“I cannot overstate the impact of the NYC Urban Fellowship on my life and career. That I was able to write and enact legislation that saved the lives of some threatened by domestic violence and sexual predators, enabled struggling homeowners to challenge crippling property tax increases, protected tenants against illegal evictions, and gave prosecutors a valuable new tool to fight organized crime – along with about 140 other New York statutes that bear my name – surely owes to my experience in the Fellowship. On the personal side, my good friends include several of my Urban Fellowship class from over 50 years ago, as well as some of the City government officials I came to know at that time. Surely even my current students at John Jay College of Criminal Justice must benefit from some of the insights made available to me at that time, as well as my later experiences, also in part attributable to the Fellowship program. Just how the City and our society will benefit from future Urban Fellows, we cannot know. But those benefits will be real. We cannot afford to forego this investment.”
- Dan Feldman (1970), Professor of Public Management, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
“My year as an Urban Fellow was pivotal in setting my career path as a lawyer and public servant. During my senior year in college I began to question my desire to be an attorney. My year as an Urban Fellow working for the Department of Consumer Affairs confirmed for me both my interest in the law and my passion for public service. I spent the first 22 years of my career as a trial attorney with the US Department of Justice, Antitrust Division and then as an Assistant US Attorney, and the past 22 years as a US District Court Judge.”
- Dan Polster (1973), United States District Court Judge, ND Ohio
“Participating in the UF Program helped convince me to have spent the past 30 years working in government and promoting a career in public service to others.”
- Steven Arkow, Federal Prosecutor
“My time in the Urban Fellows (’87-88) was one of the most pivotal years in my life. I worked in City Planning and then transitioned to a career in Urban Design. I am now a Managing Director at Accenture. I have written five books and work with CEOs around the world. But I always keep the Urban Fellows program on my bio because I am still so proud to have been selected. Just this past Friday I had a meeting with a new group of colleagues and one introduced himself making the connection that he also was a Fellow in the 90s. His credibility jumped in my view, because I know the experience that he had and the unique combination of business and public service that he was bringing to his work. This is just the time to invest for the long term. Don’t cut the program. Rather, put this year’s cohort to work creating innovative cross-disciplinary solutions to rebuilding a stronger, better NYC.”
- Amy Kates (1988), Co-founder, Kates Kesler Organization Consultants and Managing Director, Accenture
“Urban Fellows was a spectacular education in urban issues and the best possible way to live a year in NYC — working for the city, it immediately felt like “my” city. That was almost 30 years ago. More relevant, it cemented my view that whatever path my work took, it could include a dedication to improving the life of cities, particularly NYC. Since 2009, when the flu pandemic happened, I have enjoyed a close and ongoing relationship between the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics which I lead at Harvard, and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, working as a research partner and assisting with the design and analysis of surveillance data, including as I write — working on COVID-19 problems. It is unlikely that this (unpaid but extremely rewarding) interaction would have started without the Urban Fellows experience – and I am paying it forward by involving my trainees in our interactions so they get a taste of the rewards of interacting with such a remarkable city and with the superb professionals in DOHMH. Personally, the experience has also made me a better citizen and public health professional, alerting me to policy and political issues that would not otherwise have been part of my training. My UF year was one of the most fondly remembered of any in my life, and I believe it was also the one that had the greatest impact on my inclination and capability to “give back” to NYC and to my current city, Boston.”
- Marc Lipsitch (1992), Professor of Epidemiology
“The Urban Fellows program changed my life’s trajectory. Had I not gotten this opportunity, I would have gone straight to Wall Street and then likely business school, because that’s what everyone told me I should do. Instead, having tapped into my passion for public service through the UF program, I decided to teach high school and then pursue a law degree. After law school, I spent most of my career in government service with the US Department of Justice, eventually becoming the presidentially-appointed US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. For the last four years, I’ve worked at the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation where the same Urban Fellows spirit of civic engagement and community building permeates my philanthropic work. None of these opportunities would have transpired without the Urban Fellows experience opening the door to service.”
- Carter Stewart (1992), High School History Teacher, Federal Judicial Clerk, Assistant US Attorney (NDCA), US Attorney (SDOH), Managing Director at DRK Foundation
“The New York City Urban Fellows was my first full-time professional position as a recent 2001 graduate. I entered the program when it began that September – just days before the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. I ultimately took a position in the New York City Office of Emergency Management as a fellow and this opportunity was the springboard to a 15-year career in emergency management and public health preparedness that took me all over the globe. At the age of 30, I was appointed Policy Director of President Obama’s National Commission on Children and Disaster. I also went on to complete my PhD in Emergency Management at Massey University in New Zealand, where I assisted with the 2011 Christchurch earthquake response. It’s an understatement to say that the NYC Urban Fellows program was pivotal in my early career. And what’s more, I have also now changed careers. I am Founder and Director of ProFellow, which after 10 years in operation is now the world’s leading online resource for information on professional and academic fellowships. After having an incredible Urban Fellows experience, I went on to undertake several other professional fellowships. I’ve now made it my personal mission to help more young leaders find these unique professional development opportunities and expand the diversity of fellowship candidate pools.”
- Dr. Vicki Johnson (2002), Founder & Director, ProFellow
“The word “seminal” is often overused to describe a memorable experience. However – “seminal” is indeed the perfect word to explain the importance of the NYC Urban Fellows Program to my professional and personal trajectories. It instilled in me a lifelong respect and admiration for public service at all levels, and my placement gave me important exposure to the workings of government at an awe-inspiring scale. I feel extremely lucky that I was able to experience that.”
- Meg S. (2004)
“The New York City Urban Fellows Program was my entry point into my career in public service. My fellowship placement in the New York City Administration for Children’s Services led to my 7 year tenure with ACS, after which I continued to work in human services in other jurisdictions outside of New York City. The opportunity provided for me by the Urban Fellows Program cannot be overstated: from the onset, the Urban Fellows Program sets a high bar for the meaningful contributions that Urban Fellows are expected to make the departments in which they are placed; the exposure to high level decision-making, in the face of complex policy and program challenges, gives a Urban Fellows a sobering look at what it takes to successfully make policy and administer programs; lastly, the mentorship provided by the senior level decision-makers with which each Urban Fellow is paired provides priceless guidance and given Urban Fellows an up-close look at what it takes to be an effective leader. I can honestly say that much of the foundation for my 13 years to date working in local government was shaped in the Urban Fellows program. During my tenure in the 2007-2008 Urban Fellows class, the economy took a downturn, and towards the end of my placement, it did not appear that I would have an opportunity to gain permanent employment in ACS. My mentor, Dawn Saffayeh, fought hard and advocated to ensure that I was able to gain permanent employment at ACS at the conclusion of my fellowship. I encourage the New York City administration to fight hard now, as my mentor fought for me, to ensure that the incoming class of Urban Fellows has the opportunity to launch their careers in service to the residents of New York City.”
- Kevin Batacchi (2008), Director, Passaic County Division of Weatherization and Home Energy
“The Urban Fellows program nurtured a lifelong love and commitment to our city that fuels me to this day. After working in discharge planning and gaining a valuable window into how many different city departments function, my respect for and curiosity about municipal politics flourished while my awareness of the many hurdles, logistical challenges, geographic realities, and deep inequities also grew. I continue, 12 years later, to work as a city employee as a teacher at a Title I high school, and continue to be involved in and passionate about making our schools, streets, subways, and neighborhoods more dynamic, effective, and inclusive community-led spaces. My life trajectory would have been very different without the Urban Fellows program as my launchpad. I feel more rooted in New York than I have anywhere else I’ve ever lived and will live and work and build here indefinitely.”
- Jessica Lovaas (2008), NYC Department of Education
“The NYC Urban Fellows Program was instrumental in my professional development and help lay the foundation for the next steps in my public service career. This program gave me a birds-eye view of the inner-workings of city government and provided me an opportunity to hone valuable skills that I have carried with me over the last 11 years.”
- Blakely Hildebrand (2009), Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center; former NYC Urban Fellow, Special Assistant to the Chief Academic Officer, NYC Department of Education
“The Urban Fellow Program is largely responsible for my going into city government. I do not think I would have either gone into local government or been admitted to Princeton University’s Policy program without my Urban Fellows experience. On a personal note the friends and connections I made, I still maintain. One of my friends from my time in the Urban Fellows was a Groomsman in my wedding. Lastly, a professional goal of mine is to become a City Manager in a California city. If I do attain that goal, it will largely be because of the trajectory that the Urban Fellows program set me on.”
- Daniel Sanchez (2009), Special Projects Manager
“The NYC Urban Fellows Program was truly a life-changing experience for me by jump-starting a rewarding career in City service and introducing me to lifelong friends. For over 50 consecutive years the Urban Fellows Program has provided a diverse set of aspiring public servants with an opportunity to put a positive imprint on this great city and I am proud to still be a part of the program by serving as a board member for the Urban Fellows Alumni Association. While the impact the program had on me and others was great, our collective impact on the residents of our city is arguably far greater. Urban Fellows are not just in the room where it happens, but often are leading the charge. Now more than ever we cannot afford to neglect our duty to invest in the next cohort of future leaders.”
- Albert Kramer (2011), Program Manager, NYC Department of Environmental Protection
“Urban Fellows opens up young professionals to the possibilities, opportunities, and challenges of working for the City in a way that no other program does or can. That kind of exposure and mentorship happens in obvious ways as Fellows contribute to the important work of the departments they’re placed in, but also in other, perhaps less obvious ways, throughout the program year. For example, if I’d had an ordinary entry-level job in the Mayor’s Office, outside of the Urban Fellows, I would never have gotten the broad perspectives of my cohort on how the whole picture of New York City government fit together. While I no longer work in government, I’ve carried a respect for Urban Fellows, its staff, and civil service in general, as I’ve moved on to other jobs, including positions in civic-tech-adjacent startups.”
- JP Allen (2012), Growth Marketer at User Interviews (userinterviews.com)
“I had a transformative experience in the NYC Urban Fellows Program. Without a doubt, it provided me the training, network and experience to succeed in my career to date. I was placed at DoITT my 2012-2013 program and worked on amazing projects that relate to broadband access, open data policy, and smart city technology. It was a valuable experience to be in a cohort with other young professionals who were at other agencies, because we could “connect the dots” around how the agencies are related to each other and to the Mayor’s Office, even when some agencies are overlapping on similar themes. I loved how the experience fostered intellectual curiosity as well as a deep commitment to public service. I will remain a public servant for life through the Urban Fellows experience!”
- Amy Chen (2013), Fmr. NYC DoITT Urban Fellow
“As a Mexican-American and first-generation college student, the Urban Fellows Program opened many doors for me. It also equipped me with the skills that have helped me flourish as a professional. Most importantly, the Urban Fellows program helped me reach my dreams of becoming a lawyer. It would be disappointing if this program were to end, as it provides many promising students with an amazing public policy experience.”
- Arturo Reyes (2013), Associate Attorney
“I am endlessly grateful for the NYC Urban Fellows program. In these uncertain times, it is essential for us to invest in the education and cultivation of public servants who will be stewarding us through our city’s long-term recovery.”
- David W. (2013)
“The Urban Fellows Program provided me with a launchpad to public service. Without Urban Fellows, I would have never had the opportunity to learn so much, so fast about the mechanics of local government. Given the current state of the world, we need programs like Urban Fellows now more than ever. We need young people to bring their passion, drive, and creativity to finding better ways to support all New Yorkers. I fear that without Urban Fellows, that pipeline of dedicated young people will be sorely diminished.”
- Sam Facas (2015), Graduate Student, University of California, Berkeley
“NY Urban Fellows gave me the tools, experience, and professional network to grow as a young professional committed to public service. I feel so lucky that I was able to learn about NYC policy and public management with a cohort of young people similarly committed to urban policy and social justice. Over 5 years later, I still look back on the projects I led as pivotal in my development as a state/local policy wonk.”
- Charles Kargman (2015), Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL)
“Urban Fellows gave me the knowledge, connections, context, and confidence I needed to start my career in public service in NYC. Two facets of the Urban Fellows experience stick out to me as particularly critical for my career thus far: the willingness of leaders from across the City to meet with me and mentor me just by virtue of my being an Urban Fellow; and the incredibly smart, dedicated, and diverse cohort of Fellows that supported one another and continued to collaborate after our fellowship year ended. As I have tried to do my part to address issues facing the city’s neighborhoods and economy, I have been able to call upon both of those networks to build inter-agency and public-private partnerships, brainstorm and pilot new programs and policies, and expedite projects. I know I would not have been able to contribute to the improvement of NYC nearly as effectively over the past five years without my Urban Fellows experience. Especially at this moment of limited resources and skyrocketing need, bringing diverse leaders who are representative of the city and country into the City’s fold to do the critical work that needs to be done is a smart budget investment.”
- Daniel Backman (2016), Former Chief of Staff, NYC Kids RISE; Former Project Manager, NYC Department of Small Business Services
“The Urban Fellows program was one of my most formative professional experiences. It’s such a rare opportunity to be able to work in city government at such a young age, and I credit that experience to inspiring a long-term career goal of returning to public policy. I made friends in that program that I still keep in touch with today.”
- Roger Li (2016)
“The NYC Urban Fellows program taught me about the power of policymakers and public servants to make meaningful change. At a moment when we need our best and brightest to go into public service to take on the immense challenges we face–coronavirus pandemic, economic depression, democratic breakdown, climate emergency–we need the Urban Fellows Program to continue strong. Without the fellowship, young and driven people from diverse backgrounds, like me, would not have gone into this line of work.”
- Julian NoiseCat (2017), Vice President of Policy & Strategy, Data for Progress
“I was an Urban Fellow with NYCDOT in 2016-2017. While at DOT, I met the most engaging and intelligent colleagues working everyday to promote more sustainable, equitable, and effective transportation in the city, particularly with the Urban Design, Art, and Wayfinding (UDAW) Unit. From DOT I attended graduate school at Harvard and am now enrolled in a PhD in Urban Planning at Columbia. I chose to study at Columbia because I absolutely love New York City and want to think critically about ways to make the city and its public spaces more just and inclusive. The Urban Fellows Program creates cohorts of lasting friends and colleagues committed to public service in New York, and many Urban Fellows remain in the city and committed to it.”
- Stefan Norgaard (2017), New York City DOT
“The Urban Fellows program is a rich place not only to establish professional connections, but also to find like-minded friends. Getting to work alongside 24 other motivated young minds considering the myriad ways to care for our city was a truly unmatched experience. Together, we’ve gotten to imagine how we can build a better city and a better world.”
- Shaquille Sinclair (2018), Graduate Student
“I could not have asked for a better first job than the Urban Fellows Program. My fellow cohort was an invaluable support group as we began to navigate the workplace, many of us for the first time. From writing work emails to figuring out colleague relationships, I was comforted in knowing I always had twenty-four other people to consult with on any and all my questions. I learned so much about professionalism, innovation, and creativity during my time at UF–all skills that have served me well in law school! The UF Program also instilled in me a lifelong love and dedication to local government work and has changed my own career goals. Before coming to the City, I thought that “real” change was just what made national headlines. But my time with UF showed me how City-run initiatives like the M/WBE program can have a tangible and important impact on many people’s day-to-day lives. I am now committed to returning to local government in some capacity, a goal entirely informed by my fantastic and life-changing experience with UF.”
- Susan Wang (2018), Former NYC Urban Fellow, Mayor’s Office of Operations
“As a recent graduate interested in public service, I found myself unsure of how to begin a career in the public sector. The Urban Fellows program was one-of-a-kind, combining direct service volunteer opportunities, a professional development seminar series, and direct city government work experience. I was honored to join the program. At my placement, I met dedicated, lifelong public servants who enthusiastically mentored me. I learned how New York City’s Family Court works, contributing to the agency through my data analysis and research projects. My cohort taught me the meaning of public service, of justice and equity, of empathy. They continue to be my professional network today, as well as some of my closest friends. Many of them continued working in city government after our fellowship, and nearly all of us work in public service today. My placement gave me the opportunity to learn how meaningful policy is implemented in a city that often influences national agendas, and to clarify my own career goals. In a country that increasingly devalues public service careers, and where it is increasingly difficult to enter one of these careers directly out of college, the Urban Fellows program is a unique opportunity to begin this important work. I am deeply grateful to have been a part of it, and hope others have the opportunity to be.”
- Cristina D. (2019), J.D. Candidate at Harvard Law School
“I became an Urban Fellow to be able to give back to the city that helped my family thrive as New Americans. When they crossed hemispheres as political refugees in 1989 without any wealth or knowledge of English, the city provided them with rental assistance, free English language courses, and training to find their first jobs. Learning from their experience, I wanted to dedicate my career unpacking what it takes to build inclusive and equitable communities in New York City that give everyone a fair chance. The Urban Fellows program gave me that opportunity — to learn what it truly takes to create the city that immigrants from around the world come here for. It taught me the challenges of systemic change, navigating bureaucracy and political climates, and how to keep fighting for the causes I believe in — all while providing me with an incredible cohort of young changemakers and leaders.”
- Nicole Krishtul (2019), Special Projects Coordinator
“The Urban Fellows Program showed me the depth and breadth of New York City government and gave me access to a network of hundreds of other like minded aspiring and current public servants. Working with and learning from people who have dedicated their careers to improving the city from within government reshaped my goals and deepened my appreciation of New York City and the people who make it work.”
- Kieran Micka-Maloy (2020), Pursuing a Master of Science at Pratt Institute
“The Urban Fellows Program has had an immense impact on both my personal and professional life. In my cohort and at my office, I met not just colleagues but friends and mentors who offered invaluable advice and support. My fellowship experience confirmed my desire to attend law school and engage in legal public-interest work. It simultaneously allowed me to develop the communication, presentation, and project management skills that I am certain I will utilize as an attorney. And as a New Yorker, I also had the opportunity to make an impact on programs affecting my hometown while learning crucial information about how local government operates.”
- Upasna Saha (2020), J.D. Candidate at Yale Law School
“The NYC Urban Fellows Program has set me upon a path of professional success in a manner that is unique to those dedicated to serving and supporting their communities through public service. The training, opportunities, and experiences gained during ones time as a NYC Urban Fellow are unparalleled to that of other public service opportunities across the country. Losing this program would be a great loss to the City of New York.”
NYC Urban Fellows Alumni Association 