Health for America in partnership with mHealth for the underserved (a collaboration between One Economy Corporation, Children’s National Medical Center, Amplify Public Affairs and its Health in Place (HIP) Advisory Board) and XLerate Health announces a summer program to incubate, test and launch applications specifically focused on childhood asthma in low-income communities in Washington, D.C. and Louisville, KY. This unique program, presents an opportunity to utilize disruptive mobile technologies to greatly improve health conditions of populations that need it the most.
Chronic disease accounts for more than 70% of deaths in the United States, with health outcomes seemingly worsening each year. Health disparities by race, income level, and state mean that the needs of vulnerable communities are largely going unmet. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of mobile technology ownership within these same populations creates an unprecedented opportunity for mobile health interventions.
Six to ten fellows from diverse backgrounds will work with target communities in Washington, D.C. and Louisville, KY. Fellows will begin by conducting a needs assessment and an environmental scan of mobile solutions that address childhood asthma. Fellows will then participate in a hackathon with the local DC tech community to either improve on existing products or create new solutions to meet the community’s needs. Using entrepreneurial techniques, fellows will iterate the applications developed based upon community feedback. Throughout the program, fellows will have classes and mentorship from thought leaders in health innovation.
This program will provide fellows with unique insights into health, innovation and entrepreneurship while giving back to the community. The program runs from June 10, 2013 to August 4, 2013 and fellows will receive a stipend of $1,500. Fellows will be chosen based on aptitude, creativity, integrity, teamwork and leadership.
Health for America is looking for passionate change makers from a variety of backgrounds including the fields of technology, computer science, art, design and health. Applicants must be a college graduate and have completed their degree after May 2010 to be eligible. Applications from current seniors are welcome, but all fellows are required to have graduated by June 10, 2013. The fellowship is restricted to US Citizens only.
Early deadline with first prefence for city placement: Noon, Monday April 15, 2013
Final deadline: Noon, Tuesday April 30, 2013
To get more information and apply, please visit: http://www.healthforamerica.org/fellowship/summer-program.html
Chike Aguh, Public Service Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Chike Aguh is a true ProFellow, earning five competitive fellowships since his graduation from Tufts University in 2005. Although short-term in focus, each of the fellowships has provided him skills and opportunities that support his long-term goal: to reimagine and innovate the American education system so that all children and citizens, particularly the poorest, are prepared to be innovators in today’s global economy. This past summer Chike served as a Presidential Public Service Fellow at Harvard University where he is an MBA/MPA student, and used this opportunity to support a federal strategy to train two million Americans with federal job training programs by 2015, among several other initiatives. Intrigued by Chike’s path, we asked him more about his interest in fellowships.
1. Why did you pursue a series of fellowships early in your career?
I grew up the son of two immigrants from Nigeria who came to the United States for educational opportunity and I chose very early in life to devote myself to transforming education systems at home and abroad into ones that can prepare students to be innovators in the twenty first century. As I was graduating from Tufts University as an undergraduate, I was seeking a series of opportunities that would give me four things: Strong knowledge of how decisions in education are made from the 30,000 foot policy level all the way down to the school level; understanding of the work of teachers; international experience and knowledge of global education issues, and; a great network and strong cohort of colleagues that will follow me through my career.
I was blessed to be able to accomplish these objectives through the fellowships in which I was able to participate. The New York City Urban Fellows Program, which takes recent college graduates and places them in high ranking positions in New York City government, placed me in the New York City Department of Education, the world’s largest school system, where I observed and contributed to macro-level decisions. Next, I was a corps member of Teach For America, an organization that places recent college graduates in high-need schools for a two year teaching commitment. During this experience I taught second grade at an elementary school in Brooklyn where I learned what it takes to truly educate children for college, their career and citizenship. Before going back to graduate school, I was also a Fulbright Scholar in Thailand where I taught English as a Foreign Language to middle and high school students. Through Fulbright, I had the opportunity to travel around southeast Asia. These fellowships positioned me well for my future career and have been invaluable experiences.
2. What would you like to do long term and what is your plan to get there?
In the long term, I want to be an innovator, investor and policymaker in the education space. After a career cycling through the private, public and social sectors, I would like to be in a senior policymaking role where I can affect the course of education and human capital policy for United States.
3. What tips would you give others applying to competitive fellowships?
My tips for those applying to competitive fellowships are:
- Have a clear reason for wanting the fellowship. Fellowship admission committees are attuned to those who simply want the fellowship for purpose of boosting his or her resume.
- Speak to former fellows. This will give you a better idea of how to market yourself to the fellowship you are applying to and will also show the reviewers that you are truly interested.
- Pursue fellowships that have a strong network and cohort experience. Beyond the brand equity of these fellowships, the most valuable part of the fellowship is the colleagues you will meet and remain connected to.
After graduating from Tufts University with a B.A. in Political Science, Chike Aguh (pronounced Chee-kay Ah-goo) worked for the New York City Department of Education as a New York City Urban Fellow. He subsequently became a corps member of Teach for America and taught 2nd grade at Excellence Charter School of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the only all-boys elementary charter school in New York City. Chike was also a Fulbright Fellow in Thailand and an Education Pioneer Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education. Chike is a graduate of the Harvard School of Education and is now a graduate student in the joint MBA/MPA program of Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
© Victoria Johnson 2012, all rights reserved.
Doug Mitchell, former Fellow and Co-Director of the New U Entrepreneur Fellowship Program
Talk less and keep your ears open. And visit museums, because you can better understand a country by observing how that country documents its history. This is the advice Doug Mitchell gives to incoming fellows and others preparing for work and study in a foreign country.
When Doug speaks, you listen, because he’s been there and done that. A professional journalist and recognized national media trainer, Doug has worked for National Public Radio (NPR) for over twenty years and is actively involved in identifying new talent for induction into the world of public broadcasting. In 1994, what he terms “the silo days”, Doug began to focus on professional development for minority journalists by establishing training programs for students in partnership with the National Association for Black Journalists.
In 1996, Doug’s work turned global when the Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago asked the International Center for Journalists for a visiting expert in public radio broadcasting, an industry that did not exist in Chile at the time. Supported by the prestigious Knight International Press Fellowship, Doug spent five months in Chile developing and teaching a curriculum for a soup to nuts university lab that taught students everything from testing radio sound quality to storytelling. The students and university appreciated Doug’s work so much that he now has a permanent desk at the university and an open-ended invitation to return whenever he likes. Doug returned in 2003 on a U.S. State Department “Visitor Exchange” grant and again in 2007 on Fulbright Senior Specialist grant. While on the Fulbright grant, he helped students at the Universidad Catolica de Chile establish a new internet college radio station, RadioUC.cl. Five years later, RadioUC.cl is still on air.
Today, Doug is leading a new and very timely initiative – entrepreneurial boot camps for journalists of color. When the economy crashed, many journalists lost their permanent jobs and were faced with the limited alternatives of freelancing, competitive fellowships or pursuit of an entirely new career. With support from UNITY and the Ford Foundation, Doug and his colleagues founded the New U Entrepreneur Fellowship Program to mentor minority journalists and media professionals on how to develop successful, scalable businesses.
“Many of the large successful startups born in Silicon Valley – Apple, Google, Zynga and others – are now ‘old money’ companies. The market is so saturated by these large companies, new competitors are not aiming to build “the next Google.” Small, niche websites are the future, which is where these entrepreneurial journalists can have a stake,” said Doug. “They know how to create quality content, but not how to make money from their content. So we provide mentorship in entrepreneurship, such as training in market evaluation, as well as the opportunity to pitch to investors. We also mentor journalists on whether he or she should go into entrepreneurship, because it requires a certain mindset.”
To date, the New U Entrepreneur Fellowship Program has graduated 30 Fellows, ten of whom have received early stage seed grants ranging from $3,300 to $10,000. Many of the fellows have taken the opportunity to establish social initiatives. Fellow and grantee Cynthia Liu founded the K12 News Network, a news and advocacy platform for public school communities. Another, Jason Frazer, founded the Wealth Empowerment Network, a content syndication services that helps media organizations better educate audiences about building and sustaining personal wealth.
Talking about his fellowship experiences, Doug expressed how the Fulbright helped him make a meaningful connection with so many students and professionals at different levels in their career. “The Fulbright enabled me to feel like I was really valuable in a lot of ways. What I knew, other people wanted to know as well. That is what Fulbright is about, answering the question ‘What can I do to affect change?’”
Doug worked at NPR for over two decades, most of that time as a producer and director for each of NPR’s national newsmagazines. During his time at NPR he founded a hands-on media training program targeting college students, which he dubbed “next generation radio.” It launched in 2000 with streaming audio and video of stories conceived, reported, written and produced by college students. Currently, Doug is Co-Director of the New U Entrepreneur Fellowship Program and chair of the National Association of Black Journalists Media Institute. The Institute is designed to provide a wide range of media-specific, hands-on professional training to members of NABJ. Follow Doug on Twitter (@nextgenradio).
© Victoria Johnson 2012, all rights reserved.
Crystal Moore, 2010-11 ProInspire Fellow
Crystal Moore knows her professional strengths and has used them to build a fulfilling career straddling both the private and public sector. After spending several years working for Accenture and gaining skills in corporate finance and analytics, Crystal considered pursuing another passion – education. In 2010, she applied to and won a spot in the prestigious ProInspire Fellowship Program. ProInspire provides the opportunity for outstanding business professionals to spend one year working in a strategic or analytical role at a nonprofit or public sector organization in Washington, D.C. The program also offers Fellows a coach, monthly training workshops, and a professional network to support career growth. As a ProInspire Fellow, Crystal worked for DC Public Schools, and is now completing her MBA. After graduation she plans to work for the Boston-based Parthenon Group, which provides strategy advising to the education sector. Crystal has definitely found her niche. We spoke with her to learn more about her interesting career path.
1. What inspired you to apply to the ProInspire Fellowship?
My desire to apply for the ProInspire Fellowship Program began through my involvement with College Summit as a College Counselor, and through Accenture’s Corporate Citizenship Program with KIPP Charter School in DC. I saw how the academic achievement gap manifested itself in the lives of so many of our country’s minority students living in low income areas: kids entering the 5th grade at a 2nd grade reading level, or matriculating to the 8th grade without a solid grasp of multiplication tables. These experiences made me acutely aware that the achievement gap is not a reflection of student capabilities, but of an education system that’s failing them.
After several years at Accenture, I felt that I had developed my skills in a way that would allow me to effectively contribute to the education sector, and I wanted to align these skills with my passion for social responsibility and improving and enhancing educational opportunities. Through the ProInspire Fellowship, I saw a chance to apply my experience in corporate America to the nonprofit world and align my skills with a mission that makes a difference in the world and harnesses the power of my business experience to do good.
2. What did you focus on in your application cover letter?
In my cover letter, I focused on 1) demonstrating a passion for social sector, 2) articulating how the Fellowship benefited and supported my career goals, 3) and conveying how my previous experience could be impactful in the social sector.
- Demonstrate a passion for social sector – On both my resume and cover letter, I highlighted my previous involvement in the social sector, including my volunteer and pro bono consulting experience. I wanted to convey that I was not only passionate about social change and the education sector, but that I had taken steps toward impacting the sector through volunteer, leadership, and community service activities.
- Articulate how the ProInspire Fellowship aligns with your career goals and is the right opportunity for you – Another key component to my cover letter was articulating the professional reasons for applying to the ProInspire Fellowship Program. In this section, I focused on both explaining what I could gain from the fellowship experience, but also what I could contribute to the fellowship community.
- Strike a healthy balance between passion and business skills – While demonstrating a strong passion for the education sector, I also tried to covey that through my prior professional experience I had developed a strong “tool-kit” of skills that could be impactful to the social sector. I focused on conveying the specific skills that I felt I could bring to the fellowship. Additionally, I tailored the language and relevance of my skills to the specifics of the fellowship requirements (strong analytical, problem solving, and project management skills).
3. What did you gain from your fellowship experience?
Working in the Office of Secondary School Transformation at DC Public Schools, I helped to drive the implementation of the school district’s reform strategy by improving the districts effectiveness through a rigorous use of data. Through my work as a ProInspire Fellow, I further strengthened my core belief that all students, regardless of their social-economic background should have access to a quality education system.
More broadly, in addition to having a meaningful and high-impact fellowship experience, the professional development program truly helped accelerate my transition into the social sector. Through workshops, coaching and leadership development, I was able to build the competencies that are most valuable to the social sector.
As a result of my Fellowship experience, I was also able to expand my own professional connections within the social sector. Most importantly, though, I have become connected to a group of people who are just as passionate about social change as I am.
Essentially, the ProInspire Fellowship Program allowed me to serve on the front lines of transforming an educational system. I continue to be excited about the education reform initiatives taking place in the U.S., and hope to be able to contribute in my small way to this important movement in the next phase of my career following business school.
Crystal Moore is completing a MBA in Strategy and Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. At Duke she is Co-President of the Black and Latino MBA Organization and is a COLE Leadership Fellow. Crystal earned her B.S. in Business Administration and Finance from Xavier University of Louisiana.
© Victoria Johnson 2012, all rights reserved.
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