The Promise

An Investment in People and Places

Urban fellowship programs are an emerging model for connecting dedicated people to cities that need them most. This site explores how to define, support, and improve urban fellowships so they can contribute to making cities more vibrant and resilient.

In November 2014, representatives of four urban fellowship programs met at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. to exchange ideas and lessons. The programs represented were

Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2), a program of the White House and Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2012 to 2014, with major support from The Rockefeller Foundation

Detroit Revitalization Fellows (DRF), a program of Wayne State University, with sponsorship from many funders, including Ford FoundationKresge Foundation, and Knight Foundation

Capital City Fellows (CCF), a program of the Mayor’s Office in Washington, D.C.

Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence (CUREx) at the University of Pennsylvania, funded from 2003 to 2006 by Knight Foundation.

curiosity 100%
openness 100%
tenacity 100%

PURPOSE

Read highlights from the first-ever meeting of these urban fellowship programs.

PROMISE

Erika Poethig, key architect of the White House program,on enlarging the networks of people who “become champions of a place”.  See more here.

PEOPLE

“Everyone can be working from the same information. I think that is transformative.”

Jerrell Harris, 2014 Detroit Revitalization Fellow, working with Focus: HOPE
See more here.

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Cities
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Ideas
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Lives Affected
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Projects

What we learned

The Symposium

Getting Started

What is the landscape from which urban fellowships have sprung? How do we define urban fellowships? What are the keys to starting a program and attracting talented people?

Connecting

One of the most powerful lessons of our work is the importance of fellowships to creating, refreshing, and combining networks that support stronger cities.

Impacts & Measuring Success

How do we articulate and measure the impacts and successes of fellowships? How to we capture and address the specific challenges fellows and their host organizations face?

The Future of Fellowships

How can we continue the connections and find the resources to scale impacts and opportunities up, both regionally and in terms of partnerships? 

Our Voices
Guy Williams

Guy Williams

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Erika Poethig

Erika Poethig

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Graig Donnelly

Graig Donnelly

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Arto Woodley

Arto Woodley

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Bernice Butler

Bernice Butler

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Joseph Schilling & Lauren Bulka

Joseph Schilling & Lauren Bulka

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Valerie Piper & Nancy Montoya

Valerie Piper & Nancy Montoya

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Catherine Frazier

Catherine Frazier

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Tim Kobie

Tim Kobie

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Sponsors and Collaboration

Partners

Knight Foundation

Informed & Engaged Communities
The Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The Knight Foundation works in 26 communities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight owned newspapers.

The Knight Foundation was the primary funder of the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence (CUREx) and is a major funder of the Detroit Revitalization Fellows, a program of Wayne State University.

German Marshall Fund of the United States

Strengthening translatlantic cooperation.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) strengthens transatlantic cooperation on regional, national, and global challenges and opportunities in the spirit of the Marshall Plan. GMF contributes research and analysis and convenes leaders on transatlantic issues relevant to policymakers. GMF managed the Strong Cities Strong Communities program with Cleveland State University and Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute from 2012 to 2014.

Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech

Research into metropolitan complexities.

As one of Virginia Tech’s premier research initiatives, The Metropolitan Institute conducts basic and applied research on the dynamics of metropolitan complexities, such as demographics, environment, technology, design, transportation, and governance. With most of the globe’s population moving to urbanized areas, the major public policy challenges of this century will require a deeper understanding of how metropolitan complexities play out across multiple jurisdictions, locations, infrastructures, and stakeholders. The Institute was one of three managers of the SC2 program, along with the German Marshall Fund and Cleveland State University.

Kresge Foundation

Expanding opportunities in America's cities.
The Kresge Foundation states its mission simply: To promote human progress.The foundation works to create access and opportunity in underserved communities, improve the health of low-income people, support artistic expression,increase college achievement, assist in the revitalization of Detroit, and advance methods for addressing global climate change.

The foundation is a key supporter of the Detroit Revitalization Fellows.

Detroit Revitalization Fellows

a program of Wayne State University
The Detroit Revitalization Fellows are talented mid-career leaders stimulating progress within Detroit’s civic, community and economic development landscape. This select group of doers engages in a rigorous two-year leadership development program while serving full time at organizations working to further key programs and projects across Detroit and the region.

Detroit Revitalization Fellows is a program of Wayne State University’s Office of Economic Development.

Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence (CUREx)

a program of the University of Pennsylvania

The Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence (CUREx) was intiated at the University of Pennsylvania with the support of Knight Foundation in 2003. Its aim was to place talented young professionals in fellowship with top redevelopment organizations through the country. Key activities during CUREx’s three-year existence included fellowships that contributed to the post-Katrina  recovery and revitalization of the City of New Orleans.

Rockefeller Foundation

Building greater resilience and more inclusive economies.

The Rockefeller Foundation is dedicated to promoting the well-being of humanity throughout the world, through initiatives to build greater resilience and advance more inclusive economies. It strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, convene sector-spanning partnerships, and create systemic change to benefit poor and vulnerable people around the world. The Rockefeller Foundation is a key funder of Strong Cities Strong Communities.

Strong Cities Strong Communities

a federal initiative to strengthen neighborhoods, towns, and cities

The Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) initiative, first announced in July 2011, seeks to strengthen neighborhoods, towns, cities, and regions around the country by enhancing the capacity of local governments to develop and execute their economic vision and strategies, providing necessary technical assistance and access to federal agency expertise, and creating new public and private sector partnerships.

Cleveland State University

Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs is home to five growing undergraduate degree programs, two nationally accredited and ranked Masters Degree programs in Urban Planning and Public Administration, growing graduate programs in Nonprofit Management and Environmental Studies, and an interdisciplinary doctoral program. Consistently ranked as one of the top graduate schools for urban policy in the nation, CSU’s Levin College was also a co-manager of the SC2 program with the German Marshall Fund and Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech.

Urban Institute

Elevate the Debate

The Urban Institute believes in the power of evidence to improve lives and strengthen communities. Urban’s research, analyses, and recommendations spark solutions in programs and practice, helping expand opportunities for all people, reduce hardship among the most vulnerable, and strengthen the fiscal health of governments and effectiveness of public policies. Urban hosted the first-ever Urban Fellows symposium in Washington, D.C. in November 2014.

Capital City Fellows

Capital City Fellows

A Mayoral Initiative for the District of Columbia

The Capital City Fellows Program (CCFP) is a mayoral initiative to attract recent graduates of master’s degree programs in public administration, public policy, urban planning and related fields to work for the city of Washington, DC. Candidates compete for 18-month fellowship appointments during which they may complete three six-month rotations in different city agencies, including: the Office of the Chief of Staff, Department of Human Resources, Office of Planning, Department of Transportation, Department of Health, Department of General Services, the District Department of the Environment, among many others.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Fellowships Across the Nation

Please watch this space for updates on fellowship programs across the United States.

Latest news

Blog: The Mentor

Cleveland Foundation’s New Public Service Fellowship

After two years of intensive study to determine best practices, and a national search that attracted 110 applicants from 50 universities across 19 states, the Cleveland Foundation — the nation’s oldest community foundation — has become the newest member of a growing group of donors to create urban fellowship programs in the United States. Beginning…

Ytown to Cbus: Lessons from Ohio

Ytown to Cbus: Lessons from Ohio

Photo: The Ready for Kindergarten area at the new Driving Park branch library in Columbus, Ohio. (NBBJ/Matthew Carbone, via The Atlantic) by Kathleen Fox, SC2 Fellow 2012-2014 From 2012 through 2014, Kathleen M. Fox served as a Strong Cities, Strong Communities Fellow in Youngstown, Ohio, one of the state’s most challenged cities. Now she’s in…

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

The roots of urban fellowships in the United States go back to the establishment of national programs such as National Urban Fellows and local initiatives such as the New York City Urban Fellows in 1969, as well as international organizations that include fellowships, notably the German Marshall Fund of the United States (founded in 1972).…

SEVEN QUESTIONS

SEVEN QUESTIONS

Whether you are new to the concept of urban fellowships, or need to refresh your understanding, we’ve prepared answers to seven essential questions that came up during the 2014 Symposium: What do we mean when we say urban fellowship? Where are urban fellows placed? What do urban fellows do? Who is involved in urban fellowships?…

PLACEMENTS

PLACEMENTS

Where are urban fellows placed? “I am forever changed. I traveled, I listened, I grew, and I was blessed.” -Bernice Butler, SC2 Fellow, Memphis. Read more here. “Our fellows — 48 of them over the course of the last four years — have represented three distinct groups of Detroiters: newcomers who have never lived in…

PROJECTS

PROJECTS

What do urban fellows do? “Fellowships are typically focused on a unique, identified need.” —Tom Burns, Urban Ventures Group, via Erika Poethig on Twitter “A kind of Beginner’s Mind is a great advantage for an urban fellow to break out of a city’s customary patterns and status quo.” –Douglas Scarboro, former Chief Learning Officer and SC2 fellowship…

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