June 2006

Fellowships Provide Students Diverse Internship Opportunities


A record eight students received fellowships to support their summer internships in a variety of sectors, including nonprofit work, scholarly research and politics/government.  

The Robert L. Burrus Jr. Fellowship Program for Developing Leaders, inaugurated in summer 2004, is supporting four rising seniors—Katherine Connelly, Sara McGanity, Nan Silkunas and Jesse Kedy—who are completing their required Jepson internship in unpaid positions in the nonprofit sector this summer.  

Connelly secured an internship with the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. The Morris Arboretum, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places and is recognized as the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, serves as an interdisciplinary resource center where science, art and humanities are pursued through a variety of research, teaching and outreach programs. 

As an intern, Connelly works on compiling the necessary documentation for the arboretum’s museum-accreditation review by the American Association of Museums. She also researches the arboretum’s volunteer-management program and assists with changes being implemented to the organization’s annual-fund drive.   

McGanity works in the San Antonio affiliate office of the Dallas-based Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which supports innovative research and community-based outreach programs in the fight against breast cancer. Specifically, McGanity will follow up with the numerous organizations awarded grants by the Komen Foundation to determine whether they are using the monies appropriately.  

Silkunas is supervising and mentoring high-school interns for 10 weeks this summer at Church Hill Activities and Tutoring (CHAT), a nondenominational Christian nonprofit serving children and youth in the inner-city Richmond neighborhood of Church Hill. Silkunas’ internship, which requires her to live and work in Church Hill, immerses her in urban ministry, racial reconciliation and nonprofit operations.  

Kedy interns with the Cameron Foundation, a nonprofit established to promote and provide support for programs and activities that benefit the residents of Petersburg, Virginia, and the surrounding area. Kedy is in the process of surveying community leaders to determine issues of importance to the area, which might include economic development, education and the environment, for example.  

Next Kedy will research these areas of interest and use his findings to create a Connect Southside Web site that will be part of the Connect Network. The Connect Network currently maintains Web sites and listservs designed to support the nonprofit communities in Richmond, Virginia, (Connect Richmond) and the area east of Fredericksburg, Virginia, known as the Northern Neck (Connect Rappahannock).  

Like Kedy, Corinne Nunez, ’07, is conducting research for the Connect Network this summer. She received a fellowship from the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation (RMHF) to research health-care issues affecting the metro Richmond area. Nunez is surveying leaders in the health-care and nonprofit sectors and will use the resulting data to improve the health-care section on the Connect Richmond Web site.


Jesse Kedy, left, and Corinne Nunez, right, are

 conducting research for the Connect Network.

The Keck Initiative, a collaborative effort of the Jepson School, Claremont McKenna College and Loyola Marymount University designed to integrate leadership studies across the liberal arts curriculum, awarded fellowships to two Jepson students to pursue research that grew out of interdisciplinary Keck-funded courses the two took in spring 2006.  

Ryan Kefer, who graduated with a double major in leadership studies and urban practices and policies in May 2006, is using her Keck fellowship to research the motivations and tools utilized to support the United Nations’ movement to end global poverty. Douglas Hicks serves as her faculty advisor.  

Stefanie Simon, ’07, received a Keck fellowship to research how women in top leadership positions respond to two specific stressors: decision making in complex, demanding situations and negative gender stereotypes. Crystal Hoyt serves as her faculty advisor. 

Finally, the inaugural Jablin Research Fellowship, created in memory of Jepson professor and leadership studies scholar Fredric Jablin, supports Guy Peterson, ’07, in his internship with Rep. James McDermott (WA-D) in the congressman’s Washington, D.C., office. Peterson’s research evaluates the effectiveness of government policies aimed at promoting energy conservation and the use of renewable-energy sources.  

Were it not for the fellowships they received, none of these students would be paid for their summer internships. The Burrus, RMHF, Keck and Jablin fellowships benefit students by enabling them to engage in quality internships that they might not otherwise consider due to financial constraints. The fellowships also benefit the communities and constituencies served by the valuable work the students do. It’s a win-win situation for all.