Hess Fellows Advocacy Internships

2011 Hess Fellow Jennifer Commander with
former President Bill Clinton.
Photo from the Clinton Foundation.

The Hess Fellows Advocacy Internship Program connects students with mentors at leading advocacy organizations at the local, state, and national levels. The central goal of the program is to provide students with a front-row seat to advocacy that allows them to reflect on the role of advocacy in society, analyze the connections between public policies and everyday life, learn how nonprofit organizations work, and clarify their own career aspirations.

The three-phased program begins with a spring pre-internship seminar that prepares newly selected Fellows to succeed at fast-paced advocacy organizations. Fellows then intern for a minimum of eight weeks during the summer at a hosting agency. While tackling key projects related to advocacy, Fellows complete biweekly reflections that help them place their experiences in context. Following the summer internships, Fellows implement an advocacy project on campus that translates their summer experiences for the benefit of the campus community.

The five 2011 Hess Fellows who served in
Washington, DC, gather in front of the White House.

The program currently partners with multiple agencies and adds new placements each year. See the list of agencies for organizations that have applied to host a 2012 Hess Fellow. While interning at these agencies, Fellows help build organizational capacity by conducting research, facilitating coalitions among constituencies, leading community outreach programs, organizing lobbying efforts, coordinating grassroots campaigns, and other means.

Since its launch in 2006, sixty-nine students have served as Hess Fellows. Alumni of the program have received two Truman Scholarships, two Rotary Scholarships, a Fulbright Scholarship, five Teach for America appointments, and a Peace Corps assignment. Fellows have also pursued careers in a variety of fields, including law, business, education, and nonprofit administration.

For additional information, please see the links above or contact James Randolph at jwrandol@bsc.edu or ext. 7715.

Students: Learn more about becoming a Hess Fellow

Agencies: Learn more about hosting a Hess Fellow

Donors

The Hess Center expresses sincere appreciation to the donors whose generosity makes the Hss Fellows Program possible.

Joseph S. Bruno Charitable Foundation
Dixon Foundation
Dr. & Mrs. Ralph Doughton
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Hess
Independent Presbyterian Church Foundation
Dr. & Mrs. Gayle Pelham

2011 Hess Fellows

Katelin Adams - Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA), Birmingham
Jennifer Commander - William J. Clinton Foundation, New York City
Brittany Herring - Bread for the World, Washington, DC
David Olsen - Alabama Poverty Project, Birmingham
Kelsie Overton - General Board of Church & Society of the United Methodist Church, Washington, DC
Sarah Pittman - Operation New Birmingham, Birmingham
Lydia Robinson - Vital Voices Global Partnership, Washington, DC
Danielle Rucker - YWCA of Central Alabama, Birmingham
Alexa Marie Ruiz - Mobile Area Education Foundation, Mobile
Crystal Shurett - GLIDE Memorial United Methodist Church, San Francisco
Swaroop Vitta - National Alliance to End Homelessness, Washington, DC.
Patrick Welch - Coalition on Human Needs, Washington, DC.
Ethan Wilkinson - Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, Montgomery
John Andrew Young - Collaborative Solutions, Birmingham, Alabama