Day One

Today I sat down with Alexa, the Community Development Project’s Research and Policy Director, and a Kennedy School alum. CDP works with grassroots organizations throughout New York to strengthen their capacity and effectiveness through legal and technical support as well as policy analysis and participatory action research. We ran through each of the half dozen organizations I may be working with over the course of my internship this summer. These organizations do incredible work on diverse and interrelated issues including immigrant and workers rights, tenants’ rights, LGBT youth organizing, and public health. I think this will be the perfect opportunity for me to not only strengthen my research and writing skills, but also learn more about the world of community organizing in New York. This summer I’ll get exposure to a wide range of projects employing different organizing and advocacy models, leadership styles, and with diverse and sweeping visions of what the world could look like; exactly what an internship should be.