Unexpected Lessons

Somehow it's already May and I only have two more months here at World Faiths Development Dialogue... How did that happen?! It wasn't that long ago that I was drinking egg nog with my co-workers at our holiday party and fighting to beat the DC traffic to Union Station in order to make it home for Christmas, and now it's... almost over!

 These past few months have been full of activity here at Georgetown University. Our Board of Trustees meeting was a highlight, which gathered ten or so religious leaders, scholars, and development actors to discuss the future of this "small, but robust NGO," as our executive director says. I was stunned (almost literally) to have the opportunity to meet and casually chat with Lord George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury (aka the principal leader of the Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion), as well as with Akbar Ahmed at dinner, considered by many to be the world's leading authority on contemporary Islam. Part of me felt like I was too naive and uneducated to appreciate fully the amazing company I was keeping over that week. I am so grateful for and humbled by the opportunity to work here at WFDD, as I daily learn more and more about how the worlds of faith and international development can and should find common ground to address some of the world's biggest challenges surrounding poverty.

 We also convened several conferences: one on Women, Religion, and Peacebuilding at United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on the Mall, another on Faith and Immunizations here in our offices, and the most recent on Faith and Global Health, featuring Ian Linden, Director of Policy at Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Although the work that goes into organizing and facilitating these events can be somewhat stressful, I always look forward to them because it's a glowing reminder to me of why I sought a Princeton Alumnicorps position in the first place, over a year ago: an opportunity to learn, engage with others, and enrich my understanding of what a civic leader is and embodies.

 As much as I've appreciated and valued my time in the office, the beauty of the P55 year is that the 9 to 5 schedule affords me the time and flexibility to engage the community here in DC in other ways, too. Coming as more of a surprise to me than anyone, I have mentored and led a group of fifteen 11th grade girls through my church. It requires a bi-weekly commitment of youth group meetings, in addition to several, fun retreats they organize for the kids (we just got back from Ocean City, MD a few days ago!) and as many one-on-one meetings we can fit into our schedule, in order to get a little deeper with each of the girls. The time that I have spent with these girls has been some of the more intense learning experiences I've ever had. Even though it was only 6-7 years ago that I was in their shoes, I had forgotten how hard it is to grow up, insecure in who you are, and unsure of what you want out of life and who you can really count on to guide you along the way. These sweet girls are dealing with broken families and homes, the highs and lows of high school, the approaching anxieties of college applications and decisions, leftover hurts from middle school, pains of divorce, bullying, eating disorders, depression, heartbreak over friendships and relationships, and pressures of all kinds. And yet they exhibit so much joy, eager to share their stories with each other and encourage one another. I've been blown away by that incredible and distinctive quality of kids everywhere: the ability to love freely, innocently, and whole-heartedly. Spending time with them has inspired me to reflect on how I am loving the people in my life, whether they are friends, family, co-workers, the cashier at Trader Joe's, or the homeless man, Mickey, who stands outside CVS. And while it may seem like I'm going off on a random existential tangent, isn't that what Princeton and P55 is all about? Isn't it love that enables us to be in the nation's service and the service of all nations? Isn't it love that motivates the faith leaders and development actors that work together to address development and poverty-related challenges? I would like to think so. It's the unexpectedness of lessons like this that have made this past year in DC such a great time in my life, and I am so excited for what's in store for me and all of us next year.

It's the first day of May which means I've been at NEF for almost an entire year!  During this year, we have rebranded our organization as the New Markets Support Company and have a new website (www.newmarkets.org) which I am in charge of -- until the next fellow!  One of the most exciting parts about being the first fellow at an organization is watching the fellowship role mold into a formal position with distinct responsibilities.  One of these responsibilities is to produce an external annual report for our website as well as internal report that digs deeper into the impact data our projects have generated.  I've had a great fellowship year, and I know NEF is excited to continue its participation in the AlumniCorps program!

Building Bridges

Yesterday, all Achievement Prep employees got an email from our principal that mentioned the fact that Monday, May 7th marks the start of the last 30 days of school.  This spring has FLOWN by.  I've kept a calendar on my desk all year and have been crossing off the days as they pass and now I only have two pages left.  Now that it's May, I'm in the second-to-last month of my PP55 Fellowship.  The time is drawing extremely near that I will no longer be a member of the most recent class of graduates of Princeton University.

 Despite my concerns about the passage of time, I'm really looking forward to this Saturday.  And no, not because it's Cinco de Mayo (or Trucko de Mayo, for that matter), but because it's Achievement Prep Academy Community Day, of course!

 Achievement Prep has been working really closely with the CityBridge Foundation (home of current PP55 Fellow Jon Extein as well as at least two former fellows) over the last couple of months to pull this event together.  The event is intended to help build new relationships with the Ward 8 / East of the River community and to express our gratitude for being welcomed into the neighborhood for the last four years.  Community Day is being held at a park near the school and will have a wide range of social service and health vendors, as well as free food, music, and fun activities for children.

Community Day is a large part of our drive to cultivate community partners, as well as to collect as many student applications for the 2012-2013 school year as possible.  Far too often, people will say to us, APA is such a great school, I can't believe I haven't heard of you earlier.  Unfortunately, we don't have a prominent location on a main thoroughfare like some of our competitors.  We are tucked into a residential neighborhood very close to the border with Prince George's County, so we are working as hard as we can to promote the school and the great work we do for the children of this community.  I personally have spent a good amount of time in the last two weeks driving around to different organizations that serve families in the area and dropping off marketing materials with them and trying to cultivate contacts who might be interested in developing a partnership with Achievement Prep.  It was pretty scary the first time I had to "cold-call" an organization and walk in unannounced, but sometimes actually walking into a building is the best way to get your foot in the door.

On a personal note, a friend from work and I joined a kickball team that plays on the National Mall on Sunday afternoons.  It's super fun.  I highly recommend our next round of DC fellows look into it.

Also, Carol and I made delicious black bean burgers last week.  You can find the recipe here:  http://dinnerisvegan.blogspot.com/2012/04/southwest-style-black-bean-burgers.html

Penn Lectures on the Criminal Justice System

One of the benefits of living in Center City is having access to the various public lectures the University of Pennsylvania offers on criminal justice issues.  A few weeks ago I attended a lecture on mass incarceration and the prospects for reform sponsored by the Urban Studies Program at Penn.  Professor of Sociology at Harvard University Bruce Western examined the impact of incarceration and the resulting increase in racial and economic inequality in our nation.  Last month, I also got the opportunity to listen to a lecture on reducing prison overcrowding hosted by the Department of Criminology at Penn.  Judge Steven Alm of Hawaii’s First Circuit, and Mark Kleiman, Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, discussed their work with the successful HOPE program.  Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) features frequent random drug testing of offenders on probation.  Those who test positive are subject to immediate but brief incarceration.  Based on studies conducted, the program has been shown to be effective in reducing drug abuse, crime, and incarceration in the population of offenders in the community on probation.  The program is noteworthy in that the penalties for failed drug tests encourages those who can stop their drug use through their own volition to do so.  This thereby allows valuable resources to be committed to those with the most serious substance abuse problems and who need professional assistance to overcome their addiction.  Together, Judge Alm and Professor Kleiman have promoted this program as a model that can be tailored for other cities struggling with large populations of offenders with substance abuse problems who are on probation and parole.

File under "pieces that make me.."

want to be a defense attorney.

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.

P55's First National Seminar

One of my favorite parts of this fellowship year has been attending monthly seminars.  Here in D.C., we meet with Princeton fellows, fellows from other schools (Dartmouth, Harvard, etc.), AlumniCorps committee members, and distinguished speakers about once a month for seminars.  We've had seminars on a variety of topics (international relations, resume-writing, workplace relationships, environmental law, and most recently social determinants of health).  I love being able to hear from accomplished Princeton alumni and others who are making a difference through their careers. 

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! 

Reaction to Bully

Earlier this month, CEP sponsored a free screening of the documentary Bully, which tells the stories of five kids who are the victims of severe bullying--two of whom committed suicide in response to the actions of their peers, and, in most cases, the inaction of the adults in their schools who were supposed to provide support for them. Neither Carol nor I were able to attend the event due to previous commitments, so we decided to go see it after work today. I strongly encourage everyone to go and see it. It is heartbreaking to see what these kids and their families are going though, but it reflects a highly disturbing reality, and, in some schools, a normality. Time and time again throughout the movie I was confronted with memories from my own school years that convicted me as being guilty of the same lack of compassion and courage that I saw in so many of the bystanders to bullying being filmed. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself, and I feel more compelled than ever before to reach out and help kids who are marginalized in this manner--whether it is because they are gay, or they have a disability, or they just don't fit in with the other kids, or they are otherwise easily targeted as a victim. CEP's work is obviously very relevant to the anti-bullying movement, but sometimes, when I spend day after day working in fundraising, I feel one step removed from this mission. Bully was a forceful reminder of how meaningful CEP's work is, and I am more driven than ever before to continue to make a difference post-fellowship in the lives of children who have an increased risk of being bullied.

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.