Fellowship description and application procedures
Meet the Pforzheimer Foundation Public Service Fellows for 2007-2008
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
For Harvard fellowships, “public service” is defined as work that:
Individually or within an organization, work must be nonprofit, nondenominational, and nonpartisan.
Selection committees have articulated a clear inclination to make awards when a student's direct involvement is essential to the quality or success of a project, addresses significant human need in the project, and establishes viability for the project once the fellow departs. In support of substantial public service projects, selection committees have historically preferred projects that last at least four months in duration. Applicants must be in good academic and disciplinary standing. Financial need is not a criterion.
Application includes:
The application deadline for 2008-2009 fellowships is Friday, March 7, 2008, 12:00 noon, in the Fellowships Office at OCS.
Samuel Bjork '09 (Chemical and Physical Biology; Eliot House)
During a leave of absence, Sam is volunteering this year through the Botswana -Baylor Children's Clinical Center of Excellence to help develop an HIV education program for the greater Gaborone community.
Peggy Bui '08 (History and Science; Dunster House)
Peggy spent the summer as an intern for Community Wealth Ventures (CWV) in Washington , DC . A subsidiary of Share Our Strength, CWV helps nonprofits increase their social impact by building their internal assets.
James Collins '07 (Visual and Environmental Studies; Lowell House)
James is volunteering this year with the Field Band Foundation in South Africa , an organization that bring music and dance to the lives of underprivileged children by teaching them dance skills and how to play musical instruments.
Mathieu Desruisseaux '07 (Government; Mather House)
Mathieu is working in China this year with Internews, an international nonprofit organization that works to improve access to information by fostering independent media and promoting open communication policies for the common good..
Shirley Hufstedler '07 (Biochemical Sciences; Adams House)
Shirley is spending this year in Mexico working with La Red Democracia y Sexualidad Puebla , an alliance of organizations promoting sexual health and reproductive rights, to establish a community sexual health resource center.
Mary Jepson '06-'07 (Social Anthropology; Dudley House)
Mary is volunteering this year with the Compañeros Project at the Boston Medical Center, where she is working to minimize barriers of access to abortion services for low-income and immigrant women in Boston , Massachusetts.
Karina Lam '08 (Economics; Eliot House)
This summer, Karina volunteered at a healthcare center in the Luoyang Orphanage in China , where she helped provide care for infants and young children, working with staff to nurse some babies back to health and alleviate suffering for others who were dying.
Elizabeth McKenna '08 (Social Studies; Leverett House)
During a leave of absence this past spring, Elizabeth volunteered with SIM Down, a disability rights organization in Brazil . During the summer, she examined gender equality, volunteering with microfinance institutions in Argentina , Bolivia , and Uruguay .
Hanna Melnick '07 (Social Studies; Winthrop House)
Hanna is teaching a writing class to indigenous girls in rural Bolivia this year, urging students to record their stories. Back in the U.S. , she will bring these stories to Latina immigrants in greater Boston , urging these women to send their own stories back to Bolivia .
Oluwarotimi Okunade '07 (Biomedical Sciences and Engineering; Quincy House)
Rotimi is spending this year working with Medicine in Need in South Africa , where she is helping the organization provide a platform for future research and development in drug and vaccine delivery for diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis.
Currun Singh '07 (Social Studies; Adams House)
Currun is spending the last half of 2007 working to found an association in Morocco —Al-Maghreb Al-Mutaheda (United Morocco)—that will train unemployed young people in Rabat and engage them in community development projects.
Rajan Sonik '07 (Biochemical Sciences; Adams House)
In partnership with Project HEALTH, Rajan is working this year to bring STRIVE programs to New York City —STRIVE is a mentoring, support, and education program dedicated to helping low-income teenagers with sickle cell disease succeed in school and life.
Jordan Stephens '07 (Engineering Sciences; Adams House)
Jordan proposed the creation of a clean water initiative on the outskirts of San Jose , Costa Rica , where contaminated water poses serious public health risks to community members. Working with community members to assess the problem, he is seeking simple sustainable solutions.
Andrew Sternlight '07 (Social Studies; Pforzheimer House)
Andrew is spending this year working to expand Higher Edge, a college preparation program in Los Angeles he co-founded and co-directs that helps make elite university education more accessible to high-achieving public school students from low-income backgrounds.
Are summer projects really viable?
Technically, yes. The fellowship intends to support substantial community or public service projects, and historically, selection committees have favored projects lasting at least four months if not longer, making only occasional exceptions for shorter projects. Students proposing summer projects will have to demonstrate very serious commitment to their public service work.
Are there exceptions to the $3,000 to $10,000 funding range?
Yes, and they are fairly routine, but only if the duration and requirements of a proposed project warrant an exception. Selection committees first look to assess the merit, soundness, and practicality of proposed projects.
Can a student use Pforzheimer funds in addition to other funds for the same project?
Provided it's clear that Pforzheimer funds are seed money, selection committees have no problem seeing Pforzheimer funds used in conjunction with funds from other sources. Students in this situation should simply inform the Fellowships Office and the selection committee for full disclosure. Pforzheimer awards may be withheld or rescinded, however, if adequate funding to sustain a project has already been secured from another source.
May teams of students apply for funding?
Nothing in the donors' terms establishing this program specifically rules out joint applications, but these terms are clear in supporting formative individual experiences, and selection committees have found them much more conducive to evaluating individuals and their proposals than teams and their proposals. In practice, joint applications are probably untenable.