I’m originally from Los Angeles. I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, and moved across the country to New York City for the Fellowship. I work at Reading Partners, an early literacy organization that serves students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade that are reading behind grade level. Traditionally, we partner with schools across the city to tutor students during the school day, but my strategic project involves leading our Collective Impact work, where we’re expanding our reach beyond the school setting. I train staff at other organizations on how to implement our curriculum in their afterschool programs and more. I also lead our family engagement work, co-facilitating literacy workshops and sharing resources for community members and caregivers interested in supporting children’s literacy outside of the classroom.

I’m on a small but mighty team of three, working directly under our executive director, and I’ve juggled a lot during my time as a Fellow. For a time, I managed all of our Collective Impact tutoring partnerships while concurrently working on a family engagement project with the Office of Family and Community Empowerment (FACE) under New York City’s Department of Education, reaching over 1,250 people across 37 community school districts. 

Having a lot of responsibility and working closely with our Executive Director has been an incredibly rewarding experience, but I will say, it’s very different from what I expected coming into the Fellowship.

A couple weeks into the Fellowship, my manager, who had been spearheading this work, left Reading Partners. Suddenly, I went from receiving training to leading training for partners without much knowledge of what was going on. As a recent graduate starting my first full-time job, I jumped into my role and soon learned that I would be working directly under our Executive Director, which did not ease my nerves.

As uncertain of myself as I was, I felt grateful for the support of the Fellowship. Amid the transition, I spoke with the Fellowship Executive Director, Priscilla, and my alumni mentors, Gaby and Joe, who checked in with me and offered support and wisdom. I grew determined to take on each new responsibility as a growth opportunity. Embracing these new responsibilities with my manager’s departure allowed me to learn new skills and earn my team’s trust.

Leaning into the Fellowship also meant finding important lessons in our Fellowship retreats. Fellows work at a variety of organizations with very different missions. Whether they’re focused on food justice, environmental conservation, or art, the retreats provide Fellows with opportunities to share our work with each other and talk about the ups and downs of our experiences. Having this insight is what makes being a part of this cohort so valuable.

As I prepare to transition from the Fellowship back to school, I bring lessons learned about my own capabilities and new relationships. Good luck to all who’ve applied to be part of the next cohort of Fellows. I hope you grow as much from the Fellowship experience as I have!