On March 7th, the International Fellows Network hosted a dinner for current and former fellows at the East German restaurant Walzwerk in San Francisco. The dinner brought together a cross-disciplinary group of leaders for an evening of discussion and exchange.
Education Pioneers fellow, Erica Swallow, shared her experience launching a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $20,000 to launch a series of children’s books, Entrepreneur Kid, featuring stories of real child entrepreneurs. Former Fulbright fellow Sydney Skov talked about her plans to expand her organization, the Free Body Project, a platform to connect organizations globally that use dance as a resource to advance social justice. Also, Mendenhall Fellow Sara McBride, the only social scientist based at the US Geological Survey, discussed her latest research paper on how social embarrassment impedes public education efforts to get people at work to practice “drop, cover and hold” during earthquake drills.
We were also joined by Holly Babe Faust, a late-career Master’s student, who was there to share information on an upcoming mini-conference on March 29, 2018, at Mills College entitled ‘Life after Fellowship’. Mills is inviting participants and alumni of multiple programs focused on education and social justice (including AmeriCorps, Education Pioneers, CORO, Greenlining Institute, City Hall Fellows, and many others) to get together for an evening filled with inspirational stories, networking, and planning for the future. Panel discussions will include sessions on turning your passion into a career, using education for good, and achieving a work-life balance. The event will conclude with a networking reception. This is a free event, and you can register to attend here.
The International Fellows Network is a professional networking organization of more than 1,800 current and former fellows from all over the world. The IFN also holds events in New York City, Washington, DC, and Berlin, Germany. Through the IFN, current and former fellows can connect for socializing, advice and insights on fellowships, jobs, events, graduate programs and collaborative opportunities. If you are a current or former fellow and would like to join, please sign up for our fellowships database, and we’ll be in touch by email!
March 2018 attendees:
- Claudia Sandoval – Development Coordinator at Pachamama Alliance / Public Policy and International Affairs Fellow
- Dawn Barcelona – Technical Sourcer at Mulesoft / Fulbright ETA to South Korea
- Erica Swallow – Director of Content Strategy at Summit Public Schools / Education Pioneers Fellow
- Gabrielle Sharaga – Associate Program Manager, Funder Outreach at TechSoup / New Sector Alliance RISE Fellow
- Holly Babe Faust – Senior Associate at Impact4Health, LLC / Joint MBA/MPA student at Mills College
- Richard Bachmann – Guide at Germany Close Up / DAAD Fellow
- Sara McBride – Mendenhall Fellow at the United States Geological Survey
- Selomé Getachew – J.D. Candidate at University of San Francisco School of Law / JusticeCorps Fellow
- Sydney Skov – Global Competition Manager at D-Price / Fulbright Fellow to India
- Vicki Johnson – Founder and Director, ProFellow / Ian Axford Fellow in Public Policy
© Victoria Johnson 2018, all rights reserved.