Meet Eva Egeghy '26

I am a sophomore in the ILR School minoring in Health Care Policy. I am involved in Speech and Debate, The Cornell Advocacy Project, and Skits – a sketch comedy troupe.

Over the summer, I participated in the ILR Buffalo High Road fellowship program. This experience was truly one of the most inspiring, challenging, and transformative opportunities of my time at the ILR School. My fellowship placement was 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers, a union that represents healthcare-sector employees across Western New York. Specifically, I worked with the nursing home team which represented members in over 30 care facilities across the Buffalo region. Every day of my fellowship was different– but my common tasks were talking to members about collective action and the bargaining process, participating in contract negotiation, and filing grievances for violations of contract. I quickly learned that organizing is not your typical “9–to–5.” During my fellowship, I was rarely in the office for more than a few hours. I walked picket lines, traveled for conferences, and went canvassing on the weekends. I found that the hardest, longest days were the most rewarding.

Outside of work, I lived in community with my fellow fellows (pun intended.) One of my favorite elements of the program was learning and living with the other High Roaders. During our evenings and weekends, we hosted potluck dinners in our dorm rooms, learned about collective action on “Fellowship Fridays,” and explored the beautiful city of Buffalo. The people I met over the summer are the most passionate and well-rounded people I know. Sharing weekly journal entries with each other, from our menial thoughts on the week to our vulnerable self-reflections, helped me to learn from and grow close to an incredibly diverse community.

The High Road Fellowship embodies the meaning of community-engaged learning. Working in nursing homes opens your eyes to the intricacies and brokenness of our healthcare system. My time in the program demonstrated the fundamental interconnectedness of the labor movement and political action. Advocating for higher Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates, safe working conditions, and sustainable staffing levels isn’t just about legislating in Albany. It’s about dignity and respect for the people who clock in every day, at all hours, to help those who cannot care for themselves.

I would absolutely recommend the High Road Fellowship to anyone interested in labor, justice, economic development, community engagement, or the law. My friends from the program worked across advocacy areas; from food justice farms, to elected officials’ offices, to legal clinics. Each of us walked away with something different, but with one thing in common: community.