Hello from San Francisco

Next week is the three-month mark of my P55 fellowship. Time seems to fly much faster in the working world than it did at Princeton. I've been working for the KIPP Foundation in San Francisco. KIPP (or the "Knowledge is Power Program") is a national network of college-preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college. As a Development Associate, I work with the fundraising team to solicit corporations, foundations, and individual investors for donations.

It's difficult to summarize my responsibilities for P55 as my work has been varied. Officially, I maintain our donor database and process and acknowledge all gifts we receive. However, this only takes up about 15% of my time. Every day is a little different. Other duties have included proofing grant reports, helping coordinate and execute a 2,800-person summit in Las Vegas, preparing presentations for my managers, and even meeting some significant philanthropic figures (i.e. the Fisher family, who founded and owns GAP Inc.). Fun facts: Fisher Hall in Whitman College is also named after the same family. The Fishers also temporarily donated the headless statues that used to be in front of Princeton's art museum.

Anyway, if you're interested in the American education reform movement, I recommend seeing the upcoming documentary Waiting for Superman. Directed by Davis Guggenheim (also the director of An Inconvenient Truth), Waiting for Superman explores the problems and potential fixes of American public education. As our KIPP schools are featured in the film, I was able to attend a sneak-peak showing in August and thought the documentary was very informative and moving. It releases nationwide September 24th.

Unfortunately, I don't have insights to share regarding apartment-hunting, as I am SF native and am living at home this year. While having roommates would have been a great social experience, I love my family and am also excited to be saving more than I could with San Francisco's high rent prices. To spice up my social life, I have made a commitment to doing a minimum of 2 activities per week with people. This past weekend I attended a chocolate festival at Ghirardelli Square (white chocolate cheesecake = amazingness) and began attending an oil painting class.