The quarterly newsletter of Princeton AlumniCorps | Spring 2023
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The quarterly newsletter of Princeton AlumniCorps | Spring 2023
Happy Spring!
As the flowers and trees begin their Spring bloom in the AlumniCorps Founders Garden, I find myself thinking of the new leaders that will begin their journeys with our Project 55 Fellowship and Emerging Leaders programs this year. Now in my seventh year with AlumniCorps and currently in the role of Interim Executive Director, it is a delight to share new and exciting information in our Spring edition of Shared Effort.
We are pleased to share that Laura Villers, formerly in the role of Program Coordinator, Emerging Leaders, has been promoted to Director of Programs & Strategy and Brielle Blackshear, formerly in the role of Logistics and Development Manager, has been promoted to Development Manager. Join me in congratulating Laura and Brielle on their new roles.
Nonprofits provide creative thinking, leadership, and structure to tackle our most pressing social issues. AlumniCorps believes in fostering and connecting leaders committed to advancing social change and meeting the needs of communities across the country. We stand resilient and are grateful for the continued growth and participation of young leaders in our Project 55 and Emerging Leaders programs. With your support, we can continue our work of helping nonprofits further their goals while engaging participants in significant public service activities throughout their lives. Your investment in Princeton AlumniCorps allows us to continue to inspire and support generations of leaders working in the public interest.
If you are in town for Princeton University Reunions, please stop by our offices at 12 Stockton Street to admire our beautiful blooming gardens. It would be my pleasure to welcome you.
In community,
Interim Executive Director
Congratulations to our 2022-23 Emerging Leaders Cohort
The 2022-23 Emerging Leader cohort year is coming to a close, and we are currently accepting applications for our 2023-2024 Emerging Leaders cohorts based in NYC and Nationally!
The Emerging Leaders program provides mid-career non-profit professionals with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to increase their impact within the social sector and deepen their understanding of their own leadership style. With its unique focus, Emerging Leaders has forged pathways to senior leadership via expert professional and leadership development techniques.
The program is affordable, meaningful, and open to all non-profit professionals with 2+ years of experience in the sector, so please share this with your personal and professional networks. Project 55 Alumni who are looking to grow their leadership capacities are highly encouraged to apply.
We have prepared over 350 leaders from all over the country for success since the inception of Emerging Leaders in 2011, building a community of professionals who continue to grow and strengthen the nonprofit sector.
New Project 55 Curriculum With our Network at its Core
The 22-23 Project 55 curriculum has shifted to a holistic, year-long curriculum to foster and connect Fellows to leaders in our network committed to advancing social change. This curriculum provides opportunities for engagement between current Fellows nationally. In addition, Fellows are supported with one-on-one mentoring, community building opportunities, career exploration, and service reflections organized by Princeton AlumniCorps volunteers and mentors.
The evolution of Project 55 programming has been significantly based on feedback collected from Fellows along the years. Project 55 Program Manager Soraia Francisco also continues to offer coaching and check-in support to Fellows outside of formal programming. This community and network-wide support system continues to set our program apart as a Fellowship.
Recent sessions focused on supporting our Fellows as they consider the path beyond their Fellowship. In February, Fellows attended sessions on graduate school, law school, and medical school. The most recent session in March explored career paths in the nonprofit sector and social justice focused careers outside the nonprofit sector.
A special thanks to our guest speakers from this year, many of whom are Project 55 and Emerging Leaders alumni.
Project 55 Alum Becomes Giant in Medical Journalism
Dr. Celine Gounder ‘97 was highlighted in the September 2022 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly. The article explores her notable career in the public service. Dr. Gounder '97 is a practicing HIV/infectious diseases specialist and internist, epidemiologist and served on the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. Dr. Gounder was a guest speaker at our 2021 Leadership Circle Breakfast and has been a dedicated AlumniCorps supporter.
She reflects on her Project 55 Experience: "AlumniCorps helped inspire much of my career. I was exposed to things in a unique way—things I never would have seen following a traditional path. I learned there are different ways to do public service." - Dr. Celine Gounder. Read the full Princeton Alumni Weekly Article
Project 55 Alum Continues Service as Deputy Chief of Staff!
Pictured are Tonya Miles (left) and Remy Reya '21 (right).
Project 55 alum Remy Reya '21 started his postgraduate career as a Project 55 Fellow at Compass Pro Bono, a nonprofit that forges lasting ties between local nonprofits and local business professionals to empower thriving, equitable, resilient communities. Remy completed his Project 55 fellowship year in September 2022 and was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff.
Remy shares remarks on his Linkedin Page: “I’m excited to learn even more this year—and, as Deputy Chief of Staff, to work directly on strategic initiatives that will help Compass deepen our impact in even more communities. Thank you to Princeton AlumniCorps for making this connection and to everyone in my network who has supported me along the way.”
Tonya Miles was Remy’s Project 55 supervisor and is a dear friend to Princeton AlumniCorps. She is the parent of a Project 55 alum and has previously sat on AlumniCorps’ Board of Directors.
Project 55 Alum Rishi Jaitly Joins Virginia Tech
In August 2022, Rishi Jaitly ‘04 joined Virginia Tech’s Center for Humanities as a distinguished fellow and the Academy of Transdisciplinary Studies as a Professor of Practice and Leader of the Digital Transformation and Scientific Collaboration Area. Prior to VT, Rishi served as the CEO of Times Bridge, Managing Director of Twitter India,The Head of Public Partnerships for Google/Youtube India, speechwriter for Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Director of the Knight Foundation in Detroit.
Rishi Jaitly completed his Project 55 Fellowship at PeerForward (formerly College Summit) and served on the AlumniCorps’ Board of Director.
Rishi reflects on his Fellowship Experience:
“For me, AlumniCorps does not merely mark the beginning of a post-Princeton transition, represent a career-search transaction that paid off or constitute a one-off professional experience. Joining and embracing AlumniCorps marked the beginning of my approaching the world with principles, conviction and imagination. The biggest decisions I've made in my career, and the way I've tried to lead across sectors and markets, has always been with an eye on growing the size of the table, maximizing the participation of a variety of voices and, ultimately, strengthening civic engagement."
Princeton University Shines Light on Project 55 Fellows at Association to Benefit Children
From left to right: Erica Choi ‘18, Lexis Sherron ‘21. Sally Root ‘22, Meigan Clark ’22, and Reinaldo Maristany ‘18 (from left to right)
Original Source: Princeton University’s #TellUsTigers social media series, Office of Communications, Photographer: Everett Shen, Class of 2024
Princeton University’s #TellUsTigers social media series featured Project 55 alumni Reinaldo Maristany ‘18 and Lexis Sherron ‘21 alongside current Project 55 Fellows Sally Root ‘22, and Meigan Clark ‘22. They all began their Project 55 fellowship at Association to Benefit Children (ABC), an organization dedicated to advocating for New York City’s most vulnerable children and families. They have since continued their work with ABC and embody true dedication to social change. ABC is one of our longest standing partners and has hosted 53 Fellows and one intern. View the full post on Princeton University’s Instagram Page.
Relationships That Last Beyond Fellowship Year
Pictured are Alex Jiang Project 55 alum (left) and Soraia Francisco AlumniCorps Program Manager (right) connecting at Rutgers University. Soraia was giving a presentation at the university and Alex had just begun attending Medical School. Alex was the first Project 55 Fellow placed at National Institutes of Health. Since then NIH has been a valued Project 55 partner where we've placed 3 more Fellows.
Soraia met Alex back in 2019 during office hours and they have continued to have transformative conversations and check-ins - even after his completion of the program. Soraia reflects on their time together: “This was definitely a celebratory moment as we met on campus and talked about not just how he's been doing and how medical school is going, but we also continued conversations around justice within the fields of medicine and higher education institutions.”
In Memoriam
Princeton AlumniCorps mourns the loss of people who have contributed their time, talent, and treasure to the organization over the past thirty years. We share the obituaries of volunteers and supporters to celebrate their dedication to civic engagement. Princeton AlumniCorps supporters can read classmate memorials and timely class news on the class website.
