Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University

Congratulations to Alana Okonkwo for becoming a 2024 recipient! Created by the Obamas and Airbnb's Brian Chesky, this scholarship program is for young leaders who are ready to make their mark in public service.

Alana is a rising junior majoring in Stanford Archaeology Center and Stanford University - The Program In African & African American Studies. She was previously a Frosh Service Liaison through the Haas Center and lived in Otero, the public service theme dorm. Alana was also a Black Diaspora Fellow through the Cardinal Quarter program, where she interned at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. She is passionate about cultural heritage restitution – returning lost or stolen objects of historical or cultural significance to their community of origin.

🔗 Read more about Alana's work and the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship: https://buff.ly/3WYAAp0

Introducing the 2024-25 Community Impact Fellows! These 17 fellows are placed in partnering public interest organizations across the U.S. and matched with a mentor who can guide their experience.

The Community Impact Fellowship gives graduating seniors and coterms the opportunity to immerse themselves in a public service career, with placements that typically last for 10 to 12 months. It is one of four signature postgraduation fellowships offered by our Cardinal Careers program.

Read more about this year's cohort: https://buff.ly/3yBNpgL

At this year's Campus Compact Conference, Program Director for Student Outreach and Engagement Reza Rezvani gave a presentation on the power of peer-to-peer engagement, using the Haas Center's Frosh Service Liaison (FSL) Program as a model for how other institutions can design similar programs.

Reza has been leading the FSL Program since 2018. At the beginning of every academic year, twenty-five students, one from each of the frosh dorms, are elected as FSL coordinators. These students engage other residents in conversations about the principles of ethical and effective service and the different pathways to getting involved in service.

The coordinators also plan their own public service projects and share events that the students can participate in on campus. Through their involvement, they gain organizing experience and a deeper understanding of their own leadership styles.

Photos 1 & 2 by J Amado Photography, courtesy of Campus Compact.

Support the Haas Center's efforts to develop programming that aids graduate students in their community engaged work and research as the Associate Program Director of Graduate Student Engagement.

Apply:

Associate Program Director of Graduate Student Engagement in Vice Provost for Undergrad Education, Stanford, California, United States The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) and the Haas Center for Public Service are seeking an Associate Program Director of...

Enhance and expand outreach and engagement efforts at the Haas Center with local community organizations as the Director of Community Partnerships.

Apply:

Director of Community Partnerships in Vice Provost for Undergrad Education, Stanford, California, United States The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) is seeking a Director of Community Partnerships to enhance and expand outreach and.....

🌸 Another spring, another Spring into Service 🌸

Over 100 students packed into the Haas Center in April to celebrate the start of spring quarter with service! Of the four projects that were offered, students made:

🌼 60 flower kits for the Boys & Girls Club
🦘 15 handmade jump ropes with KIDA for an orphanage in Mexico
✍️ 50 gratitude cards for Stanford R&DE workers
🧶 many crochet square starts and excellent attempts (which are still being collected for blankets for individuals in need)

Thank you to the staff and peer advisors who made this day possible!

The Strauss Foundation has named Stanley Rozenblit, ’25, ’MS 25, as one of this year’s recipients of the Strauss Scholarship!

This scholarship is designed to promote public service in education by financing innovative student-generated public service projects.

Stanley’s project proposal, PRISM, is a public service initiative designed to help LGBTQ+ students find community belonging and access vital resources through educational workshops, support groups, and extensive community outreach. With the Strauss Scholarship, he plans to bring PRISM to his hometown of South Bend, Indiana.

On March 23, Foundation for a College Education recognized our Director of Community Engaged Learning in Education Paitra Houts with the 2024 Community Partner Award at their annual gala.

Foundation for a College Education is a nonprofit organization based in East Palo Alto that works to increase the number of first-generation, low-income students of color from East Palo Alto who graduate from a four-year college or university.

Foundation for a College Education partnered with Paitra and the Haas Center to help launch a new curriculum that was specifically designed to bolster students’ mental health education.

Read more about this project: https://buff.ly/4bjFORM

Photo credit: Susi Ferreyra Photography

Many congratulations to Mikayla Tillery, who has been recognized as a 2024 Truman Scholar for her advocacy for housing and energy justice through her policy and research work!

The Truman Scholarship recognizes students who are active in public service work by providing $30,000 for recipients to attend graduate school in a field of their choosing in pursuit of a career in public service.

Mikayla, a junior double majoring in urban studies and African and African American studies, is passionate about addressing housing and energy issues in a way that centers the frontline communities most acutely affected by systemic housing inequities. She has been involved in various service opportunities, including as a Partnerships for Climate Justice in the Bay Area (PCJ in the Bay) fellow and a senator for the Associated Students of Stanford University council.

Mikayla has also focused on supporting the Black community at Stanford through her work at the Black Community Service Center, where she has established transitional programs that have helped incoming Black students adjust to life on campus during their first year.

Read the Stanford Report article: https://buff.ly/3QotlEw

For our next round of Cardinal Careers fellows, we are pleased to announce the 2024-25 Tom Ford Fellows in Philanthropy: Estefanía Acuña Lacarieri, Hannah Basali, and Emily Geigh Nichols

The Tom Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy provides Stanford graduates with intensive, mentored experiences in domestic foundations where they will learn about the role of philanthropy in society.

▪️ Estefanía aims to understand how philanthropic enterprises invest strategically in human rights initiatives and how philanthropy brings service-oriented leaders together to create a more just and rights-respecting world.

▪️ Hannah is excited to explore how philanthropic organizations impact educational advancement and hopes to help propel educational missions through her fellowship year.

▪️ Emily plans to spend her fellowship delving into the interaction between philanthropy and the performing arts, racial justice advocacy, and gender justice advocacy.

Please join us in congratulating these amazing fellows!

Today, we are celebrating the Stanford cohort of the 2024-25 John Gardner Public Service Fellows: 🌟 Tanner Christensen, Nicole Domingo, and Arabella Walley 🌟

The Gardner Fellowship provides funding for six graduating seniors and coterms from Stanford and UC Berkeley to work at a government or nonprofit agency of their choice for 10 months, with an assigned mentor to guide them throughout their placement.

▪️ Tanner plans to explore issues of LGBTQ+ equity, human rights, and criminal justice reform.
▪️ Nicole seeks to work at a nonprofit that provides comprehensive legal services to marginalized and immigrant communities.
▪️ Arabella wants to develop her understanding of the U.S. immigration system while exploring opportunities and potential solutions for comprehensive reform.

We can’t wait to see all of the amazing work that this incredible cohort does! 👏

We are excited to announce the 2024-25 One-Year Schneider Fellows: 🌟 David Lee and Ella Norman 🌟

As with all One-Year Schneider Fellows, David and Ella will work in environmental sustainability through placements at the Natural Resources Defense Council after they graduate:

▪️ David will be the Energy Policy Analysis Fellow at the Washington, D.C., office.
▪️ Ella will be the Equitable Clean Energy and Climate Fellow at the San Francisco office.

Congratulations to our new fellows as they work to develop a more equitable and sustainable energy future. 🍃

Haas Center staff members Kristy Lobo and Luke Terra recently guest edited the Special Volume on Civic Identity for the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, along with former Haas Center Executive Director Thomas Schnaubelt and Sandra Bass of the UC Berkeley Public Service Center. Read the special edition: https://buff.ly/3TtAAgj

Register for a virtual discussion on 3/28 with the authors, moderated by Kristy Lobo, Luke Terra, and Tom Schnaubelt: https://buff.ly/3Pgs4id

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning | Issue: Issue: 2(29) (2023)

Last Friday, we co-hosted our annual luncheon for the Roland Prize and Community Partnership Awards honorees with the Office of Community Engagement.

Chris Piech, ‘11, MA ‘11, PhD ‘16, was recognized with the Roland Prize for his efforts to make computer science education accessible to all, particularly through his founding of the Code in Place initiative, a free-to-all online introductory programming course that was created during the pandemic.

There were three community partnerships that were recognized at the luncheon:
🤝 San Francisco Sheriff’s Office + Stanford Jail & Education Project
🤝 Second Harvest of Silicon Valley + Stanford Medicine
🤝 Sunnyvale School District + Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) Summer Explorations Program

This year was particularly special, as it marked the 20th anniversary of celebrating people who forge meaningful collaborations between Stanford University and our local communities, engaging faculty, staff, and students in ethical and effective service centered in community needs.

Read more about the work of this year’s honorees: https://buff.ly/3wP35Mz

📸: Peggy Propp

At our annual Community Partner Breakfast on January 26, we were fortunate to have our Distinguished Visitors open the event with a brief panel that was facilitated by the Haas Center program associate for environmental sustainability Alex Wheeler.

Thank you to all of our community partners who joined us and participated in breakout discussions after the panel. And many thanks to our gracious hosts from the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula in Redwood City!

📸: Peggy Propp

As we prepare to host our Distinguished Visitor Lecture with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability this Thursday, we are thrilled to share this Stanford Report article introducing the 2024 Distinguished Visitors.

Angela McKee-Brown, Jason Su, Cecilia Taylor, and Violet Wulf-Saena are Bay Area entrepreneurs working in environmental sustainability. In addition to their winter and spring residency at Stanford, they will give a panel on building sustainable communities on January 25 at 4:30 pm.

Read more:

Haas Distinguished Visitors focus on environmental justice - Stanford Report Four climate entrepreneurs and community leaders will work with students and faculty this year in a special sustainability-focused residency, co-hosted by the Stanford Doerr School for Sustainability.

Immense gratitude for everyone who made 2023 a magical year, and looking forward to a special year ahead for service at Stanford!

Kayley Gould, ‘23, was an issue area coordinator in education during her senior year.

Her desire to advance education equity led her to work as a tutor for the Homework Club in the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park. Kayley’s experience there helped her to reframe teaching challenges as learning opportunities.

Read Kayley's story: https://buff.ly/4aEyroG

Chaotic, joyful staff holiday party ❄️

This incredible group of people was not afraid to laugh hard, eat all the food, and ruthlessly steal gifts during the White Elephant gift exchange. (The Shiatsu neck massager was a particular favorite.)

Special thanks to our executive coordinator Jordan for organizing this wonderful event for Haas Center staff to close out the year together!

We took a moment at this year's VPUE Holiday Staff Party to say farewell to Sarah Church as she transitions from her role as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. She began this role in 2020 and has been a great supporter of giving students the opportunity to integrate service into their lives. Thank you for all of your work for students!

Haas Center staff took a trip to San Jose in early November to volunteer with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. We were joined by dozens of other volunteers who packed boxes of produce that would later be distributed to community members. Thank you to the Second Harvest team for having us!

Giving Tuesday is happening now, and this year is special: donations are being matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000. Support the Haas Center's work to make public service an integral part of student life at Stanford and have double the impact!

Stanford | Giving Tuesday Make your gift this Giving Tuesday and have twice the impact thanks to our largest match ever!

During the pandemic, Gabby Crooks, '23, MA '23, took a Cardinal Course focused on migration issues in the United States. For the service experience component of the course, she staffed a detention hotline with the Oakland-based organization Freedom for Immigrants to help migrants detained in facilities across the country with their basic needs. Read Gabby's story: https://buff.ly/3Ri4LF1

It’s almost Giving Tuesday, and this year your gift will be doubled thanks to an incredible $2 million matching fund sponsored by a generous Stanford family! Any gift up to $5,000 will receive a dollar-for-dollar match. Increase your impact by supporting the work of the Haas Center on November 28: https://buff.ly/3G8WEW2

We welcomed alumni to the Haas Center during Reunion Homecoming Weekend to enjoy breakfast in community and hear from students about the work they're doing across campus. Check out a few photos from the gathering! 📸: Peggy Propp

Alumni: Be sure to reserve time on Sunday, October 22, for our annual breakfast. Come to the Haas Center from 9:00-11:00 am to hear from Executive Director Yi-Ching Ong, students, and alumni about how students are getting involved in Cardinal Service across campus!