Fellow is doing next, and their experience as an FAO Schwarz Fellow:

Jahmali

Upon completion of her Fellowship at Breakthrough Greater Boston, Jahmali joined the International Institute of New England, a nonprofit helping to aid, employ, and naturalize New England’s refugees and immigrants, as an Admissions Specialist.

“While my passion for eliminating classroom inequity led me to my Fellowship at Breakthrough, I’m not as close to the research aspect I was passionate about in undergrad—I now find myself addressing educational inequity research’s findings first-hand. Being able to connect the dots between social capital discrepancies, financial barriers, social belonging, and discrimination to the nuanced experiences of my caseload of Breakthrough alumni regrounded me in my motivations to expand educational equity.”

Learn about Jahmali’s experience at a Fellowship retreat and perspective on classroom inequality:

Jesse

Upon completion of his Fellowship at NYC Bird Alliance in New York City, Jesse remained on with the organization as a Senior Associate, Advocacy, while attending the Graduate Center at CUNY to earn his PhD in Environmental Psychology. 

“Over the past two years, I have built out advocacy campaigns, organized rallies, testified at New York City Council, worked with elected officials, and engaged thousands of New Yorkers in taking action for wild birds. I am most proud of my work with Dustin Partridge, PhD—NYC Audubon’s Director of Conservation and Science—to research and write a guidance memo on drone light shows for the Mayor’s Office, which will soon be drafted into city-wide legislation to protect birds and people from the harmful effects of artificial light at night.”

Learn more about Jesse’s reflections on his Fellowship experience:

Juan

Upon completion of his Fellowship at Breakthrough Greater Boston, Juan stayed on with Breakthrough as a Development and Operations Associate.

“[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. 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.”

Learn more about why Juan chose to apply to Breakthrough Greater Boston:

Kayla

Upon completion of their Fellowship at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Kayla stayed on with The Clay Studio as a Teaching Artist and After School Coordinator.

“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.”

Learn more about Kayla’s experience at The Clay Studio:

Natalia

Upon completion of their Fellowship at the Museum of the City of New York, Natalia joined both the Morgan Library & Museum and Tenement Museum as a Museum Educator.

“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… 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. “

Learn more about Natalia’s work on field trips at the Museum of the City of New York:

Photo #4 by Filip Wolak.

Sophie

Upon completion of her Fellowship at Audubon Mid-Atlantic, Sophie stayed on with Audubon as Senior Coordinator, Conservation Education.

“One of the most exciting aspects of staying on at Audubon is the chance to see the program I piloted grow and change as the next FAO Schwarz Fellow steps into the role… These past two years have seen me grow into a more confident educator and birder, as well as a leader. I look forward to continuing to grow as I move beyond the FAO Schwarz Fellowship, but I will take with me the wonderful connections that I have made and the support I have received from the fellowship community.”

Learn more about Sophie’s work at Audubon Mid-Atlantic:

Vanessa

Upon completion of her Fellowship at The Food Project in Boston, Vanessa joined Virginia Cooperative Extension as an Associate Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development, an organization that encourages young people to participate in a variety of activities that emphasize 4-H’s “learning by doing” philosophy of youth development.

“One of my highest achievements in youth programming was taking on the role of Youth Development Manager for Dirt Crew this past winter. I found myself able to adapt to not only supporting the youth crew, but also leading them and running the program. This unexpected role was definitely challenging to jump into, but was so rewarding, and I realized how drastically my leadership skills have grown since I first joined The Food Project.”

Learn about Vanessa’s tips for moving to a new city:

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August 14, 2024 In Alumni, Beyond the Fellowship, Cohort, Service, Special Projects

Fellowship Reflections: Interview Between Current and Alumni Museum of Science Fellows

Jocelyn Poste is a current Fellow at the Museum of Science. She recently interviewed Kira Azulay, an alumni Fellow, and her alumni mentor, who remained on with the Museum of Science after her Fellowship ended in 2023 as an Education Associate. Jocelyn and Kira discuss Kira’s time at the Museum of Science, Fellowship memories, the importance of supporting youth, and more.

Kira now works for The Philanthropic Trust in Boston.

 

Jocelyn Poste, current Fellow: What do you do in your current position in the Museum of Science’s In-Gallery Learning Department?

Kira Azulay, alumni Fellow: Most of my work is centered on Youth Programs, which attracts high schoolers / students aged of 14 to 19 to the Museum in various ways. In the summer this can look like running our Summer Youth Intern program. In the academic year, this can be school partnerships. We have a longstanding partnership with Fenway high school where we have weekly a group of juniors come, and we do a science exploration curriculum here at the Museum. We also have larger events called our High School Science Series (HSSS) where we’ll invite Massachusetts and greater New England area students and teachers from high schools to come to the Museum for a day of exploration around a specific science topic such as: Artificial Intelligence, Chemistry, or Climate Change. A lot of different work like this, but we also do general education in the museum, so we support the education team by doing live animal shows, as well as facilitating drop-in activities. There’s a lot of variety.

You definitely get out of the Fellowship what you put into it.

JP: What did your direct service consist of as a Fellow?

KA: A lot of my direct service was the education that we’re doing on the floor like developing a live animal show and then presenting that. Working with visitors in in the halls, but also going out to the community with the community engagement department and doing drop-in activities. For example, we hosted vaccine clinics, which we turned into celebrations of science and brought activities and try to make it a joyful experience. Or going to Horizons for Homeless Children and we would do more activities for very young learners. Also, working with our high school juniors from Fenway High School every week, where we were developing a curriculum for them to explore science identity and specific science topics. It was very hands-on, working closely with a group of about 20 students.

JP: What did your special project consist of?

KA: At the beginning, my special project was researching about a youth leadership council and how that had been implemented at other institutions, then looking into how that would work at the Museum of Science. I think that because of the transition period the Museum was in post-COVID, it was not feasible to make that happen within my Fellowship time. While there’s a lot of excitement around [youth leadership councils], it takes a lot of stakeholders, so that process is complicated, but I did get to learn a lot about youth leadership opportunities. I learned how other institutions have been doing it and how they have been inviting youth into their institutions and getting them involved in a way that is more individual and not just being brought as part of a school or class. I also got involved with the Cambridge Youth Community, as well as youth workers communities, like a group called Reaching All Youth which is a monthly get-together of people that interact with youth in Cambridge in different capacities. That experience was beneficial.

Since we decided that instituting a youth leadership council was going to be difficult and not going to happen within the next academic year, my special project pivoted to running the High School Science Series and trying to create accessible opportunities. Our first couple ended up being virtual, so I was a moderator for one. We worked on getting subtitles for those and getting an ASL interpreter, and we ended up doing live captioning in English and Spanish which was important. Then, I took on more responsibility by running a whole High School Science Series myself, which I did in my second year once we had held one in person, which would have been October 2022.

JP: Do you have any favorite memories from your time as a Fellow?

KA: I think all Fellows might say this, but I really loved the retreats. I think that especially during COVID, that connection was important and the Fellowship component of having a cohort had a really big impact on my experience. I loved getting to connect with other Fellows in person because there’s not really a substitute even though we had Zoom meetings and trainings. In person connection was special and I feel like we created connections and friendships that were important. I keep in touch with all the Fellows, and especially Ryan, who’s in Boston. I think it was fun and it was good to hear other perspectives about what is happening at other types of institutions.

The Museum of Science is a bit of a different host organization from some of the others, and so it was interesting to hear about smaller or bigger places and what the other Fellows’ experiences were with their supervisor, how they were navigating problems, and whether we could share experiences around that. Also, getting to see New York and Philly and just getting to be in those places was nice.

JP: What was your most valuable takeaway from your experience as an FAO Schwarz Fellow?

KA: The youth are the future! I think people can be intimidated by and underestimate youth at the same time. Teens are people and you should treat them as such. I think treating them with the respect and understanding, that I would any other person any other adult, has gone a long way in building relationships with them. They are not kids, and they are still learning, but as an educator, we are there to support and guide their learning.

Something that is important and valuable is that the youth have a voice and they have opinions. You can have conversations with them that you might not be able to have with a younger learner. It’s a good thing to get the perspective of teens and see what they think. Everyone is coming in with their own life experiences and people show up differently, so I have had to learn that not everyone’s learning or listening style looks the same. I had my own preconceptions of what it looks like for students to be paying attention and engaged and that may not always be the case, so I have had to learn a lot from the youth. If you talk to the students they’ll tell you, “Hey, I have a lot going on right now so what would be best for me is just sitting over here and I’ll listen,” or talking to them about their interests.

They are interesting and fully formed people and are capable of a lot more than people think. They just need the like trust and support to do it, but they can do cool things. The youth at the Museum have done like a lot of projects here that are interesting to me, and they come up with and execute these ideas themselves. For example, we had interns over the summer that made an educational activity to talk about wildfires and different things about the ecology of wildfires. They make these different things that are so cool, unique, creative, and are effective at communicating and teaching. It was amazing to see what they could do in just seven weeks. They just needed the space to do that, so it’s been exciting and energizing and a cool experience to watch the youth do amazing things and see them grow over time.

JP: Do you have any advice for current/incoming/prospective Fellows?

KA: You definitely get out of the Fellowship what you put into it, and there are some important things that can impact it. You want to have a good relationship with your supervisor, and I think that is a huge factor in how your Fellowship goes, so you want to make sure that you’re communicating with them and that they are an advocate for you. Related to that, if you are excited about things and intentionally participate, then you’ll have a good experience. If something is not working for you, speak up and you can change things—this is good career advice outside of the Fellowship as well. I know there are Fellows who have worked with their supervisor to take on projects to explore different interests.

Also, huge advice, talk to Priscilla! She is a great advocate for all the Fellows, and she really cares, so I know that she’ll be a resource and will do whatever she can to be supportive. Priscilla will do anything in her power to support your success.

Be brave! Apply!

JP: If you could describe your Fellowship experience in 3 words, what would it be?

KA: Growth, Supportive, Fun (Honorary mention: Grateful)

JP: Having Kira as an alum mentor and working alongside her has taught me a lot, both personally and professionally. Kira has contributed endless efforts during her time at the Museum of Science, as an FAO Schwarz fellow and post-fellowship. I know Kira will bring even more creativity, energy, and wisdom in this next journey of hers!


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Jocelyn Poste

Jocelyn (she/her) is the FAO Schwarz Fellow at the Museum of Science in Boston.

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June 12, 2024 In Beyond the Fellowship, Service, Special Projects

Nothing Short of Life-Changing: A Reflection on Two Years as a Fellow at NYC Audubon

When I began my fellowship on July 12, 2022, I knew I was interested in the world of urban wildlife, but lacked direction and a point of view. Not to mention, I knew nothing about birds. Throughout my time with NYC Audubon, I have been given opportunities to learn about urban wild bird conservation, develop my own perspective and questions, and practice my developing expertise as a social scientist of urban wildlife conservation.

My position at NYC Audubon has been split into two distinct but related halves: Advocacy and Engagement. These halves have also served as a distinction between my Special Project and Direct Service work. My Special Project has been developing NYC Audubon’s advocacy initiatives for city- and state-level bird-friendly legislation. My Direct Service work has involved engaging directly with the public at NYC Audubon’s seasonal environmental center on Governors Island. 

My experience as an FAO Schwarz Fellow and a member of the team at NYC Audubon has been nothing short of life-changing.

Over the past two years, I have built out advocacy campaigns, organized rallies, testified at New York City Council, worked with elected officials, and engaged thousands of New Yorkers in taking action for wild birds. I am most proud of my work with Dustin Partridge, PhD—NYC Audubon’s Director of Conservation and Science—to research and write a guidance memo on drone light shows for the Mayor’s Office, which will soon be drafted into city-wide legislation to protect birds and people from the harmful effects of artificial light at night. I have also developed, coordinated, and conducted nature—and conservation—related programming for children and families on Governors Island and developed the analytical groundwork with which to measure progress as NYC Audubon continues developing bird outings and programming that engage the whole city and reflect the organization’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. 

With the development of experience and knowledge from the Fellowship, I acquired research assistantships with faculty from Rutgers University and Colorado State University to better understand the formation of hemispheric approaches to shorebird conservation, which will result in at least one published academic paper, a conference presentation in Canada, and a research trip to observe shorebird migration—and the people who study it—at the Delaware Bay this May. And, after a long and tasking application process, I am thrilled and honored to begin my PhD in Environmental Psychology at The Graduate Center at CUNY this fall. I plan to study the political ecology of queer cruising geographies in New York City as habitat for wild birds and sites of contestation between people and institutions/agencies. I will also continue to work at NYC Audubon part-time in a new role mainly devoted to advocacy.

My experience as an FAO Schwarz Fellow and a member of the team at NYC Audubon has been nothing short of life-changing. I’m looking forward to seeing the ways in which this experience continues to guide me in my career.

 

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Jesse McLaughlin

Jesse (he/him) is the Advocacy & Engagement FAO Schwarz Fellow at NYC Bird Alliance (formerly NYC Audubon).

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May 13, 2024 In Alumni, Beyond the Fellowship, Career

From Volunteer to Fellow: Reflecting on My Reading Partners Fellowship Experience 

Back in college, I wanted to get more involved with my community and give back. I stumbled across a VolunteerMatch posting from Reading Partners. I went to volunteer at an elementary school in Queens. Every Thursday for about a year, I would trek to the school after college classes and work with a 7-year-old student who was sweet and sometimes got frustrated with the difficulties of learning something.

Fast forward to graduation time in 2018, my supervisor at Baruch College recommended an opportunity through the career portal at school. When I logged in to my account, I was surprised to find Reading Partners on the screen. I felt like I was coming back to a familiar place. This was the start of becoming part of a cohort of fellows and the start of my professional career.

At Reading Partners, I gained experience working with a multitude of elementary school students and supported their learning growth around their literacy skills. As a fellow, I was able to provide service to the schools in South Jamaica, Queens. My work also involved recruiting volunteers, which became an area of interest of mine, and I went to work for two other non-profit organizations in this area of work. I was a volunteer coordinator for three years after my fellowship experience and honed my skill set in this area.

Currently, I work as the Foundation Programs Coordinator at the ICSC Foundation. After working for three years in volunteer management, I wanted to pivot my next step in an area of non-profit that I had worked closely with but never taken a leadership role in. And I love it. I enjoy working with students as we connect them with scholarship and mentorship opportunities. I still work with volunteers, as it is key to our work. I hope to grow in the programmatic area of my work for years to come. Furthermore, I thank the fellowship for supporting my growth and my career as I progress in the landscape of mission-driven organizations.

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Erika Apupalo

Erika (she/her) is the Foundation Programs Coordinator at the ICSC Foundation. She was a Fellow at Reading Partners New York City from 2018-2020.

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March 21, 2024 In Alumni, Beyond the Fellowship

Q&A with Fellowship Alums

Each year, as a part of our newsletter, we ask alums to reflect on a series of questions about the Fellowship and social impact. Check out their responses below, and be sure to continue on to read the full newsletter!

What advice would you give current or soon-to-be alumni Fellows as they're beginning their careers?

Clara Monk ‘22: Ask people you look up to at your org to have coffee with you! While they might not initiate and ask you, in my experience they are always happy to be asked and willing to chat. It’s been a great way for me to build relationships and get career advice!

Molly Blake ‘19: There is no time like the present to try everything. I just switched careers and it is still so exciting and thrilling every single day. Don’t be afraid to shadow people, ask for help, network, and try everything. It is never too late. 

H’Abigail Mlo ‘22: Find joy, rest, and community outside of work. 

Jen Benson ‘17: Over the last two years you’ve set strong foundations to continue to grow your careers. Lean on your experiences, cohort, network, and learnings from the Fellowship, and don’t be afraid to reach for the positions, organizations, and work of your dreams. 

Sara Wilson ‘13: Be kind to yourself, and reflect on your professional goals and aspirations. 

Samantha Perlman ‘19: Be open to new opportunities, be willing to take risks and follow your interests and passion. Your career is just beginning and the FAO community is here to support you as you flourish.

Bianca van Heydoorn ‘09: Experiment early and often in your career. Be willing to make mistakes so that you stay in the practice of innovating and out of what can become a familiar rut. 

Joyce Kim ‘20: Seek out opportunities to try new tasks or roles even if it’s not something that’s officially a part of your job description so that you can have a better understanding of what you enjoy in your work!

Michael McNeill-Martinez ‘14: Be available, open-minded, and build a network of people whose perspectives you appreciate

Lauren Brincat ‘12: Maintain and grow your professional connections and never underestimate the power of a written thank you.

Khari Graves ‘17: Don’t be afraid to call on and leverage the network you have built both through the Fellowship and your organization. Even if it is an alum you have never met before, they are almost always more than willing to help you in any way they can.

Allie Negron ‘18: Don’t be afraid to ask questions, stay curious, and make suggestions! I was promoted within my current organization out of a need to formalize and professionalize the management of the Agency’s project pipeline. While I didn’t necessarily have a ton of project management experience, I had ideas for how we could improve the current process and be clearer and more transparent in our communication. If a responsibility or role you want doesn’t already exist, see how you might be able to carve your own path!

Meredith Jones ‘21: When I think back to my first few years after graduating college, the one thing I wish I’d done differently was to be more patient. It’s a weird time and it’s ok to just let it be weird! Things will change, and while it’s important to plan, you really never know what might come your way. 

Barbyose Noisette ‘09: Become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Sometimes embracing discomfort is a catalyst for significant growth.

Joanna Steinberg ‘08: Let your direct service and special project work inform the other! The fellowship provides an amazing opportunity to develop skills and experience in both of these areas.

Abi Mlo ‘22: Since joining TPL, I have learned and grown immensely. Prior to the fellowship, I’d never worked in this field. Now, I can’t imagine not working towards environmental justice in some capacity. Before completing the fellowship, TPL offered me to stay on and I’m thankful I did. I have led new projects and programs, built new partnerships, and strengthened existing ones. 

Karen Wilber ‘18: One thing that the fellowship helped me do is always think about what I wanted to learn next and how my skills could help my organization grow. This mindset has helped me to continue expanding my skillset in a way that has led to career growth as I’ve stayed at my host organization now for more than 5 years after my fellowship concluded!

Serena Salgado ‘22: Working for a non-profit before becoming a social impact consultant gave me so much context for the work I’m doing now and made me realize that I wanted to remain in the social impact space for my career!

Ellie Sanchez ‘17: I never expected to step into a career in politics/government, but my experience with the fellowship definitely helped me grow and showcase leadership and project management skills that made the transition into this world seamless. I hope that my experience can show current and future fellows that the opportunities after the fellowship are endless, and you can leverage the skills you learn here in a multitude of ways.

Khari Graves ‘17: The fellowship influenced my career path by showing me that the theories and ideas that I studied in school could be applied in a vast number of ways to support my community in their everyday life and material reality. It gave me a chance to grow existing skills and learn new ones in a setting that was incredibly supportive. To this day, I am still supported in my professional and community work by colleagues from my FAO placement. 

Kayla Jones ‘19: The fellowship connected me to other like-minded social impact leaders and accelerated my career growth. It felt great to gain such extensive community engagement and advocacy experience as part of my first job out of college. I went to graduate school after finishing the fellowship and decided to stay within the social impact sector because of my experience at Jumpstart. I look back at my time in the fellowship with fondness because I got the unique opportunity to help so many children and families throughout NYC.

Sara Wilson ‘13: Book banning, reproductive rights, and climate change are important social challenges to solve since they have much larger impacts on society. 

Nicholas Mitch ‘20: I believe it’s always important to take a systems approach to considering the context and effect of our work. To create equitable change, we need to understand the forces that shape the physical, economic, and social environments of which we’re part. 

Sarah Kacevich ‘16: Humans’ relationships with the environment currently need a lot of healing. When we investigate the deep interconnections between racism, slavery, capitalism, and environmental exploitation, it becomes clear that we must work together to envision a future that centers a more just and reciprocal relationship between humans and the Earth.

Ryan Corrigan ‘25: The most important thing to address is economic inequality. It bleeds through everything from access to education, the ability to pressure the government to make positive change, the ability to live a safe and secure life, and it maintains the power structures that reinforce climate change and racial inequity. 

Michael McNeill-Martinez ‘14: Both validating and appreciating identity, and what that means for people from all walks of life. 

Jahmali Matthews ‘23: I am committed to solving social challenges revolving around addressing the root causes of classroom inequality and dismantling systemic barriers that hinder the educational and societal progress of working-class individuals. By advocating for equitable access to education, resources, and opportunities, I believe we can contribute to a more just and inclusive society where everyone has the chance to fulfill their potential.

Sara Wilson ‘13: Frontiers in Social Innovation: The Essential Handbook for Creating, Deploying, and Sustaining Creative Solutions to Systemic Problems – was an interesting read. 

Mariah Peebles ‘11: I highly recommend Matthew Desmond’s new book Poverty, By America–there is a great episode of the podcast Vibe Check where they interview Desmond and discuss the main themes of his latest book. It is so good! 

Michael McNeill-Martinez ‘14: “Becoming a Totally Inclusive School” by Angeline Aow, Sadie Hollins and Stephen Whitehead 

Adriana Moran Garcia ‘22: Currently reading the 100 Year War on Palestine 

Jesse McLaughlin ‘24: The most interesting book related to social impact and my work in the environmental field that I’ve read recently is Decolonizing Extinction by Juno Salazar Parreñas. This book traces the ways in which colonialism, decolonization, and indigeneity shape more-than-human relations at orangutan rehabilitation centers on Borneo. Parreñas asks, “could conservation biology turn away from ultimately violent investments in population growth and embrace a feminist sense of welfare, even if it means experiencing loss and pain.”

Kira Azulay ‘23: The most interesting book I have read recently is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. As the Museum of Science focuses on climate change, it was helpful to me to learn about different ways of interacting with and understanding nature and the place of humans within the natural world. 

Sarika Tatineni Doppalapudi ‘25: One of my favorite books I’ve ever read is “In Search of Our Mothers Gardens: Womanist Prose” by Alice Walker. I first read this book seven years ago, and it has come to shape much of my work. “In Search of Our Mothers Gardens” is a collection of essays, reviews, and speeches, and there are two essays I revisit frequently. Alice Walker’s writings in “In Search of Our Mothers Gardens” and “Looking for Zora” challenge our notions of what archives can, and should, look like, and the importance of finding holistic ways to archive the work and lives of those who have been historically left out of traditional archival spaces.

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Alumni Fellows
March 14, 2024 In Alumni, Beyond the Fellowship, Career

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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January 3, 2024 In Alumni, Beyond the Fellowship, Career

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.

Picture of 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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