Mentorship

Let’s start with an introduction….

I’m Pete Schastny, and I’m the Board Fellowship Chair of the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation. I’ve been a trustee of the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation for a decade and then some. I joined when my mother came off the board—she was one of the original founders—and I’ve been very focused on the Fellowship during my tenure. There is so much about the program that I’m passionate about. For me, it’s been a real honor and pleasure to be part of the Fellowship and to support a program that finds and nurtures young leaders who want to create social change. 

What aspect of the program are you most excited by?

Fellows come in with a strong sense of responsibility. They are really trying to step up and change lives and society for the better. Then, as Fellows, they start learning how to do that. The Fellowship’s host organizations all have incredible expertise in their sector, which can be very powerful for the Fellow. Fellows grow to be deeply engaged in the scope and roots of specific social problems. They immerse themselves in thinking about what causes and what can fix social problems, whether that be life circumstances, families, service organizations, public policy, the economy, or the many different social, physical, cultural and environmental aspects of urban life

But that’s just the start. The experience of direct service—of working in person, face to face, shoulder to shoulder with communities and people who are the focus of the program—whether that be a preschooler learning to read, or a middle-schooler on a field trip in a new neighborhood, or a shy high-school student who needs homework help, or a family experiencing food insecurity, or a fifth-grader with a disability visiting an art program, or a young adult who needs to practice interviewing for a job—that’s what makes the Fellowship unique, and it is what has kept me involved in the Fellowship for so long.

What makes the Fellowship such a transformative experience is this inclusion of direct service work. The experience when a Fellow makes a personal connection? That’s when everything comes into focus. That’s when you can see what the impact of a successful service program can mean. It’s emotional and real. It changes the way you think and it can be humbling. It provides an important and necessary perspective. For some of our Fellows, that is an entirely new kind of experience. 

I really value this part of the Fellowship—the Fellows being able to get to know the actual people that they’re supporting or working with. That balance of direct service work with more strategic work connects the dots. It is what makes permanent change possible. Society won’t ever change if we think only in terms of numbers and not in terms of real people. 

You mention the transition from college to work. That’s always a time filled with life lessons. What strikes you about the Fellows in their metamorphosis from “student’ to ‘professional’?

Part of the experience of being a Fellow means being part of an organization. Our Fellows are coming from colleges and universities—big, stable institutions that change slowly and incrementally where you’re with the same people for most of your four years. 

That is not how it works in some of our nonprofit host organizations, however. For Fellows, the experience of organizational change often comes as an unpleasant  surprise, but I tell them that even for many senior professionals, change is not easy. 

Many of the host organizations we work with can and do change rapidly—Covid, for example, forced a lot of organizations to adapt quickly. A new executive director almost always means big change. Staff turnover means change. A major grant can mean change. New public policy, new tools, a new political administration, economic change, a major research report—any of that can be disruptive.

This isn’t something any Fellow plans for. I’m not sure you can even assess how a Fellow might respond to dramatic change in an interview. In selecting our hosts, we consider the potential for change in a host organization during the Fellowship and assess how they might handle it. Not all change is predictable, of course. We don’t have a crystal ball.

But one thing is certain. Change can and will happen and more often than not it will be unexpected. Sometimes in some cases it’s uneventful, like, “hey, there have been some changes in the organization, ok. cool”.  I think most Fellows not only take it on, they take it in good stride, which I know is not always easy.

Change can be disruptive and unsettling—a difficult test of personal strengths and knowing what you want to accomplish.

It isn’t always negative. Change can mean new opportunities or responsibilities and new ideas and better ways to do things. But that may be hard to see, and it is not always easy for Fellows. 

Getting comfortable with change is an important skill to develop and a hard one to acquire. The Fellowship, because it is a two-year commitment, will usually give Fellows experience with change. When that happens, I encourage Fellows to take advantage of that and figure out how to adapt. Later on, in your career and life, you will be happy that you did, even if you dislike it in the moment.

You often engage with Fellows and offer career advice. What are some of the things you talk about?

Sometimes Fellows come in wanting to make a difference in the world and assume a leadership role on day one. I’m delighted to see that energy! I try to open their eyes to the concept of growth and listening to their passions to learn who they are, so they can be thoughtful in thinking about the long term.

I love to see Fellows grow by leaps and bounds in their roles and take on more responsibilities. Week one, they’re listening quietly in the back of a room—very quickly, they’re up front giving a talk—then a little later, they’re meeting with a state representative to advocate for change. You see this growth multiplied over the two years—it’s so impressive. 

I mostly talk about careers with Fellows. The Fellowship is often described as a jump start for careers, and I think we clearly do that. Priscilla Cohen, Executive Director of the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation, and I try to help Fellows learn to use this experience to position themselves for future opportunities effectively. Whether it’s graduate school, whether it’s a new organization, whether it’s staying on at their own organization in a new role, or choosing a totally different path, we want them to be ready to move forward and have good processes for making such personal decisions. 

Let’s talk a little about Fellowship host organizations. Tell us a little about how host selection is designed to contribute to the Fellowship experience.

Well, we spend a lot of time thinking and discussing hosts as a board. We want the hosts we select to share our goals for the Fellowship and to know that they will be strong collaborative partners. We like to see thoughtful Fellowship descriptions that combine strategy and direct service in an interesting way. Location, mission, impact in the community, work environment, etc. Will it be an appealing role for a new college graduate with lots of opportunity to learn and to lead? Will there be a good work-life balance? I’m always looking for that.

The diversity of Fellowship positions offered in any given year is also important to us. We like some variety because we are selecting multiple hosts. You’d see exactly why if you joined one of our retreats. Diversity means a lot more conversation and sharing among Fellows. Bringing Fellows together for training and for talking about their experiences creates a fantastic learning experience—Fellows say it’s one of their favorite parts of the Fellowship.

What do you think the Host Organizations value most?

Well obviously they enjoy increased capacity because they have the service of an incredibly talented Fellow for two years. In fact, I think one of the most valuable aspects of the Fellowship is the amazing talent pool available to hosts through the Fellowship. People interested in the Fellowship are an energetic group, deeply engaged in social issues and skilled at creative-problem solving. They understand the mindset of a younger demographic and can bring new ideas and skills to any host.

It goes further. More often than not, these organization’s aren’t just hiring a Fellow—they’re hiring the person who will be leading a department in their organization or working to pass legislation that affects their organization or leading future strategic projects in the near future, or even consulting with them on a strategic plan three years from now. A majority of hosts offer roles to their Fellows after the Fellowship is over.  

Hosts tell us they love the program, and I think that’s born out by the number of hosts who re-apply to host a Fellow every two-year cycle. We have a lot of repeat hosts but we still try to make room for a new one or two each year. Hosts put a lot of work into thinking about how to design an experience. You can tell they understand the unique nature of the Fellowship. And college advisers, too, recognize that something different is happening here, and they encourage students with a passion for leading change to apply. 

Final thoughts?

I’m so excited for this next cohort. Applications for the next cohort will have just closed when this is published, and we’ll be excited to hear from our host organizations as they begin the screening process. That’s another interesting difference—hosts pick their Fellows, not us. 

And even though we typically select 5-7 Fellows each year, we hope that the program has communicated to everyone else how much we respect and value their interest. Choosing to lead change as a career is an extraordinary and wonderful choice and one that the Fellowship by its very existence, hopes to honor and encourage. I’d like to encourage every applicant who took the time to tell us they want to “lead the change” to find a way to do just that, whether or not they are selected for a Fellowship. The Foundation has always believed in the imagination of young people who want a better world. And we’re heartened to know that so many talented young leaders have that goal. We wish them the very best. We need them all.