"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Friends Students Selected for Robin Hood Fellows Program
Three Friends students, Bailey Jones, Daphne Darwish, and Elliott Sadoff were selected to serve in the 2017 Robin Hood Foundation’s Fellows Program. This summer immersion experience provides a deep dive into the philanthropic sector with specific aims to expose Fellows to the myriad ways Robin Hood targets poverty in New York City. The eighteen Fellows met with RH Program Officers and Robin Hood-funded nonprofits to explore issues as wide ranging as healthcare, jobs and economic security, housing and homelessness, and immigrant justice. Highlights for our students included:
- a discussion on efforts to end the AIDS epidemic with Charles King, the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Housing Works at their headquarters in Brooklyn, followed by a site visit to New York City Department of Health and Mental Health in Queens (NYDHMH is partnering with Robin Hood on several health initiatives).
- a conversation on job acquisition efforts with David Ehrenberg, President & CEO of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, followed by site visits to Brooklyn Navy Yard industries such as Crye Precision, where founder, Caleb Crye, provided a tour of their new state-of-the art facility.
- a tour of the Brownsville shelter of Win, New York City’s largest operator of family shelters, which included a discussion on the challenges of housing and homelessness with former Speaker of the New York City Council, Christine C. Quinn, who is now serving as Win’s President & Chief Executive Officer.
- a site visit to New York City Immigration Court, followed by a roundtable discussion led by Rich Leimsider, Executive Director of Safe Passage and Immigrant Justice Corps lawyers.
According to our Friends students, the capstone to the whole experience was an opportunity to spend time with Robin Hood’s new Executive Director, Wes Moore, who shadowed the Fellows on some of their site visits and spent time engaging with the young people around the topic of social responsibility and civic engagement. The Fellow’s end of program presentation included an interview they led with Wes around his vision for Robin Hood.
This summer’s Fellows will join Friends students who are currently serving, along with other students from NYC public, private and charter schools, on Robin Hood’s year-long Teen Council. Leitzel Schoen, Dean of Co-Curricular Programs, who helps facilitate the Fellows and Teen Council Program at Robin Hood, invites any interested Upper School students to share their interests in participation. Drop by her office on the 5th floor or email her at lschoen@friendsseminary.org.
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Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
