Feature

Bosman Fellows Discuss Unique Experiences

By Elizabeth Vivirito, MPP'10

The four 2008 Bosman Fellows convened on Monday, November 3, to share their summer experiences in public service internships around the world. The fellows encouraged first-year students to apply for the program and spoke positively of their lessons learned. They demonstrated a global variety of projects in different policy areas-including metropolitan redevelopment, microfinance, international human rights, and inner-city poverty-that were made possible by the sponsorship of the Bosman Fellowship.

The fellowship supports Harris School students who receive unpaid, public service internships in social justice, poverty reduction, or environmental policy during the summer following their first year. The fellowships are awarded by the Public Policy Student Association (PPSA) in honor of late Harris School student, Amy Marie Bosman, who was passionate about public service and social justice. PPSA holds an auction each year to raise funds for the annual fellowships and announces the recipients in the spring.

Last year's fellows included Laura Williams, who used the fellowship to start her own blog discussing poverty issues in and around Chicago. Inspired by meeting people from Hull House-a Chicago nonprofit focused on poverty and related issues-at a Harris School lecture, Williams fused her journalism background with her interest in poverty issues to create the Poverty Blog. As part of her work she shadowed social service workers in West Chicago to deepen her understanding of the communities and organizations on the frontlines of poverty. Williams said that the most valuable lesson she learned was to "always have a backup plan," a rule that she plans to follow throughout her career.

Rita Costa interned at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland for the summer. Because UN positions are unpaid, she said that the fellowship played a key role in allowing her to take the position. While there, Costa worked on the issue of long-term refugee camps like those in Colombia, South Africa, Iraq, and Thailand. She also contributed to the UNHCR Global Appeal, the organization's annual publication that outlines its work and encourages donations.

Maria Mendez studied and worked at the Centre for Micro Finance (CMF)/ Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, India. There, she applied skills learned at the Harris School to gauge the effectiveness of the organization's programs. "As [the field of] microfinance matures, it is accompanied by the idea that it is not being fully utilized by the people who receive the loans," said Mendez. Her task was to help the program teach loan recipients to use the money more efficiently. Her work this summer focused on the long-term impact of microfinance on families: more investment in education, savings, and mobility.

Meg Curry worked at the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, studying and helping create policies that would enable the city to improve its post-Katrina development. Because the organization was small, she said, "I had a unique position with tons of hands-on experience." Curry said the experience opened new doors. "As a result of the Bosman Fellowship, I was able to work in a high-level position and [had] access that I would not have had."