Shared Effort Winter 2011

Winter 2011

Volume 14, Number 1

PP55 Inspires a Career in Ecological Design

In This Issue 2

Board Member Spotlight: Arthur McKee ’90

3

President Tilghman and Marc Freedman to Open Feb. 25 Event

3

Development Update

4

AlumniCorps Receives Matching Grant

4

New Emerging Leaders Program

4 5 5

Board Member Spotlight, Cont’d PP55 Inspires Career in Ecological Design, Cont’d Spotlight on PP55 Fellow

Visit Shared Effort online to read these articles and more! blog.alumnicorps.org

Sharon Gamson Danks‟93, and a former PP55 fellow, is the author of Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation, which was published by New Village Press in November 2010 and has been acclaimed nationally and abroad (www.asphalt2ecosystems.org).

This comprehensive book includes documentation and vibrant photographs of over 150 ecological schoolyards in 11 countries and is one of the outcomes of Sharon‟s successful career which began with a Princeton Project 55 fellowship at CONCERN, Inc. in Washington, DC in the fall of 1993.

Directed by Susan Boyd, wife of Steve Boyd ‟55—one of the founders of AlumniCorps—CONCERN‟s environmental work was a perfect fit for Sharon‟s growing interest in this field, and Susan was her ideal mentor for her first job. After being hired at CON-

CERN, Sharon worked with Susan on the emerging field of community sustainability and was inspired by her colleagues and their work. Sharon‟s primary responsibility at CONCERN was to catalogue and organize information from around the U.S. about local “sustainable community” initiatives.

During her time at their office, before the World Wide Web was well developed, Sharon created a survey and database of sustainable community information that became the foundation for the current Sustainable Communities Network website, www.sustainable.org.

After working with Susan, Sharon moved to California, married, and settled in the Bay Area. Inspired by her work at CONCERN, she decided to become an environmental planner, specializing in ecological design, ...continued on page 5

The Engaged at Every Age Conference Friday, February 25, 2011 - Princeton University FIND NEW USES FOR YOUR WISDOM, EXPERIENCE AND PASSION

President Shirley M. Tilghman, Princeton University Keynote Speaker: Marc Freedman, Founder and CEO of Civic Ventures Attend workshops about: Mentoring * Board Service * Short-term Service Projects * Pro Bono Working Groups * Encore Careers * Returning to the Workforce * Class Initiatives * Volunteering * Alumni-Driven Civic Engagement * Non Profit Sector * Making a Difference.

Register at WWW.ALUMNICORPS.ORG.

Board Member Spotlight: Arthur McKee ’90 a big fan of the PP55 fellowship.

From my own work, I knew that the supply of talent into the nonprofit sector was something of a rate-limiting factor. Social service organizations could succeed in making a difference only if they had enough motivated and smart folks working for them. Princeton Project 55 seemed like just the sort of pipeline the sector needed. After Arthur recently joined the National Council on Teacher Quality in January talking more about this with Bill Leahy 2011, to head up their project to rate over (who was then on the board of PP55), I 1000 schools of education, which prepare wrote a letter to the board and was revirtually all the new teachers in the coun- cruited to serve on a taskforce that had try every year. From 2000 to 2010, Arthur formed to discuss partner organizaworked at CityBridge Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to creating and sus- tions. That work got me hooked, and I taining great public schools in Washington was very fortunate to be asked to join the board in 2008.

DC. While there, he oversaw the foundation's Early Years Education Initiative, an What is your background regarding $8M, five-year effort to expand highnonprofits/volunteering? How have quality early childhood education services you demonstrated “Princeton in the in the nation's capital. Prior to the launch Nation’s Service?” of the Early Years Initiative in 2006, Arthur investigated the potential of philanthropic strategies in the areas of homeless service provision, workforce development, and asset building. He also taught Russian history at American University. He has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Russian History from U.C. Berkeley. He serves on the board of DC Preparatory Academy and has two young sons.

How/Why did you get involved with Princeton AlumniCorps?

A brief notice in an e-mail from the University in 2005 reminded me that nonprofit organizations could bring on fellows through Princeton Project 55. While I was aware of Princeton Project 55, having been a senior when it was created, I actually hadn't kept up with the organization in the intervening years. When I got this e-mail I was working at CityBridge Foundation, and we were gearing up for what would become the Early Years Initiative. We decided to apply to become a host organization and brought Emily Chiswick-Patterson on board in 2006. Emily made a huge difference as we helped design the academic program of a charter school. So I became Page 2

Like anyone else, I should suspect, I look first and foremost at the mission of the organization. Is it something that I am passionate about? If the organization achieved its mission, would it have made a significant difference?

But after that, I really look at the organization's leadership. Are the organization's leaders energized for growth and eager to improve? Can the leadership rally smart and good people to support it? Even if an organization has good programs, it won't be able to last long with bad leadership.

I should note that leadership cannot be completely concentrated in a single person. I look to see who the chair of the organization is along with the executive director. One of the reasons why Princeton AlumniCorps has had such a good run is that it has tremendous leadership strength on its board, in its chairs, presidents, and executive To be honest, for the first decade or directors. so after I graduated, I was much more Please discuss the importance of focused on advancing my career in what Princeton AlumniCorps does academia than I was service to othfor the Princeton community and ers. But when I left academia, I was fortunate enough to join the staff of the communities across the country. family foundation of David and KatheI will defer to my fellow board memrine Bradley (Katherine is a member of ber, Stan Katz, who has told us that he thinks that AlumniCorps has had a prothe class of 1986 and serves on the University's Board of Trustees). They found impact on the culture of the university. Before it was founded, corpohad ingrained in their business enterprises and foundation an intensive rate recruiters really had no competiethic of service, which was very com- tors on campus. And if you were like me, and didn't want to join the corpopelling to me. And the work of the rate sector, you went on to graduate or foundation itself showed me why it was important to give back to the com- professional schools. The advent of munity.

Princeton AlumniCorps has actually In the past decade, I've served on the made the university's motto real by boards of four organizations, including providing them with viable pathways Princeton AlumniCorps. I feel like to service. And its emergence presboard service is a good fit for my aged the creation of a wide variety of skills, and I feel like I have been able other organizations (such as Princeton in Africa) that widened these pathto make a lasting difference to the community by helping good organiza- ways. From what I can tell, students tions get even better. are actually giving a lot more thought What’s the most important thing you to how they can serve than when I was look for when supporting an organi- a student. ...continued on page 4 zation or serving on a nonprofit board?

Shared Effort

President Tilghman and Marc Freedman of Civic Ventures to Open February 25 Event Marc Freedman, author At the Feb. 25 event, FreedConference Workshops Include: of Prime Time: How man will share the stories of Baby Boomers Will winners of the "Purpose ♦Model Behavior: Mentoring opportunities in your Revolutionize Retirement Prize”—the nation's only city and/or through Princeton and Transform America large-scale investment in will open the “Engaged people over 60 who combine ♦The Alumni Network: Starting an alumni-driven At Every Age: The Surtheir passion and experience prising Opportunity in for social good. The Prize project at another college or university Midlife” conference to awards 10 people up to be held at Princeton Uni$100,000 each in recognition ♦A Class Act: Learn the Basics of Princeton Class versity on Friday, Sepof their encore careers which Service Projects tember 25. Princeton create new ways to solve University President tough social problems. Sev♦Little Time, Big Hearts: Short-term service projects Shirley Tilghman will eral Purpose Prize winners offered through Princeton and other public interest introduce Freedman, will attend the event, includwho is founder and CEO ing Chet Safian ‟55 organizations of the California-based (Princeton AlumniCorps) group, Civic Ventures. who helped establish Prince♦Make Your Next Chapter Meaningful: Substantive The purpose of the conton Project 55 fellowships opportunities to lend your for-profit skills to the ference is to encourage and The Alumni Network, college alumni, particuBarbara Chandler Allen, nonprofit sector larly those who gradufounder of Fresh Artists in ated in the ‟60s, ‟70s, Philadelphia, and Richard and ‟80s to use their talents and experience to improve so- Cherry, the founder of Community Environmental Center, ciety. Other conference speakers will include Kerry HanNew York‟s largest nonprofit energy conservation organinon, author of What's Next? Follow Your Passion and Find zation and the city's only nonprofit eco-business.

Your Dream Job, and Stephanie Scott Harbour, President The afternoon session will consist of a series of individof Mom Corps NYC, an organization that enables profesual workshops on a variety of related subjects focused on sionals to work in their respective fields while simultanecivic engagement in midlife. With the expertise gained ously meeting familial needs and responsibilities. from the workshops, we hope conference attendees will become driven and better equipped to contribute to constructive social change.

“We are proud to have both President Tilghman and Marc Freedman to support our efforts to provide mean- More than 150 guests are expected to attend this informaingful volunteer opportunities for midlife alumni,” said tive and inspiring event which conveniently precedes Bill Leahy, President of Princeton AlumniCorps. “This Princeton University Alumni Day. To view a full list of is part of our long range plan to offer civic engagement speakers and secure your attendance, please visit opportunities to all college alumni, across generations.” www.AlumniCorps.org. Registration fee is $55.

Help us Reach Our Goal Today!

Amount raised as of January 21, 2011

Amount left to raise by June 30, 2011

Thanks to those who have given, we are at 58% of our goal to raise $228,000 from individual donors this year.

Can you help us get to 100% by June 30, 2011?

Volume 14, Number 1

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Princeton AlumniCorps Receives Matching Grant for Leadership Development With great thanks to our generous donors, AlumniCorps achieved the Starr Challenge and received the pledged grant of $75,000 from the Abbey K. Starr Charitable Trust in early January. The Starr grant will allow AlumniCorps to develop and launch the new Emerging Leaders professional development program in the spring.

Emerging Leaders: A New Program for PP55 Alumni Princeton AlumniCorps is excited to announce the launch of our new Emerging Leaders professional development program. Emerging Leaders is designed to help aspiring and emerging nonprofit leaders develop the skills and confidence to advance their professional contribution and accelerate their careers in the nonprofit sector. All Princetonians and all alumni of our TAN affiliate programs that fit our eligibility criteria are welcome and encouraged to apply.

The lead facilitator and trainer for the Emerging Leaders curriculum is Hilary Weston Joel ‟85. Joel is an executive coach and management consultant with 25 years of experience across numerous industries. Joel writes, “The program is intended to yield tangible, near-term value to participants (and their employers) and support their longer-term leadership development. It will employ experiential learning and outside experts and speakers to build management skills, leadership competencies, and sector-specific knowledge.”

In addition to Joel‟s role, specific modules will be led by

accomplished guest speakers and experienced trainers who are experts in specific areas (e.g., fundraising, nonprofit financials), and there will be occasional panel discussions with well-regarded executive directors from nonprofits in the area.

“This is an excellent benchmark of growth and expansion for Princeton AlumniCorps,” says Executive Director Kathleen Reilly, “We hope to help equip those individuals who completed a fellowship or internship with additional skills and support to avoid burnout and achieve long-term success in the nonprofit sector.”

AlumniCorps plans to pilot the Emerging Leaders program in Washington, DC beginning in the spring of 2011. Then, based on the feedback we receive, we plan to roll it out in other cities where we have a critical mass of alumni in the nonprofit sector.

To learn more about the Emerging Leaders program, visit www.alumnicorps.org.

Board Member Spotlight, Continued from pg. 2 For 2010-11, AlumniCorps placed 51 Project 55 fellows. What would your advice be for our newest class of PP55 fellows?

bashful about asking someone to take a phone call or a lunch meeting with you. Most people are happy to talk about what they're doing, and you can learn a lot from asking them some simMy advice both to those who are ple questions. roughly halfway through their fellowOne of Princeton AlumniCorps' ships and those who have applied to strengths is that it has established a become fellows is: network. We nor- remarkably extensive and dense netmally think of going out and meeting work of contacts that people in the orpeople in a purely instrumental light, ganization can take advantage of. So, as a means of convincing someone to if you're a fellow, you can talk to other give you a job. That obviously can be fellows in the city you're placed in, one goal. But for people who are just your mentor, your supervisor (and, getting out of college, networking is possibly, the colleagues of your superactually a way of getting a much better visor). And if you are applying to besense of what you might ultimately come a fellow, you can talk with the want to do. And you shouldn't be Page 4

fellows who are in organizations that you're interested in.

What is your hope for the future of Princeton AlumniCorps?

I'm very excited about the prospect of turning Princeton AlumniCorps into the organizational destination for Princeton alums to get meaningfully involved in community service. The work that John Shriver and Bill Leahy have done in developing the Community Volunteers Program to establish compelling channels for alumni to get involved is going a long way to making this a reality.

Shared Effort

PP55 Inspires A Career in Ecological Design, Continued from pg. 1 so that she could help cities move toward a more sustainable future. She studied at UC Berkeley, receiving joint Masters‟ degrees in City Planning and Landscape Architecture in 2000. After graduation, Sharon was awarded a traveling fellowship from UC Berkeley to expand on her Master‟s thesis research by documenting green schoolyards abroad.

When she returned, she formed her own consultancy, EcoSchool Design®, and began working with the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance, conceiving and directing the first conference for this newly founded organization.

Coincidentally, Susan‟s children also settled in San Francisco so on trips to the area she and Sharon would visit, eventually joined by Sharon‟s daughters and Susan‟s grandchildren. In the fall of 2007 Sharon took Susan on a tour of exemplary schoolyards in Berkeley and Oakland to see how they were teaching the principles of ecology and sustainability to their young students. Upon returning to Washington, Susan was contacted by the U.S. Botanic Garden, which was planning a

Sustainability Exhibit from May to October 2008 on the National Mall and was open to a proposal from CONCERN. Thus the idea of a Sustainable Schoolyard Exhibit was born and a series of synchronicities followed.

Unbeknownst to Susan, Sharon and two of her colleagues had just formed a new landscape architecture and planning firm, Bay Tree Design, Inc. (www.baytreedesign.com), which would specialize in designing ecological schoolyards. Would they like one of their first projects to be to design the sustainable schoolyard exhibit on the Washington Mall next to the Capitol? Despite the fact that there were no funds, budget, or staff, they said an enthusiastic “yes” and a very creative and challenging five months of design and planning ensued. Collaborating with Susan and her colleagues, they performed the impossible and created one of the most popular exhibits, attended by over three-quarters of a million visitors from around the world.

Sharon and her business partner, landscape architect Lisa Howard, are continuing their work to green school

grounds at schools in the Bay Area and beyond. They have been working with the San Francisco Unified School District on their bond-funded green schoolyard program over the last two and a half years, helping almost 30 schools to create green schoolyard master plans. Sharon was also instrumental in shaping this groundbreaking program, using research from her master‟s thesis, fellowship travels abroad, and the sustainability principles she learned long ago at CONCERN. The publication of Sharon‟s new book is providing fertile ground for Susan and Sharon to collaborate further on a new set of projects—starting with an international sustainable schoolyards conference planned for San Francisco in October 2011. The conference will help to launch a national and international initiative to encourage more schools to design their grounds with sustainability in mind and thus inspire their students to green their communities as they grow up to become tomorrow‟s leaders.

Project 55 Fellow at a Glance... “…I didn't know much about workforce development or ex-offender re-entry before coming to the North Lawndale Employment Network, but I'm glad to have learned as much as I have. I'll end this post with a little anecdote: My other roommate, Mike (a fellow from last year who stayed on as an employee of NLEN) and I are transit pals, naturally, except on nights when he works late. Occasionally, coming out of work, we'd see this one guy, who would always ask us for change. We kept turning him down, but eventually saw this one guy enough times that we got to talking about our jobs, and encouraged him to come in to our Resource Center and look for work. He told us, „But I've got a felony background,‟ which is of course, NLEN's specialty. Just this week, I'm happy to say he started work…”

Read the full story on the PP55 fellows blog at North Lawndale Employment Network, Chicago pp55fellows.blogspot.com

- Andrew Kinaci ’10,

Volume 14, Number 1

Page 5

Princeton AlumniCorps Board of Directors R. Kenly Webster ‟55, Chairman William R. Leahy, Jr., M.D. ‟66, President Jessica D. Johnson ‟98, Secretary Charles F. Mapes, Jr. ‟55, Treasurer Thomas D. Allison ‟66 Illa Brown ‟76 Margaret Crotty ‟94 Andrew Goldstein ‟06 James A. Gregoire ‟69 John D. Hamilton, Jr. ‟55 Stanley N. Katz h‟21 Katie Ko ‟09 James D. Lynn ‟55 Melissa Mazin ‟91 Kathleen McCleery ‟75 W. Arthur McKee ‟90 Dominic F. Michel ‟70 Kathryn A. Miller ‟77 Paula Morency ‟77 Ralph Nader ‟55

Anthony Quainton ‟55 Michael D. Robbins ‟55 Margarita Rosa, Esq. ‟74 Marsha Rosenthal ‟76 Warner V. Slack ‟55 Samuel T. Suratt ‟55 Lindsay M. Wall ‟02 Scott Taylor ‟75 Richard E. Thompson ‟55 Richard O. Walker ‟73

Princeton AlumniCorps Staff Kathleen E. Reilly, Executive Director Carrie Diaz-Littauer, Office Administrator Sara Gordon, Project 55 Fellowship Program Manager Arti Sheth ‟08, Development Officer John Shriver, Program Director, Community Volunteers

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