Monday, April 30, 2012
Penn Lectures on the Criminal Justice System
File under "pieces that make me.."
http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-25/news/bail-is-busted-new-york-jail/
This is not good.
Stories like this remind me that, for better or for worse (here, it's gotta be for worse), I'm working within a gigantic, convoluted... system. A bureaucracy. An institutional machine.
The key is finding some kind of good within it. Digging for gold.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
P55's First National Seminar
Last week, for the first time in Project 55 history (as far as I know), we had our first national seminar, which took the form of a webinar. Two other fellows and I planned and organized the webinar, which involved deciding on a topic, securing speakers, liaising with AlumniCorps staff, and actually presenting the webinar. (Thanks to Elyse Powell '11 for her leadership!) We decided on the topic "Can Regional Food Feed America?" and brought together three speakers with different points of view on the issue to present their take and answer questions. Food issues impact everyone, no matter what their career path or diet, so it was really exciting that this could be a national event. It was great to know that fellows from all over the U.S. participated in and thought about the issues presented in the webinar.
I wonder what next year's fellows will think up!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Reaction to Bully
If you're interested in learning more about Bully and what schools can do to eliminate bullying and foster positive, nurturing cultures, I'd recommend reading a blog that CEP's Vice President Joe Mazzola wrote in response to attending the White House screening of the film.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Doritos for Ducks
Monday, April 23, 2012
Rain and Reflection
Friday, April 20, 2012
Communicating our mission
AppleTree has amazing academic programs and tools thoughtfully developed by our hard-working staff. Furthermore, we are looking to share these resources with others, so that we can fulfill our mission to close the achievement gap before children enter kindergarten.
However, as I settled in, I realized this was a common problem of the organization. People recognized that we were doing great things for children, but they did not understand our scope of work. They certainly could not explain it well to others. We realized our organization needed to hone our messaging and develop compelling language that we could share with our supporters and the community.
We have had numerous accomplishments on the communications front this year. But I think I am most excited about a new video developed for us by Jennifer Burton of Envision Communications. We shared it with select audiences this past month, and we have received wonderful feedback thus far.
In the video, we offer a cohesive narrative about our organization and programs. Viewers can finally understand our work and help us move forward to eliminate America’s achievement gap.
The video is now available on YouTube and our website. I hope you enjoy it!
Friday, April 6, 2012
Springtime!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
It's April and Conferences Are Over!!
Most of February and half of March I spent planning 2 large conferences for the Campaign: "Safeguarding Sound Basic Education in Hard Economic Times." Though I did some minimal event planning in the fall, I had never before planned any large-scale work-related event from start to finish. What was most intimidating was planning 2 invite-only conferences--one at Columbia University and one in the Albany area--for some big-time players in the education policy world. Read more about the conferences here.
At first, I could not wait for the conferences to occur and thought that I would be intellectually bored. This was not the case. When sending out invitations and calling individuals about their RSVP information, I was able to talk to interesting and important leaders and learn about a variety of organizations across the city and state. I learned how schedulers fill a Congressman's schedule. I learned how deeply appreciative many public sector employees are of substantive, innovative conversation related to better providing the support services and resources that students need to have meaningful educational opportunities. I learned how to more efficiently use Excel :).
And I learned how much time and effort goes into planning a panel/conference/event from the name-tags to the microphones to the hand-out folders to the catering. There are so many small details that go into planning events that I never had thought about.
Forever more, I will sincerely think the event planner of any conference that I attend. This is a promise that I made to myself after more than a few late nights at work. I hope that you do, too. Without that planning, the spirited and thoughtful collaboration, discussion, and arguments may never have taken place at all.
But I am certainly happy that March is over; I may now be happier about writing and conducting research solely behind my computer screen for a while . . .
Shocking Statistics, Continued
The most powerful man in the world, president of the United States, steps forward and says, "I think the police behaved foolishly." The right wing and the law enforcement establishment brought the wrath of God down on the White House. I was there. And suddenly, he’s forced to do a beer summit, to sit eye to eye with a racist police officer. As a black man, even the most powerful man in the world cannot speak about race. And if he does, he’s then forced to sit humbly across the table from a racist police officer.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Office Redesign
Two weeks ago our office was under construction and we returned a week and a half ago to a newly redesigned space. Although I’ve stayed in the same room in my office since I started working, my surroundings have changed a fair amount since August. Initially, I was in a large room by myself, nicknamed the “Orange room” after the brighter-than-Princeton’s-orange wall that I faced. There were mixed feelings about the color, but I liked it. A few months after I was hired, two new staff joined me in the Orange room – a very welcome change after sitting alone for most of the day. Sitting in one place all day has definitely been a big adjustment to working life and it really helps to have company. The next step was removing the wall that connected our room to the rest of the office floor. As part of the redesign, the formerly solid wall has been replaced by stacked wooden cubes/boxes, some of which are hollow, making the space private but also open to the rest of the floor.
Seating has shifted so that our room (alas, no longer orange) includes the most of the Communications/Work on Purpose team - another junior staff, our supervisors, and myself. I’m looking forward to easier communication, since my boss and I are sitting next to each other and will no longer need to use our phones for quick questions. It will be great to have more space for and ease of collaboration. I’ll post a picture of the space soon – it’s definitely unique among office styles. The architects designed it to reflect our brand as an ecosystem where the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.