Public Interest Career Digest

Hope you are doing well as the end of the semester is fast approaching. Included below are a few events on campus, a City Year volunteer opportunity, a variety of fellowship opportunities, and some summer internships. As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if we can assist you in any way as you explore the different possibilities available in the public interest. Also, as we are currently planning out our calendar for next semester, let us know if there are any specific events, speakers, or specific fields that you want to know more about.

To receive the PIC Digest, just email civic@dolphin.upenn.edu with "PIC Digest" in the subject line.



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Civic House Public Interest Careers Programming :

Public Interest Internship Fund Information Session and Panel Discussion
Monday, November 24, 2008
6:00-7:00PM
Civic House Living Room (3914 Locust Walk)
The Civic House Public Interest Internship Fund provides financial support to selected University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students (classes '12, '11, and '10) who have secured full-time summer positions in the public interest field for which there is little or no compensation. This event serves as an opportunity for interested students to ask past recipients specific questions and to learn more about the Public Interest Internship fund application process. Come meet some of the 2008 recipients and learn about their exciting experiences.  For more information about the funds please go click the link above.

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Volunteer Opportunities in Philadelphia

City Year, Team Leaders Program: Young Heroes and City Heroes (Deadline Fast Approaching)

Are you interested in working with Middle or High School aged youth? The national non-profit organization City Year is looking for dedicated individuals to be Team Leaders for our Youth Corps Program. The Youth Corps is a weekend leadership development and community service program for middle school (Young Heroes) high school (City Heroes) students. Heroes meet on Saturdays to discuss different social issues facing themselves and their community. After the discussion, the group goes out into the community to do a service project linked to the topics discussed in the morning. A Team Leader is one who leads the Heroes through their leadership development and service. As a team leader, you become an important, positive role model in these youth's lives. Team Leaders engage, mentor, and lead teams of 10-12 heroes along side of a City Year Corps Member. Being a Team Leader is a very rewarding and beneficial experience that can:

* Build a strong resume

* Fulfill community service requirements

* Develop Leadership

* Make you a mentor and positive influence in the lives of youth

Any questions can be directed to Gary Zane gzane09@cityyear.org (267)-709-6423, Claire Morton cmorton08@cityyear.org(215)-939-2930 or for opportunities to serve in Northeast Philadelphia, contact Travis Contarino tcontarino09@cityyear.org (267)-528-7321

Learn more about City Year, please visit www.cityyear.org

The Application deadline is fast approaching; so please contact us ASAP.

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Fellowships

MATCH Fellowship Corps (www.matchschool.org)

The MATCH Corps program began in 2004 - the first of its kind in the nation. The Corps is a group of 45 recent college graduates who work one-on-one with five Boston high school students each day for one entire academic year. This full-time service year program is designed to fully close the academic Achievement Gap between minority students and their non-minority peers, one student at a time. Each Corps member works to guarantee the academic success of MATCH students while building personal relationships. Corps members live in modern dorm-style housing on the 3rd floor of the MATCH school. Corps members also have secondary projects such as teaching assistant to a classroom subject teacher, coaching teams, leading clubs or assisting the faculty and administration.

The MATCH Corps allows idealistic and dedicated young people to invest their time and energy in depth over breadth, focusing their attention on a few students and their needs and goals. After their hands-on introduction to urban education, some MATCH Corps members go on to become teachers, often in schools serving low-income students. Others enroll in law school or medical school. Many MATCH Corps members also go on to become leaders in the educational and non-profit worlds, acting as crucial advocates for schools, students, youth, and families.

Stoneleigh Center Junior Fellowship (http://www.stoneleighcenter.org/fellows/junior_fellowship)

The Junior Fellowship provides an opportunity for exceptional graduates in relevant disciplines such as social work, criminal justice, education, or public policy to work for one year at an organization in the public or non-profit sectors of the greater Philadelphia area. It also provides social service organizations with an opportunity to engage in a policy or research initiative that will enhance their current operations. The projects are in the fields in which Stoneleigh is most focused, including:

• Child Welfare
• Education
• Juvenile Justice
• Behavioral Health

How it Works:

• The participating organizations propose individual projects or research topics for the successful junior fellow to complete during the course of their one-year term. The junior fellowship program is designed to attract to organizations bright, creative people who can contribute good ideas to the further development of these projects. Click here to view this year's available projects.
• Interested applicants should make direct contact with the person designated by the organization to begin the application process. An application to the organization is available on both the Stoneleigh Center and the organization's website. Click here to download the application. The organization will select the best applicant for the project, and the applicant and organization will apply to Stoneleigh Center together.

Deadlines:

• Applications  to the participating organizations must be received by 5 p.m. on October 31st, 2008.

• Joint applications to Stoneleigh Center from the applicant and organization will be accepted until 5 p.m. on December 12, 2008. Stoneleigh Center will make final decisions and notification by the first week in March 2009. The fellowship, which is anticipated to last for one year, will begin on July 1, 2009.

Further Questions

• Interested applicants should click here for information on project opportunities for fellowships scheduled to begin July 1, 2009.
• If you have further questions please can contact Meredith Brett at info@stoneleighcenter.org or at 215-735-7080.

Application Deadline: November 30, 2008

City of Philadelphia Destination Fellowship

Destination Fellowship will accept a up to 10 individuals for fellowship opportunities starting in 2009. Individuals who are completing or have recently completed graduate school and individuals who are graduating or have recently graduated from undergraduate institutions will be selected for a twelve-month fellowship starting in September 2009. The Fellows will be assigned to work on a long-term project or a series of assignments within a single department and will report to senior City managers. The Fellows’ supervisors, because of their roles within their own departments, will ensure the Fellows are exposed to a range of internal and interdepartmental meetings, Council sessions, and other work activities throughout the year. This type of placement will build the Fellow’s skills in project management and promote intimate knowledge of the host department as well as municipal government in general.

Destination Fellowship staff will assign Fellows to departments by matching the needs of the departments with the Fellows’ interests.

During the Fellowship Year

To familiarize Fellows with local municipal operations, Destination Fellowship will coordinate a seminar series throughout the year. Upon Fellows’ arrival, the Fellows will attend an orientation series that will provide an overview of the basic structure of City of Philadelphia government. Throughout the remainder of the year, Destination Fellowship will alternate an informal conversation series with structured site visits to different City field operations.

During the conversation series, Fellows will meet for informal discussions with various City officials and community leaders. The intimate but relaxed nature of these conversations will facilitate candid discussions about how municipal government really works and how the larger community collaborates with local government.

On the site visits, the Fellows will visit different institutions and programs that represent the everyday operations of City government. Possible visits include City Hall, the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Criminal Justice Center, social service programs supported by the City, Police and Fire Headquarters, among others.

Salary and Benefits

The 2009-2010 cohort of post-graduate Fellows will receive a salary of $40,000 and benefits of a full-time employee. The 2009 - 2010 cohort of post-undergraduate Fellows will receive a salary of $30,000 and benefits of a full-time employee during the Fellowship term.

For more information and to apply, visit:http://www.phila.gov/destinationfellowship/index.html

Insight Collaborative Fellowship on Conflict Resolution

Insight Collaborative, a non-profit organization focusing on conflict resolution, was developed to foster a community of global-minded individuals prepared to contribute more effectively to their local, national, and international communities. The Program awards one-year Fellowships to exceptional individuals to: study and promote effective conflict management; make international humanitarian contributions: pursue self-reflection and personal development

The Fellowship includes a $25,000 expense allowance to support multiple placements totaling one year, typically in 3-4 month blocks. (Each Fellow is required to repay the amount of the $25,000 allowance used through individual fund raising efforts, regenerating the funds to ensure support for the next Fellow. This “pay forward” approach instills the values of sustainability and non-profit entrepreneurship.) The first three months take place at the Boston offices of the Insight Collaborative, where Fellows advance their understanding of the theory and practice of effective negotiation, communication, and mediation. The remaining nine months of the Fellowship are divided into foreign placements proposed by the Fellow.

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Internships and Summer Opportunities

Volunteer in Africa (http://www.volunteeringinafrica.org/index.htm)

Volunteer in Africa is an organization dedicated to disseminating information on volunteer work programs in Africa and organizing a wide range of volunteer work, internship-volunteering and group volunteer-tourism programs in Ghana.

Our abroad programs in Ghana include volunteer work in the area of orphanage assistance, teaching, health care, Christian Religion, computer training, Media and Journalism, Law, conservation, sports, community development and others. Our volunteer work program is for individuals and groups of any size.

Our volunteer-tourism program is a special interest tourism program we offer to groups of 3 to 120 people. If you are part of a university, alumni, religious, fraternal, family, friends or a community service group, this program will be ideal for you.

Volunteers can participate in most of the programs anytime of year round. Volunteers work alongside local professionals. Intern-student-volunteers observe and assist in the work of the local professionals and serve under the supervision of the professionals. People without special skills, professional qualifications or previous experience can also volunteer in some of our programs in Ghana.

People with ages from 16 to 75 years, any religion, race or nationality are accepted to participate in the program. Participants stay with carefully selected, respectable host families. All meals, purified bottled water and accommodation in provided.  Period of participation is short and medium term basis, 1 to 12 weeks.
Our work promotes international co-operation, friendship, cross-cultural exposure, cultural immersion, peace, understanding, solidarity and breaks new grounds for sustainable socio-economic development through voluntary work, volunteering-internships and group volunteer-tourism programs in Ghana. We therefore welcome you to participate in our programs and we will be honored by your participation.

Internships at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China

We welcome your interest in working as an intern at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). We value the contribution that interns make to our work, and we have benefited from the intellectual and practical contributions of the interns who have worked with us so far. We are also gratified about the number of very highly qualified people who apply to work with us as interns each year.

To better understand the work of the Commission and its areas of most intense focus, we invite potential applicants to explore the CECC website (www.cecc.gov).

The CECC seeks interns for three periods of the year: Fall (Deadline July 15), Spring (Deadline: December 1), and Summer (Deadline: June 15)

Applications Must Be Received By Our Office No Later Than 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time

Fall

Interested applicants should send a cover letter and resume to the CECC via fax at (202) 226-3804, attention: Judy Wright, Director of Administration, or via e-mail to Judy Wright. Please discuss in your cover letter how your professional goals, interests, and background relate to the Commission's legislative mandate regarding human rights and the rule of law in China.

Those who wish to apply for internships should understand the following:

• CECC interns receive a salary of $10/hour;
• Interns must be U.S. citizens;
• We regret that interns are not eligible for federal benefits.
• During the fall and spring semesters, CECC internships are part-time, and we expect interns to work between 15 and 20 hours per week;
• During the summer, CECC internships are full-time, and we expect summer interns to work between 32 and 40 hours per week;
• Interns should have completed at least some China-related coursework. It is also desirable that they have some background in one or more of the specific human rights and rule of law issues in the CECC legislative mandate.
• Interns should be able to read Chinese well enough to assist with research in newspapers, journals, and on websites. More advanced Chinese language capability would be a plus. The successful candidate for an internship often will have lived or studied in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan.
• Interns will conduct research and writing projects on human rights and rule of law issues in China under the supervision of Commission staff. Interns may also assist with researching and updating records on the Commission’s Political Prisoner Database. Interns may also be invited or required to attend some of the many rule of law and human rights events organized by the Commission and other organizations in Washington, D.C.
• Although our interns are generally current students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree, others are also welcome to apply.

Cahill Human Rights Fellowship, Just Detention International-Summer 2009 (for graduate students)

The Cahill Human Rights Fellowship was established in honor of Tom Cahill, a prisoner rape survivor, human rights advocate, and Just Detention International’s long-time Board member and President (1998 to 2006).

Just Detention International (JDI) is a human rights organization that works to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention. Based in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, JDI seeks to: ensure government accountability for prisoner rape; change ill-informed public attitudes toward sexual assault behind bars; and promote access to resources for survivors of this type of violence.

Mr. Cahill was arrested for civil disobedience in 1968, after participating in a nonviolent demonstration protesting the Vietnam War. While being held at a Texas jail he was brutally gang-raped and beaten. When others might have been silenced, Mr. Cahill had the courage instead to speak out about the abuses he had endured, demanding corrections reform and respect for every human being’s right to dignity. The purpose of the Cahill Human Rights Fellowship is to continue Mr. Cahill’s outstanding tradition of speaking truth to power and demanding government accountability for the sexual violence that plagues U.S. detention facilities.

Each summer, a promising student who will soon embark on a career that is likely to focus on human rights and social justice is awarded the fellowship. The Fellow spends ten weeks working full-time at the JDI office in Los Angeles or in Washington, DC, between June and August. S/he receives a $4,000 stipend. The Fellow’s responsibilities include: conducting policy research; reaching out to allied organizations and policymakers; developing and implementing advocacy efforts; and responding to inquiries from prisoner rape survivors.

Qualifications:

The Cahill Human Rights Fellowship is aimed at graduate students in the fields of law and public policy, although exceptionally qualified undergraduate students are also welcome to apply. The successful candidate will have demonstrated a strong commitment to human rights, and in particular to serving marginalized populations. S/he will have strong research and communications skills and thrive on multi-tasking and working against deadlines. People of color are encouraged to apply.

Please send cover letter, resume, and brief writing sample (five pages max) to info@justdetention.org.

Application deadline for summer 2009: February 15, 2009.

The 2009 Cahill Human Rights Fellow will be notified by March 15, 2009.

To find out more about Just Detention International, please visit www.justdetention.org

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If you have any questions, need help with the job/internship search feel free to stop by and ask!
3914 Locust Walk (across from Rodin)
Hours: Mon-Weds 9:00am-10:00pm, Thurs 9:00am-8:00pm, Fri 9:00am-5:00pm and Sun 4:00pm-10:00pm
Phone: (215)898-4831
Email: civic@dolphin.upenn.edu

For specific questions related to public interest careers contact Suzanne Lyons (smlyons@upenn.edu) or Lindsay Docto (docto@sas.upenn.edu).

You can also contact Career Services at(215)898-7529. The Career Services office is located in Suite 20 of the McNeil Building (3718 Locust Walk).




Best Wishes,

Civic House