Inaugural NYC High Road Fellowship Begins With Lofty Ambitions
Punctuated by New York City's signature sirens, drills, and horns, the inaugural NYC High Road Fellowship launched in June. Kara Lombardi, assistant dean for student experience and wellbeing, kicked off the event. She urged the 12 fellows to seize each and every opportunity over the next eight weeks spent working within businesses, unions, government, education and community organizations.
Rising senior Elizabeth Si was already one step ahead. Si, who will be working with the early intervention program Hand in Hand, “was actually able to go to the event [Hand in Hand] hosted in Brooklyn last night,” the day before the High Road program even started. “We had a great conversation about working on a civic engagement project this summer, so teaching people to vote with care in mind,” said Si
It’s an ambitious bunch. Brigid Beachler, director of the office of engaged and experiential programs, anticipated the experimental pilot NYC program to attract roughly 5 fellows. But there are 12 fellows in the room – a giant effort to answer an overwhelming demand headed by the good stewards at The Einhorn Center for Engaged Learning through Beachler, Esta Bigler, director of labor and employment law program; Lynn Coffey-Edelman, program manager; and Claire Concepcion, program coordinator.
The original High Road Fellowship has been a longstanding program operating out of Buffalo. Although the lofty ambitions of the NYC pilot program may feel like flying the plane while building it, the exceptional people behind the experiment have pulled it together.
“Having a positive impact.” For rising junior Ron Varghese, this is what the High Road Fellowship is all about. “I was a boy scout, so I try to keep some level of service to humanity at any given point in time,” said Varghese. “I think when you add purpose to something, it makes it much more worth it.”
The opportunity to critically reflect like Varghese is a hallmark of the High Road Fellowship. In fact, each Friday at the ILR office, the cohort will reflect critically on their work experience with an eclectic array of speakers and workshops. Their first dose of dynamic learning arrived from Richard Kiely, associate vice provost for engagement at the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, who joined the orientation Tuesday virtually to offer the fellows some cogent advice for critically reflecting upon their approaching summer. For rising junior Claire Ting, Kiely’s inspired discussion on critical reflection “means opening the door to introduce action and revision, kind of creating this praxis in the process.”
Ting’s endeavors this summer take place at New York Assemblymember and ILR alum Alex Bores’ office, “primarily doing community engagement and just getting to understand the constituency of the 73rd district in a more robust manner."
Working alongside Ting at Assemblymember Bores’ (‘13) office is fellow Bryanne Sarfo (‘26). “I’m here to be a sponge and absorb information!” said the rising sophomore, who is admittedly “pretty nervous” about the pilot High Road Program. “This is my first experience with an internship or a job of any sorts, but I’m really excited to learn more about office culture and how people actually communicate.”
The immense opportunity to get first-hand experience in the political world stands as a testament to the depth and generosity of the ILR alumni network. “[ILRers] are the most amazing group of alums,” said Bigler. “Why? Because we take care of each other.”
This ILR altruism and ambition seem to be the concrete and steel mix which is foundational to each fellow: the propensity to care and to do something about it. When the cohort reconvened at the ILR office on Friday after having gotten a few day’s experience under their belt (including working around the historic orange smoke which blanketed the city), there was a palpable excitement about the towering possibilities contained in the next eight weeks; a chance to fulfill lofty ambitions, forge foundations for their future careers, and build enduring experiences.