shared effort fall 2010 edition

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On October 13, Prince- ton AlumniCorps, in con- junction with the Prince- ton Club of Washington, held our first Community Volunteers outreach event in Washington DC, bringing together over 25 alumni for a rousing dis- cussion around board service and how to best get plugged into the non- profit sector. This event was a wonderful opportu- nity for the AlumniCorps community to engage a new group of Princeto- nians around our vision of civic engagement and leadership; it was a great start as we begin to reach out to nonprofit organiza- tions and identify their needs at the Board level. Panelists Bill Richard- son ’73, Dick Walker ’73 and Hilary Joel ’85 shared from their per- sonal experiences work- ing and volunteering in the nonprofit sector, and offered advice to alumni looking to lend their skills in a new way. As a precursor to the network- ing event Princeton AlumniCorps hosted No- vember 15th with repre- sentatives of local non- profits, this was a heart- ening first step for Princeton AlumniCorps newest program! Board member and facilitator, Arthur McKee ’90, closed the panel discus- sion by saying, “I hold this organization as a sa- cred trust bequeathed to us, the younger genera- tions, by a truly inspiring group of individuals. It is up to us to continue to carry and lead their leg- acy through programs like Community Volun- teers.” John Shriver, Program Director In This Issue Community Volunteers Program Launches Visit Shared Effort Online to read this article and more! blog.alumnicorps.org 2 A Focus on Food 2 Individual Donors Shine in 2009-2010 3 PP55 Fellows at a Glance 3 PP55 Program Update 4 Changing the Atlanta Community: A Profile of Sara Deitch s55 5 Board Member Spotlight: Margarita Rosa ’74 6 Regional Updates 7 The Alumni Network in the Windy City Volume 13, Number 3 Fall 2010 A new program for alumni from classes in the '60s, '70s, and '80s: Many nonprofits are deeply invested in their communities but lack the resources to fully leverage their vision. Likewise, many alumni have the skills and experience to make a real difference in their community--but have not been offered an opportunity to meaningfully give back. Princeton AlumniCorps wants to change that. Lend your time and your talent alongside other Princeton alumni volunteers. To learn more, contact William Leahy ’66, President of Princeton AlumniCorps at [email protected]. Alumni from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s gathered in Washington for the Community Volunteers launch.

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Page 1: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

On October 13, Prince-ton AlumniCorps, in con-junction with the Prince-ton Club of Washington, held our first Community Volunteers outreach event in Washington DC, bringing together over 25 alumni for a rousing dis-cussion around board service and how to best get plugged into the non-profit sector. This event was a wonderful opportu-nity for the AlumniCorps community to engage a new group of Princeto-nians around our vision of civic engagement and leadership; it was a great

start as we begin to reach out to nonprofit organiza-tions and identify their needs at the Board level. Panelists Bill Richard-son ’73, Dick Walker ’73 and Hilary Joel ’85 shared from their per-sonal experiences work-ing and volunteering in the nonprofit sector, and offered advice to alumni looking to lend their skills in a new way. As a precursor to the network-ing event Princeton AlumniCorps hosted No-vember 15th with repre-sentatives of local non-profits, this was a heart-

ening first step for Princeton AlumniCorps newest program! Board member and facilitator, Arthur McKee ’90, closed the panel discus-sion by saying, “I hold this organization as a sa-cred trust bequeathed to us, the younger genera-tions, by a truly inspiring group of individuals. It is up to us to continue to carry and lead their leg-acy through programs like Community Volun-teers.”

John Shriver, Program Director

In This Issue

Community Volunteers Program Launches

Visit Shared Effort Online to read this article and more!

blog.alumnicorps.org

2 A Focus on Food

2 Individual Donors Shine in 2009-2010

3 PP55 Fellows at a Glance

3 PP55 Program Update

4 Changing the Atlanta Community: A Profile of Sara Deitch s55

5 Board Member Spotlight: Margarita Rosa ’74

6 Regional Updates

7 The Alumni Network in the Windy City

Volume 13, Number 3 Fall 2010

A new program for alumni from classes in the '60s, '70s, and '80s:

Many nonprofits are deeply invested in their communities but lack the resources to fully leverage their vision. Likewise, many alumni

have the skills and experience to make a real difference in their community--but have not been offered an opportunity to

meaningfully give back.

Princeton AlumniCorps wants to change that.

Lend your time and your talent alongside other Princeton alumni volunteers.

To learn more, contact William Leahy ’66, President of Princeton AlumniCorps

at [email protected].

Alumni from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s gathered in Washington for the Community Volunteers launch.

Page 2: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

Page 2 Shared Effort

Gordon Douglas ’55 and Sheila Mahoney are committed to communicating and helping to find solutions to the perils of industrial food production. They ap-proached the Princeton AlumniCorps Board with a plan to help increase the number of fellowship placements focused on this important public health issue. Here is an update from Gordon and Sheila on their work to bring attention and expertise to this issue through our fellowship program:

Our idea for food fellowships was presented to the Board of Directors of AlumniCorps on September 25, 2010. The problem addressed in the pro-posal is modern industrial food production (“factory farming”) and its dev-astating effects on human health, the environment, and on animal welfare. The marked rise in obesity and Type II diabetes plus sustained high rates of cancer and heart disease are directly attributable to modern food production. With the goal of creating fellowships in this very important area we have been approaching nonprofit organi-zations that are working on making the facts clear, increasing public awareness of the issues and promoting sus-tainable alternatives. Fellowships may be focused in a variety of areas including public policy, science, public health, alternative agriculture initiatives, and advocacy.

Some of the most active organizations with whom we are in contact are Pew Charitable Trusts, Union of Con-cerned Scientists, Center for a Liveable Future at Johns Hopkins, Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Humane Society of the United States. They have all been very enthusiastic about the program. Additional organiza-tions that have indicated interest include universities, health departments, foundations, state and community food programs, and more. One of the officers at the Pew Charitable Trusts called this the “new environmental move-ment.”

We plan to continue to email you with updates and we welcome your involvement. Gordon Douglas ‘55 Sheila Mahoney For more information, email [email protected]

A Focus on Food

Individual Donors Shine in 2009-2010, Despite Economic Recession

Princeton AlumniCorps’ 2009-2010 annual campaign, led by volunteers and staff, raised a total of $192,123 from 331 individuals, an 11% decline from the previous year. However, events in celebration of our 20th anni-versary were instrumental to bridging decreases in support. The gala and other anniversary celebrations across the nation raised a net total of $114,194 from 291 individuals to sup-plement funds raised from our annual campaign. We are delighted to report that last year was a record year for gifts from new donors, with more than 130 indi-viduals making a first time gift to Princeton AlumniCorps. A special thanks to all of those who made their first gift last year – we hope you will continue your support!

The support of our individual donors also mitigated an immense decrease in foundation funding last year. We re-ceived $72,000 from foundations, a decrease of more than 50% from the $146,557 raised in the previous year. Although we anticipate increases in foundation funding in 2010-2011, indi-vidual donors provide our largest source of support, and your help is critical to advancing the mission of Princeton AlumniCorps. “We have the stalwart supporters from the Class of 1955 and the many donors from younger classes to thank for our success. In 1989 we were an organization envisioned and supported by members of one visionary Princeton Class. Since our inception, Princeton AlumniCorps has engaged donors representing 58 different Princeton

classes,” says Executive Director, Kathleen Reilly. “When you choose to give to Princeton AlumniCorps, you are not only supporting yourself, your community, and current Project 55 fellows and Community Volunteers. You are bringing attention and social context to the good work of Princeto-nians of all ages, for many generations to come. Our impact in cities across the country is only made possible be-cause so many passionate, dedicated alumni give.” As we launch our new umbrella name, two exciting new programs, and a renewed commitment to engaging alumni of all generations, Princeton AlumniCorps is relying on your sup-port! Make your gift count for the fu-ture of AlumniCorps and donate today!

Page 3: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

Volume 13, Number 3 Page 3

“Believe it or not, even pretending to be the Big Bad Wolf while playing with a 4 year-old girl at a Children’s Socialization Group every Thursday brings me all the more closer to an-swering such grand questions like “Could I really be a psychologist?” to such equally as important ones like “Does this voice sound wolf-like enough?”

- Alejandro Perez ’10, New York Center for Child Development

“This has been and will continue to be a year of much personal and professional growth. I am learning to become more adaptable in terms of adjusting to a new environment, as well as taking on new tasks and responsibilities...The meaningful relationships I am mak-ing with students and staff continues to help me in my ability to relate to a wide range of people…”

- Jess Jardine ’10, Umoja Student Development Corporation

“Last week, my mentor took me and another fellow to a Democratic National Committee event featuring Victoria Kennedy (the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s wife) and First Lady Mi-chelle Obama. We had the opportunity to briefly meet Mrs. Obama, and of course, we excit-edly informed her that we were fellow Princeton graduates and current Project 55 fel-lows…”

- Aditi Vasan ’10, Primary Care Coalition

The deadlines for the Project 55 fel-lowship program may be in December (3rd for organizations and 15th for stu-dents), but October and November are certainly the months to put things in motion. Area committee members have diligently been sending in organi-zation contact information, students have been trickling in through our of-fices, and there is a steady stream of emails from people who want to know more. How does the process work? How can they take part? The first major applicant information event of the month occurred on the first day of the month: Friday, October 17st was Princeton Career Services’ General Interest Career Fair. More than 80 students stopped by the Princeton AlumniCorps’ Project 55

table and filled out a sign-up sheet, including 74 seniors. The students had varying degrees of familiarity with Project 55 fellowships: from knowing just our name, to knowing current fel-lows, to knowing what organization they envisioned themselves at next year. We also held an information session on October 12th that was well attended by approximately 40 enthusiastic stu-dents. Katie Ko ’09, Scott Welfel ’06 and Julianne Grasso ’10 spoke about their fellowship experiences in New York, Newark and Philadelphia re-spectively. We will be participating in three information sessions in Novem-ber: a November 9th panel hosted by Career Services featuring staff from Princeton AlumniCorps as well as

Princeton in Asia, Princeton in Africa, and Princeton in Latin America; a panel event hosted by the Princeton Varsity Club aimed at reaching student athletes on November 16th; and a Pro-ject 55 fellowships information session on November 17th.

Project 55 Fellows at a Glance...

Project 55 Fellowship Program Update

Alumni interviews with

fellowship applicants take place in Princeton in January.

If you’re interested in helping to interview fellowship applicants or learning more, please contact

Sara Gordon at [email protected].

Read their full stories on the PP55 fellows blog at pp55fellows.blogspot.com

Page 4: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

Page 4 Shared Effort

Changing the Atlanta Community: A Profile of Sara Deitch S55

“What are you going to do with the last third of your life?” asked Ralph Nader ’55, with an intense, inquisitive look in his eyes. It was 1989 and an aging group of men and their wives sat staring right back; many pondered the question, but they had not answered it, “What could they do?” Leaning for-ward, Ralph Nader paused and slowly surveyed the room. In a low voice he said, “Create an alumni service organi-zation.” It was a simple idea; but it struck a chord as each felt the electric-ity of excitement in the room. They could change the world. Sara Deitch, wife of Milton Deitch ’55, felt the electricity too. But the idea was for the men. The women, mostly housewives, were not considered part of the big picture. It was not until months later, when the men realized that starting an alumni service organi-zation required the expertise of women, much like their wives, that Sara was able to really smile and relish in the excitement of the idea. After the mini-reunion in Washing-ton, Milton and Sara Deitch both be-came part of the AlumniCorps commu-nity. They were proud Board members of the organization and for six years they trekked back and forth from their home in Atlanta to AlumniCorps in Princeton to attend Board meetings, where ideas flew like sparks. In 1992, Bill Shafer ’55, another Board member, got her involved in service credit banking. Sara used the concept of service credit banking to create her own organization, Care-Share Exchange, which helps senior citizens live independently instead of in institutional care. If a woman needs a ride to the doctor, a driver, whether older or younger, is available to drive her and then banks the hours, and in return the woman would offer another service such as making telephone calls to make up for the hours it took to

drive her. Younger volunteers banked hours into a community account where people could withdraw from without having to do anything in return. Despite fundraising barriers, Sara is quick to say the program was success-ful. By providing services for Senior Citizens, Sara’s organization raised awareness within the Atlanta commu-nity about senior citizen life. Under her guidance, from 1992 to 2004 Care-Share Exchange blossomed into a functioning senior citizen program that benefited not only the senior citizens involved but also the volunteers who participated. In 2004, the Atlanta Sen-ior Citizens Services, another senior citizen community organization, was intrigued by what Sara had been doing and folded CareShare Exchange into their program. Sara’s hard work for the elderly car-ried over to helping Princeton students in Atlanta. She ran the Atlanta Project 55 Fellowship Program in the 1990s, forming bonds with over 20 agencies

for placements. “She is a visionary…very determined,” says Milton, de-scribing his wife, “because of her I became involved in a lot of things that I wouldn’t have been involved in on my own.” The Deitch’s house became a home away from home for many Princeton interns and fellows and they remember Sara’s kindness and generosity. She

enjoyed building lasting relationships with the interns and fellows in Atlanta during and after their time working for non-profits in the area. Additionally, Sara built relationships with the sup-port staff at Princeton AlumniCorps in Princeton, particularly Marjorie K. Berger, the late Princeton Alumni-Corps administrator. “The changes taking place now are wonderful because you can see the concept broadening to involve more alumni…it’s evolving,” says Sara. Sara Deitch, in her own right, changed her world and the world of the people she came in contact with; thus fulfilling and building upon the ideas Ralph Nader proposed in the 1989 Washing-ton Reunion. Twenty-one years later, Princeton AlumniCorps is still going strong. “Awesome!” is the first word that comes to mind when Sara thinks about Princeton AlumniCorps; it is also the perfect word to describe her. What be-gan in Washington has multiplied across cities and across generations with the hard work of leaders like Sara. Thank you, Sara Deitch, for your years of meaningful service. By Krystal Hill ’11, AlumniCorps Intern

“Sara Deitch changed her world and the world of the

people she came in contact with; thus fulfilling and building upon the ideas

Ralph Nader proposed in the 1989 Washington Reunion.”

Page 5: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

Volume 13, Number 3 Page 5

Margarita Rosa, Esq. '74 has dedi-cated much of her life to the pursuit and promotion of social justice. As an undergraduate she joined other stu-dents in advocating, and planning for, the creation of the Third World Cul-ture Center (now the Carl Fields Cen-ter) at Princeton University. As a stu-dent, and later as a member of Prince-ton's Alumni Schools Committee, Mar-garita recruited students to college from inner city schools in NYC, her hometown. Since 1995, Margarita has led a community-based, human service organization the Grand Street Settle-ment (GSS), located on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Margarita has taught public policy/public administration and law to graduate students and has spoken extensively on subjects related to human rights, justice and equality, and inclusive diversity.

How/Why did you get involved with Princeton AlumniCorps? Did it sur-prise you to learn that Princeton AlumniCorps is a multigenerational organization?

Some years ago, I hosted a visit of Princeton Project 55 participants, in-cluding Board members, to the Grand Street Settlement, where I have served as the Executive Director since 1995. I have known of the work of PP55 and have interacted with a number of PP55 fellows over the years and have been impressed with their dedication and their service. Last year, two members of the Board of Directors of AlumniCorps who are familiar with my work as a nonprofit

professional and former government official, asked me to consider serving on the Board. AlumniCorps seemed to be a place where I, as a Princeton alumna, could work with other like-minded individuals to encourage and support members of the Princeton Uni-versity community interested in par-ticipating in public service and in af-fecting social change. In the summer of 2010, I was elected to the Board of AlumniCorps.

What is your background regarding nonprofits/volunteering? How have you demonstrated “Princeton in the Nation’s Service?”

My engagement in volunteer activi-ties began in elementary school where I tutored young children from my own, and other, underserved communities. While in high school I worked as a Red Cross volunteer and also served as an after-school program volunteer working with school-aged children at a school for the deaf and hearing im-paired. During summer vacations I served as a summer day camp coun-selor in a camp for deaf children. While at the Harvard Law School I had summer internships at the Office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund – a civil rights organization – where I subsequently worked as a staff attorney. I also had the privilege of serving as the NYS Commissioner of Human Rights in the administration of Governor Mario M. Cuomo. I began my work in government as General Counsel of the NYS Division of Hu-man Rights and served as Executive Deputy Commissioner before being appointed Commissioner. My work at the Division of Human Rights solidi-fied my commitment to public service, advocacy, civic engagement and the pursuit of social justice. When the Cuomo administration ended, in 1995, I joined the Grand Street Settlement as its Executive Director.

What’s the most important thing you look for when supporting an organi-zation or serving on a nonprofit board?

Understanding and believing in the mission of the organization is of para-mount importance to me. I also want to know who the professional (staff) and lay (Board) leaders are and how they carry out their leadership roles. I want to know whether the leaders are well-informed, inclusive, open to new ideas and to new people. Are their in-teractions with each other, and with the organization’s constituents, respectful? Is there transparency in the organiza-tion’s financial and programmatic transactions? Are the organization’s resources – including its human re-sources (i.e. staff and Board) – used wisely and in service of the mission?

Please discuss the importance of what Princeton AlumniCorps does for the Princeton community and communities across the country.

AlumniCorps gives alumnae/i the opportunity to share their professional and personal experiences and expertise with individuals and organizations that can use their help and support. Volun-teers also have the opportunity to learn from the organizations in which they serve and from the individuals whose lives they touch.

For 2010-11, AlumniCorps placed 51 Project 55 fellows. What would your advice be for our newest class of PP55 fellows, and to those Princeto-nians who are still looking for a job next year?

Whether you’re employed or looking for a job, don’t hesitate to use your formal and informal networks, includ-ing classmates, professors, and alumni. Remember that demonstrating that you can “work and play well with others” makes you a valuable and respected member of a team and can lead to new opportunities and lasting relationships.

Board Member Spotlight: Margarita Rosa ’74

Page 6: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

-Boston- In the Boston area, Princeton AlumniCorps is in full swing! The current class of fellows has at-tended seminars on careers in the public interest as well as education reform in Massachusetts. The Area Committee has worked to engage previous fellows and is now focusing ef-forts on recruiting new partner organi-zations. Tom Flynn, parent of Julie Flynn ’10, who is currently a fellow at the New York District Attorney’s Of-fice, has joined the Boston Area Com-mittee and is leading up the partner organization recruitment efforts.

-Bay Area-

Our five fellows are very engaged in the work at their placements, including Christina Jones ’10 at KIPP Founda-tion, who was able to catch an ad-vanced screening of widely discussed Waiting for “Superman” which fea-tures KIPP schools. Another Bay Area highlight, Christina adds, is the popu-larity of orange and black after the San Francisco Giants World Series win! On November 11th, the fellows at-tended their first seminar at Stanford entitled “Strategic Philanthropy: Get-ting Results and Adding Value" along with TAN affiliates Harvard CPIC and Stanford SPIN fellows. Steve McNa-mara ’55 and his wife Kay generously hosted a welcome dinner on November 20th.

-Chicago- Kristen Molloy ’08 writes, “The weekly seminar program for 2010-11 Chicago PP55 fellows is off to a great start. For the past two months, fellows have attended a series of seminars fo-cusing on the theme of "hard times" and how the economic downturn has affected neighborhoods in Chi-cago. During this series, fellows vis-ited organizations such as the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the Chi-cago Jobs Council, and the Greater

Chicago Food Depository and heard from speakers such as journalist Salim Muwakkil, who discussed how the downturn has affected the African American community in Chi-cago. Starting in December, seminars will focus on education reform in Chi-cago. In other news, the Chicago Steering Committee has been busy re-cruiting new placement organizations, hosting events to acclimate new fel-lows to Chicago, and planning a spring event for PP55 alums.

-Connecticut- Connecticut’s two fellows Blessing Agunwamba ’10 and Idil Kore ’10 are excelling at Norwalk Community Health Center. Harry Berkowitz ’55 is looking to work with Larry Cross, the health center’s executive director, to organize a day-long Public Health and Civic Service Event for local Prince-ton alumni and the community.

-New York- Kristen Smith ’03 writes, “We are thrilled to have 20 fellows in New York this year. On October 6th, Steve Houck ’69 and Toni Houck held our annual welcome dinner for the fellows complete with delicious Indian food. We recently held a seminar at the Dis-trict Attorney’s office which was a debate between Peter Kougasian '76 (Bureau Chief of Office of Special Narcotics) and Robin Steinberg (Founder and Executive Director of the Bronx Defenders). We reached out to fellows from Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth to participate in this debate

creating a lively discussion about the criminal justice system. We are looking forward to our Career Night on November 30th hosted by the Arthur Mal-man '64 P'96 P'03 and Pro-fessor Laurie Malman dur-ing which the fellows will have an opportunity to meet and network with industry professionals."

-Philadelphia- Julianne Grasso ’10, fellow at Foun-dations, Inc. came to Princeton on Oc-tober 12th to serve on a panel for an information session and encourage applicants to consider a fellowship in Philadelphia, as a key group of volun-teers on the ground works to expand the program. This initiative is being led by Carol Rosenfeld ’05, who has been in touch with Chet Safian ’55 about growing a program.

-Washington, DC- Kate Lewis-LaMonica ’08 shares the following: “The DC Region was ex-cited to welcome our largest cohort ever – 13 fellows. In July, the early arrivers gathered in Chinatown to meet the other fellows and local volunteers, and then again in August to volunteer together at Bruce Monroe Elementary during DC Public Schools Beautifica-tion Day. We finally formally wel-comed the fellows at our orientation dinner in September: As tradition, AlumniCorps President Bill Leahy ’66 and his wife, Chris, hosted a wonderful dinner at their home. Fellows gathered for a September workshop, Career Re-flection 101, and the most recent semi-nar, "Options in Your 20s," featured a panel of successful young profession-als degree who spoke to the career choices they've made since graduating. On the social front, volunteers and fel-lows have organized outings to farm festivals and community dinners to sprinkle fun into our fall calendar.”

Page 6 Shared Effort

Regional Updates

Page 7: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

Volume 13, Number 3 Page 7

Turning Challenges into Opportunities: The University of Chicago, Northwestern,

and Princeton in Chicago On June 9, 2010, alumni volunteers and fellows from the Project 55 Fel-lowship Program, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University public interest programs attended the first annual Chicago PIP conference. All three programs work together to provide fellowships in the nonprofit and public interest sector to recent graduates in Chicago. The conference in June was a prom-ising and helpful opportunity for all three fellowship programs to reflect on past goals and to plan for the future; it was a collabo-rative effort that pinpointed funding, alumni involvement, mentoring, program manage-ment, and program evaluation as common concerns. According to Vince Anderson ’65 – a mentor who now coordinates partner organization recruitment as well as working on seminars – it was the first meeting of its kind. By bringing the three schools to-gether in a collaborative setting, each gained a better understanding of how to reach out in Chicago and in other major cities across the nation. While the three schools each see civic engagement, social change, and community outreach as their program-matic focus, each school models differ-ent leadership and faces different kinds of challenges. The University of Chicago Public Interest Program (UCPIP) started in 1999 as a volunteer program led by John Fish ’55, a founder of Princeton Project 55 and also an alumnus of the University of Chicago. Inspired by Project 55 fellows, and with the help of Fish, UCPIP modeled its fellowship program after Princeton AlumniCorps. In 2005, two alumni and a faculty

advisor launched the Northwestern University Public Interest Program; a mostly student led organization and, in some ways, one also modeled after Princeton AlumniCorps fellowship program. After its inception, North-western joined the University of Chi-cago and AlumniCorps programs. This collaborative effort, the sharing of seminars and broadening of support networks, would come to be known as the PP55 Chicago Program. As a re-

sult, this collaboration has allowed the University of Chicago and Northwest-ern to uniquely benefit from what AlumniCorps has learned over its 20 years of sustained impact. Yet AlumniCorps’ independence from Princeton University and strong network of loyal alumni volunteers is a challenging model to recreate. Kelly Kleiman, a board member of UCPIP, talked about the difficulties confront-ing the two Chicago schools: “We’re all fighting university bureaucracy, handling it in different ways.” Kleiman, also an organization re-cruiter, is concerned with UCPIP’s inability to reach out to smaller non-profits because of inadequate funds. Fund-raising, according to her, “is

critical to UCPIP’s handling of univer-sity bureaucracy.” For Northwestern, the challenge is increasing alumni involvement. North-western, in particular, sees “social capital” as a key to its fellowship pro-gram. “Social capital,” said Stephanie Arias, a rising senior and student coor-dinator of the Northwestern program, is about “making connections” and bridging the gap between the Univer-sity and the community, getting more

involved. “We need to pitch to them [alumni] that it is not about money but about connec-tions…social capital as opposed to financial capital.” Arias sug-gests that Northwestern must reframe the way they understand the city and their role in it as alumni. By attempting to follow Princeton’s alumni-driven model without losing a foothold on their student-led approach, Northwestern has not lost sight

of their school’s perspective. UC is also moving in a similar direction. Tom Berg, UC alum and chairman of UCPIP said, “The challenge is to adapt [Princeton AlumniCorps] model within the culture of the university.” While Berg understands the looming chal-lenge of following AlumniCorps’ model, he also sees the opportunities. The opportunity to connect with the city of Chicago – and potentially oth-ers cities – to build up their universi-ties as civic leaders in the community is one that both schools do not want to pass up. As with AlumniCorps, they are determined to ground themselves in a common mission for civic engage-ment, social change, and community outreach.

By Krystal Hill ’11, AlumniCorps Intern

Page 8: Shared Effort Fall 2010 Edition

PRINCETON ALUMNICORPS 12 Stockton Street Princeton, NJ 08540-6813 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

“You will be saying that shared effort to solve our problems is not a hopeless venture” — John Gardner

Princeton AlumniCorps Board of Directors

R. Kenly Webster ’55, Chairman William R. Leahy, Jr., M.D. ’66, President Jessica D. Johnson ’98, Secretary Charles F. Mapes, Jr. ’55, Treasurer Thomas D. Allison ’66 Illa Brown ’76 Margaret Crotty ’94 Andrew Goldstein ’06 James A. Gregoire ’69 John D. Hamilton, Jr. ’55 Stanley N. Katz h’21 Katie Ko ’09 James D. Lynn ’55 Melissa Mazin ’91 Kathleen McCleery ’75 W. Arthur McKee ’90 Dominic F. Michel ’70 Kathryn A. Miller ’77 Paula Morency ’77 Ralph Nader ’55

Anthony Quainton ’55 Michael D. Robbins ’55 Margarita Rosa, Esq. ’74 Marsha Rosenthal ’76 Warner V. Slack ’55 Samuel T. Suratt ’55 Lindsay M. Wall ’02 Scott Taylor ’75 Richard E. Thompson ’55 Richard O. Walker ’73

Princeton AlumniCorps Staff

Kathleen E. Reilly, Executive Director Carrie Diaz-Littauer, Administrative Assistant Sara Gordon, Project 55 Fellowship Program Manager Arti Sheth ’08, Development Officer John Shriver, Program Director, Community Volunteers Please visit us at www.alumnicorps.org

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