TAN Affiliates Play Key Roles in Local Programs' Success
By Stephanie Mirkin
PP55 Program Manager
At 9:00 every Wednesday morning, fellows in Chicago enter their weekly seminar eager to learn about important social issues affecting the communities they are working to improve.
As the discussion gets underway, fellows draw on their past experiences to provide insights. Some talk about volunteering at the local soup kitchen through Northwestern University, others mention organizing a fundraiser for a community center through the University of Chicago, and others talk about mentoring elementary school students through Princeton University.
While this may seem unusual, it has actually become ordinary in Chicago for Princeton Project 55, Northwestern University Public Interest Program, and the University of Chicago Public Interest Program to work together to design a seminar series for all the fellows at these institutions.
With 33 fellows among the three programs this year, greater opportunities exist for sharing insights and perspectives on social issues. Aiala Levy ’07, former Project 55 Fellow at Mikva Challenge, said of collaborative seminars, “One of my favorite aspects of the Project 55 program in Chicago was being able to interact with and get to know fellows from Northwestern and the University of Chicago. Having fellows from local universities meant, in seminars, a broader range of perspectives and, outside of seminars, a fun guide to the city. In fact, some of the best friends I made as a Project 55 Fellow were graduates of Northwestern and University of Chicago.”
TAN affiliates engage in workshop discussions at the 2007 TAN Conference in Princeton, NJ.
Chicago is not the only PP55 location that benefits from collaborating with The Alumni Network affiliates. Collaboration is increasingly playing a key role in the success of local seminar series and fellowship communities in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Combining efforts with TAN affiliate programs in fellowship locations increases local connections to offer a broader array of seminars, provides greater man-power to organize events, and allows fellows to build a larger network and learn from a diverse group of people.
In Washington D.C, Washington and Lee University’s Elrod Fellowship and Harvard’s Center for Public Interest Careers work very closely with the Project 55 area committee to plan seminars for fellows. John Nolan, alumni volunteer for the Elrod Fellowship, participates on monthly conference calls with local affiliates and is instrumental in planning programming for fellows. With the small size of the Elrod Fellowship, Nolan comments that “without collaboration, the ability for robust seminars does not exist.”
In addition, with more volunteers on the committee, the “number of local contacts increases along with the ability to generate great ideas.” Nolan has also found it an enriching experience to work with alumni from other universities, commenting that the work “has been absolutely seamless.”
Alumni from TAN affiliate programs all over the country rally behind the common goal of exposing young alumni to the public interest and collaborate to expand the educational offerings for these future civic leaders.
The Alumni Network: 2008-2009 Placement Numbers
The success of TAN affiliates can be seen through the increased number of internship and fellowship placements made each year. We’ve included the impressive 2008-2009 internship and fellowship placement numbers for 16 of our TAN affiliates below. For a complete breakdown by program and geographic region, please log into Project 55 Connect.
•Total Interns: 290
•Total Fellows: 303
•Total Placements: 593
•Total Alumni Engaged: 887
Questions? Contact Emily Tang, Program Coordinator, at ETang@project55.org or 609-921-8808 ext. 6