Cohort

October 28th marked the start of the Fall 2024 fellowship retreat, bringing together both first- and second-year fellows in New York City. Our retreat began on a crisp autumn day in front of the Whitney Museum, where Sarika, a second-year fellow, had planned the first day of activities. The day at the Whitney set the tone for a week filled with professional development, bonding, and more. It was inspiring to hear about the work the other fellows were taking ownership of at their host organizations. At the museum, we gained valuable insight into their efforts to expand access to the arts, particularly through the Alt Text initiative, which makes art more accessible to blind and low-vision individuals.

On Tuesday, we visited the Year Up United office, where we participated in an implicit bias workshop and an elevator pitch workshop. Later, we gathered at the iconic FAO Schwarz toy store at Rockefeller Center to connect with trustees and alumni fellows. It was fascinating to learn how similar our fellowship experiences were in many ways, while also hearing about the unique paths others have taken. The evening also gave us a chance to practice our elevator pitches once again as we introduced ourselves to new faces.

The next day, the fellows traveled to an elementary school in East Harlem for an introduction to Reading Partners. Shraddha and I delivered an introductory presentation about our organization’s mission and our respective roles. We also facilitated a tutor panel with some of our tutors. Clara Monk (a former fellow at Reading Partners who now works on our national team) spoke about the importance of cultivating a growth mindset. Later, Primo Lasana, our Executive Director at Reading Partners NYC, shared his own career journey and the “why” behind the work we do. In the afternoon, we visited the Museum of the City of New York, where Alex, a first-year fellow at the museum, led a tour of the Shirley Chisholm Gallery and facilitated an activity that illustrated each fellow’s personal journey to the fellowship. 

On Thursday, we visited the Bronx Early Childhood Center, where Sabrina, a second-year fellow at Jumpstart, led us in a literacy activity with young children. We then went to Jumpstart’s office for a development workshop, where we practiced mock pitches to donors and received valuable feedback. The day ended with us working together to create literacy kits. I was particularly drawn to Jumpstart because of its shared focus on early literacy, which aligns closely with Reading Partners.

Beyond the week’s structured activities, the retreat’s real magic came from the opportunity to connect with my fellow cohort members. Learning about the unique experiences each of us brought to our roles at our respective organizations was inspiring. While we all share a deep passion for social impact, our individual backgrounds and perspectives enrich the work we do. Hearing about each other’s accomplishments and passions strengthened the sense of camaraderie and our admiration for each other. Outside of our conversations about work and professional interests, we explored Manhattan and Brooklyn, ate delicious food, and bonded over common interests. Some fellows even revealed hidden talents like palm-reading.

In the short span of a week, I walked away from the retreat feeling more confident, both personally and professionally. I felt validated sharing experiences with each other and more focused on achieving my goals for the fellowship. It was incredibly refreshing and meaningful to interact with people from diverse backgrounds who share a genuine passion for their organizations’ missions and their impact. I’m already looking forward to the next retreat in Philly!

As a second-year, Boston-based Fellow co-leading the visit to my own host organization, I kept thinking back to the first time the cohort visited Breakthrough two years ago. Since Juan, another Fellow at Breakthrough, and I joined the Fellowship just after the retreat planning phase had concluded, we had minimal involvement in the overall planning or facilitation of our organization visit. This time around, Juan and I were involved at every stage. Crafting the Fellowship’s stop at our org was also a very reflective process as we worked together to decide which aspect of Breakthrough’s expansive program we wanted to offer to our cohort.

In the end, we organized a restorative justice circle practice, inviting all Fellows to participate. Each participant introduced an item of personal significance before transitioning into a Q&A session with organizational leaders. The day concluded with a professional development session titled “Why College Success?” During this session, we provided a platform for Fellows to reflect on their college experiences and to underscore the necessity for our direct service as college success coaches. We also explored the various social barriers that impact the experiences of underrepresented minorities in higher education.

The “Why College Success” presentation was a personal highlight of the retreat for me. 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. Aside from being able to reach back into my undergraduate passions, engaging all the Fellows in an exciting reflective discussion felt rewarding, since the room reflected my own passions. 

Aside from leading the Breakthrough site visit, returning to the same host organizations that we spent time with on my first retreat as a first-year Fellow also provided me with a chance to reflect on who I was two years ago and where I want to be two years from now. With each organization intentionally crafting and weaving professional development and Q&A sessions with a diverse set of organizational leaders, I naturally found myself reflecting with other Fellows between the sessions about how the experience or frameworks we had just heard could influence our professional and personal trajectories.

In my reflections, I found myself frequently returning to my interactions with members of research and evaluation teams. While my interest was initially sparked on the New York retreat in the Fall when visiting Jumpstart, visiting the Museum of Science and engaging in a Team-Based Inquiry workshop reignited this interest. Team-Based Inquiry (TBI) is an approach to research and evaluation that emphasizes collaboration among a group of individuals, such as museum visitors. The session provided a professional environment where my foundational knowledge felt directly applicable. The less formal process of evaluating programming interests me as a satisfying overlap of my passion for qualitative research and nonprofit work.

Being able to engage in first-hand observations proved to be incredibly valuable for me. It allowed me to immerse myself in my intersection of interests and gain direct insight into how visitors interacted with different exhibits while I engaged with them myself. Throughout sessions like the TBI workshop, I found myself especially aware of and grateful for the network of professionals that this Fellowship equips me with, as I am connected to people who enable me to further explore and discuss potential avenues in program evaluation.

My final retreat encapsulated the essence of my Fellowship journey—a transformative blend of personal growth, professional development, and meaningful connections. Looking ahead, I carry a renewed sense of purpose and a stronger commitment to positively impacting my community and any future collectives I join after my Fellowship!