Princeton Project 55 20 Anniversary Gala th
Commemorative Booklet
Princeton Project 55
20th Anniversary Gala Thursday, May 27, 2010 Featuring A Video Message from PRESIDENT SHIRLEY TILGHMAN Princeton University Kenly Webster ’55, Chairman Kathleen McCleery ’75, Board Member Jim Gregoire ’69, Board Member and Former President A Special Tribute to MEMBERS OF THE FOUNDING CLASS OF 1955 Scott Welfel ’06, Former PP55 Fellow at Northstar Academy Keynote Speaker THE HONORABLE CORY A. BOOKER Mayor of Newark, NJ Kathleen Reilly, Executive Director Kathryn Miller ’77, Board Member, Partner at Public Health Solutions Gordon Douglas M.D. ’55, Board Member, President of Class of 1955 Arthur McKee ’90, Board Member, Partner at CityBridge Foundation Rishi Jaitly ’04, Former PP55 Fellow at College Summit William Leahy M.D. ’66, President
THE WHITE HOUSE
May 28,2009
Dear Friends: I wanted to write to congratulate Princeton Project 55 on 20 years of supporting public service. As you know, service is dear to my heart and has become my life's work in so many ways. My time with Princeton Project 55 helped me to understand that having access to and encouragement toward service can have a profound effect not only on the arc of a career, but also on the strength of our communities. Thank you all for the work that you do - as mentors, as community organizers, and as alumni - to champion civic engagement by our young people. Organizations like this prove once again that each of us can shape a better future for ourselves, our communities, and our country. Again, congratulations again on your first 20 years, and may the years and decades that follow continue to expand the opportunities and experiences of service to many more people. Thank you again for all that you do, and I wish you all the best. Sincerely,
The Founding of Princeton Project 55 A Tribute... By Dick Turner ’55
At a spring gathering in Washington twenty years ago, something remarkable happened. It was the coming together of matters sorely needing to be said and done, with a group of Princetonians determined to say and do them. That, in essence, was the beginning of the indelible mark made by the Princeton Project 55 Founders, and developed by them over the years. Founders, we salute you for having always chosen the difficult climb of greatest advantage over the easy glide of least resistance. As the mission of Princeton Project 55 passes in orderly fashion to younger generations of Princetonians, we salute the Founders’ belief in continuity in diversity, in the power of the past to guide the perpetual project of transition, and in the reality that the present is the only holy ground of which we can be sure. At a dinner much like this, a man rose to respond to a toast which another guest had made to Memory: “There is no Past that we can bring back to us by longing for it; there is only an eternally new now that builds and creates itself out of the Past as the Past withdraws. The true desire to bring the Past back to us must always be productive and create something new and something better.” (Our “contemporary” Goethe, a couple of centuries ago). These words were overheard by a younger Princeton alumna who happened on Twelve Stockton Street for the first time. “Something new and something better, now just what might that be?” she asked. To which a Founder, hearing her question, answered, “Why if we knew, we would have done it already. So that’s where you and others like you come in. Please join us; we only ask that you give your best effort, and if that doesn’t do it, then do nothing less than reach for the Impossible.”
Thank you to all the founders of Princeton Project 55 who have dedicated their passion and resources to making this organization a success!
It was a mini-reunion, in April 1989, which Senators Paul Sarbanes, Bill Bradley, and other Washington-based Princetonians had been invited to address. I was the last speaker on a very rainy Saturday afternoon at the Red Cross building. My classmates had finished a buffet lunch a floor below the assembly hall. I recall passing by the leftovers with my sister Claire and remarking how totally 1950s were the selections— cold cuts, potato salad, white bread, soft drinks, and the like. While waiting with Steve Boyd to go up to the podium, I knew what I wanted to say but not how far I wanted to go. I had not been active in Class functions during the previous 34 years. The ones who were responsible for keeping the Class of 1955 together at a spirited level were well represented in the room. I did sense an expectant mood and noticed that some publicly active classmates—Win Adkins, Tom Graham, Scott McVay, to name a few—were present. After sketching some obvious fault lines in our society and the need for more justice, I wondered out loud why the leaders of Princeton University did not tap into our collective intelligence more, since that was what they were enhancing year after year. But at Reunions they seemed interested in securing class solidarity primarily for expanding Annual Giving. We have more to give, I insisted, and proposed that interested members of the Class form a group to provide guidance and internship opportunities for undergraduates. Experience and training for civic leadership would be the hoped-for results. I remember saying that we had known each other since we were 17 or 18 years of age, which precluded posturing, and encouraged doing something serious and important with our diverse talents. I was stunned by the response. One classmate after another stood to describe his frustration with the sluggish rate of improvement in our country or within his profession and endorsed the proposal. Charlie Bray, bless his soul, puckishly asked why my suggestion was not more ambitious, and proceeded to extend the impact of our organized class to reach five million people in a positive manner. Someone—I cannot remember who—called out “How do we start?” I replied, “Get a yellow pad and start a signup sheet. It all starts with a signup sheet.” Whereupon a signup pad was circulated throughout a clearly excited auditorium. From that list came the core group for a series of founding meetings in Washington and Princeton. It took numerous sessions at Kenly Webster’s law office and conversations with Class officers in the spring and summer of 1989 before Pete Milano, after listening to our progress reports, clinched the officers’ endorsement with the words “Let’s go for it!” There remained the relationship with the University, whose fundraising office was signaling concern that our dollars would go to Princeton Project 55 instead of Annual Giving. We resolved to be independent and to argue that Annual Giving would benefit, since our project would turn on some classmates who had been indifferent to their alma mater. As we walked toward a meeting in July 1989 with President Harold Shapiro in Nassau Hall, we agreed we would, as Alan Willemsen said, “Just tell them that we’re going to do it.” Well, we did do it, didn’t we? We were the first alumni class in the United States to so organize itself, to root itself in steady budget, staff, and our own premises next to the University’s. We continue to pursue our own important projects and open the doors for many students to career-changing summer and postgraduate opportunities in nonprofit organizations committed to systematic change or systematic advances in society. What’s more, a key element of Project 55, headed by Chet Safian, is to provoke other classes at other colleges and universities to emulate our model in whole or in part. Tapping into this enormous reservoir of alumni classes or associations—so rich in skill, talent, and experience—is a long-term pursuit of what could become truly prodigious civic resources possessed by bonded alumni mostly in their latter decades. What was our informal motto? “From success to significance!” Our initiative beckons (from my Princeton studies of Chinese philosophy) that wonderful, venerable Chinese proverb: “To know and not to do is not to know.” The Princeton Class of 1955 is making its mark on history, and its expanding example will provide a legacy with seeds of justice that will keep on giving and giving and giving. I am very grateful that we quickly became a critical mass of determined classmates during that founding spring of 1989 to make all this a reality.
Programs: Past and Present WHO WE ARE Princeton Project 55 is the first group of college alumni organized specifically to promote civic engagement in the public interest. From the start, Project 55 has been an independent organization, with no formal ties to Princeton University or to its Class of 1955. Princeton Project 55 inspires and builds civic leadership among alumni across generations by engaging them in significant activities that influence and improve our society. WHAT WE DO Princeton Project 55 is an alumni-driven organization which specifically promotes civic engagement in the public interest. PP55 has been an independent, multigenerational organization, with no formal ties to Princeton University. Our goal is to inspire Princeton graduates to become involved citizens throughout their lives. OUR MISSION Princeton Project 55 inspires and builds civic leadership among alumni across generations by engaging them in significant activities that influence and improve our society. Moving forward, Princeton AlumniCorps will continue to inspire and engage alumni from all generations. The Princeton Project 55 Fellowship Program (formerly the Public Interest Program), 1989-present
PP55’s Fellowship Program provides year-long fellowship opportunities for recent Princeton graduates to develop a lifelong commitment to civic engagement and to prepare for effective civic leadership. PP55 Fellows access great jobs in exciting communities, gain professional skills and leadership experience, and join a community of alumni and innovative organizations dedicated to the common good.
The Public Health Fellowship, 2006-2009
The Public Health Fellowship Program (PHF) was approved by the Board for implementation in the coming year. Using the PIP model, PHF aims to recruit and develop a new generation of public health professionals by providing them with outstanding, life-altering employment experiences in the public health field. Today, public health fellowshipshave become incorporated into the PP55 Fellowship Program.
2008-09 fellows with DC Coordinator, Caitlin Sullivan ’07 at the Washington, DC Fellows Forum.
The Alumni Network, 1999-present
The Alumni Network (TAN) is a consortium of alumni-driven public interest organizations. The Alumni Network will foster the establishment of alumni-based public interest organizations, both nationally and internationally, and will help originate, coordinate, facilitate, and advocate the activities of such organizations.These programs have been founded and managed by alumni, staff, and students of colleges and universities around the country.The majority of the programs in The Alumni Network place summer interns and yearlong fellows with nonprofit organizations. Today, the success of the network has allowed the TAN affiliates to become a self-sustaining consortium.
The Social Venture Fund, 2002-2007
Paula Gill ’91, John Fish ’55, and Adrienne Wheatley ’90 at The Neighborhood Institute in Chicago in 1990.
The Social Venture Fund (SVF) identified and invested in promising social entrepreneurs who graduated from Princeton and were launching innovative nonprofit organizations. The fund leveraged its financial investment by providing the entrepreneur with managerial and other . non-financial assistance. Recipients include: 2004: The National Teaching Academy founded by Eric Westendorf ’94 2005: Biodiversity Neutral Initiative led by Jared Hardner ’92 and Ted Gullison *95
Programs: Past and Present The Character Education Partnership, 1991
The Character Education Partnership was created in collaboration with the National Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. This program focused on the development of character education programs in K-12 education and has been largely responsible for creating these programs in public and private schools in all 50 states. The Character Education Partnership is now an independent nonprofit organization that serves as the leading resource for people and organizations that are integrating character education into their schools and communities.
The Tuberculosis Initiative, 1997-2003
The Tuberculosis Initiative focused on the worldwide eradication of tuberculosis at a moment when multidrug resistant TB was threatening to explode. Princeton Project 55 initially served at the convener for organizations like the World Health Organization, the US Constitutional Defense Council, USAID, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and the American Lung Association. Princeton Project 55 was a founding member of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development.
Online Course on Civil Society and Community Building, 2003
This 14-week online course was developed by PP55 and offered in collaboration with the University’s Alumni Council in 2003. The course included readings, taped discussions by experts, an on-line forum, and a three-day exploration of relevant sites and issues in Chicago. It was designed to provide both a theoretical and practical overview and explores various strategies for effective community change. It was designed for two audiences: individuals who wish to help build a robust civil society and non-profit organizations whose staffs may benefit from enrichment.
Students participating in the Civic Values Task Force in 2004.
The Civic Values Initiative, 2002-2006
The Civic Values Initiative was adopted as a Princeton Project 55 program in 2002 as an effort to encourage Princeton University to live its motto: "Princeton in the Nation's Service and the Service of all Nations." Charlie Bray, CIV's proposer, principal promoter, and Program Leader, used to say that "we would know we had succeeded when it is taken for granted that to be a Princetonian is to be an active and effective citizen and community participant." CIV staff developed, coordinated, and supported key initiatives that brought civic engagement to the forefront among students, alumni, faculty, and on-campus groups including the 2003 Civic Engagement Week and the Civil Society and Community Building Online Course. Another success of CIV was the formation of the Civic Values Task Force (CVTF), a group of Princeton undergraduates supported by Princeton Project 55 studied the civic engagement opportunities at peer institutions and published a report on their findings including recommendations for initiatives at Princeton University in November 2004.
“Having recently joined the Board of PP55, I am very encouraged by the steps being taken by the founders to involve new leaders in sustaining not just the Fellowship Program, but looking for new programs whereby Princetonians can have a meaningful, positive impact on the society. Princeton Project 55 has given me the opportunity to make a difference.” Scott Taylor ’75, PP55 Board Member
The Princeton Project 55 Fellowship Program The mission of the Princeton Project 55 Fellowship Program (formerly called the Public Interest Program) is to provide opportunities for recent Princeton graduates to develop a lifelong commitment to civic engagement and to prepare for civic leadership. The fellowship program provides recent graduates with professional experience and exposure to a wide range of fields, including public health, education, law, and the environment through year-long paid fellowships. Through their work, Project 55 fellows contribute directly to the participating organization's mission.
Gillian Pressman ’08 with her students at Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) in Boston.
After 20 years of success and proven credibility in the public interest sector, we now partner with organizations working in a variety of public interest fields. Organizations receive bright, energetic talent for a modest stipend and are asked to provide the fellow with significant responsibility and good supervision. Fellows have a professional experience that may set them on a lifetime career path and inevitably deepens their understanding of their country’s societal needs. Since its inception in 1989, Princeton Project 55 has connected more than 1200 interns and fellows with public interest organizations across our nation and has established partnerships with nearly 500 partner organizations. In addition to enriching placements, the fellowship program offers the benefit of the local community of fellows, alumni, and organizations who share a commitment to civic engagement and leadership. This community provides a unique and important aspect of the program by creating dynamic and well supported fellowship experiences.
“I feel like I have really gained a sense of how a nonprofit is run and have had my eyes and ears in a lot of interesting stuff that most people at my age and with my level of experience are not typically exposed to.” -Elana Jacobs ’08, Former Fellow
Affiliates of The Alumni Network: Across the Years With the guiding philosophy that college and university alumni are among well-positioned and best educated in the world, and have the civic responsibility to utilize these assets to address the many systemic problems affecting societies at every level, The Alumni Network (TAN) has succeeded in helping alumni from 23 universities and colleges establish more than 30 public interest-focused organizations and programs. Active Citizenship Summers: Alumni Network at Tufts University Alumni for Public Schools American University Mentoring Program Appleseed Bucknell Public Interest Program (BPIP) Carleton Project 60: Developing Civic Leaders Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard (CPIC) Colorado College Public Interest Fellowship Program Cornell Alumni Mentoring Partnership Dartmouth Partners in Community Service Franklin and Marshall Public Interest Project Georgetown Careers Serving Others Northwestern University Public Interest Program (NUPIP) Pace Law School PLEDGE Princeton Class of 1969 Community Service Fund Princeton Club of Southern California Beautiful Minds Project Princeton in Africa Princeton in Asia Princeton in Chicago Schools
Pete Milano ’55, Emily Dietrich, and Maddie Orenstein at the 2007 TAN Conference.
"The ability of these volunteers to leverage connections made through TAN has been greatly beneficial to CPIC's programs, as have opportunities to learn from and collaborate with Princeton's programs." Amanda Sonis Glynn, Coordinator of the Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard
Princeton in India Princeton in Latin America Princeton Prize in Race Relations Princeton Project 55 Princeton ReachOut 56 Smith College Internships in the Public Interest Snowden/Princeton and Friends Mentoring Program Stanford Public Interest Network (SPIN) Syracuse University Mentor/Mentee Alliance The Ghana Education Project The Public Interest Program at McIntire (University of Virginia) The University of Rochester Mentoring Program University of Colorado Public Interest Internship Experience (CUPIIE) The John and Mimi Elrod Fellowship (Washington and Lee University) Yale Class of 1957 Music in Schools Initiative Yale Project 55
On behalf of the Board and staff of United Neighborhood Houses of New York, I would like to congratulate Princeton Project 55 on 20 years of extraordinary service to our nation’s communities. Thank you for encouraging bright and talented young people to work toward constructive social change. UNH has been privileged to work with Princeton Project 55 fellows who have helped us carry out our mission to strengthen communities throughout New York City. Congratulations and continued success to you in your work!
Lew Kramer President
Nancy Wackstein Executive Director
congratulate THE PRINCETON PROJECT 55 FELLOWS, STAFF, and PRINCETON ALUMNICORPS on the success of their past and future work in civic engagement.
Kathy Miller
Ellen Rautenberg
Vice President of Clinical and Community Health Programs
President and CEO
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Civic Leader: Margaret Crotty ’94 In business school, they always used to say that we wouldn't know the full value of our education for many years after graduation-- once we were running organizations or managing big departments. I have found that my Project 55 experiences has been the same-- I have drawn on the lessons learned at every stage in my career to date, from managing an internet start-up to heading a large non-profit organization--and continue to do so! My first position with Project 55 was a summer internship at the Fresh Air Fund-- my clearest memory is that 100 children and their families depended on me for every aspect of their summer trips outside of their inner-city neighborhoods. Several years later, I had the opportunity through Project 55 to serve for two years as the Assistant Principal of St. Mark's School in Harlem, where I was the third of what has now become a long line of fellows. Project 55's impact on the school has been immense, but I know each of the fellows has personally benefited as much or more. At young age, I learned to be entrepreneurial and creative, having to find solutions to real problems that affected children, with few resources. I learned lessons of leadership, creating a board and engaging parents, teachers, and students in a vision. The scope of my job grew to include issues of curriculum, fundraising, arts education, and social work-- a privilege not only because I learned new skills but because I learned my own capacity to accomplish new things. And I gained responsibility and cultural sensitivity, becoming a real part of a new community so different from my own. I have moved between the for-profit and non-profit sectors, and now run an ambitious global project to reduce child mortality in the developing world. I have had the chance to run small and large non-profit organizations, and despite the size of the budget, the lessons from Project 55 are always relevant. But perhaps most important is the confidence that Project 55 engenders in each of us. Once Chet Safian ’55 and John Fish ’55 "took me in" during my junior year of college and carefully helped me select the position that would be right for me, Project 55 has never let me go. Knowing that you had the genuine personal support from such a group of mentors, as well as the backing of the entire Project 55 community is invaluable--and perhaps that has made the biggest impact on me.
“Knowing that you had the genuine personal support from such a group of mentors, as well as the backing of the entire Project 55 community is invaluable--and perhaps that has made the biggest impact on me.” -Margaret Crotty ’94
Civic Leader: Christopher Mallette ’93 Christopher Mallette ’93 always knew that he was destined for public service. His experience with Princeton Project 55, the network of passionate alumni along with the way the fellowship broadened his experience, affirmed for him that this was how he should dedicate his career. One of the most profound lessons he learned through his fellowship experience was how each individual person plays an important role in the work of any cause. He began to understand this even from his first interview with John Fish ’55. With the help of John Fish, Chris was recruited for a fellowship to work with Arne Duncan at the Ariel Foundation in Chicago. At this time, the organization was operating on a grassroots level out of a local church. This allowed Chris to become entrenched on the ground and to gain a broader understanding of the issues and challenges facing the youth in Chicago. His work focused on violence prevention using an academic setting as the pathway to success. As the second PP55 Fellow at the Ariel Foundation, Chris worked with a group of 55 kids and was responsible for running the tutoring and athletic programs as well as expanding other existing programs. Another key aspect of Chris’s experience, was the opportunity to learn from and share ideas with the other fellows in Chicago. Following his fellowship, Chris determined that to be most effective in public service, he needed to get a law degree. Indeed, he attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School on a public interest scholarship. Chris married Kendall Hines ’93 and moved to Chicago, he completed his degree at Northwestern. During this time, he gained an extensive knowledge of the juvenile court system through his work in a legal clinic representing juveniles. He went on to work as a city prosecutor, before beginning his seven year tenure at St. Sabina Church working as a general counselor, athletic director, and running the youth center. Chris spent some time working for the Board of Education in the Office of Academic Enhancement as well as a juvenile intervention support center, before beginning his current job in the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office. He is the Director of community safety initiatives, where he serves as the liaison for youth violence, juvenile justice, gangs, gun issues, and ex-offender reentry. Chris develops policy and strategy for prevention and intervention, and has worked extensively on a comprehensive strategic plan for youth violence in the city. Public interest work and serving the community remains an important value in Chris’s family life as well. His wife Kendall, left her corporate job in the 90’s to became the Director of Development at Ariel (she became Chris’s boss!). Chris volunteers his time coaching football on the south side of Chicago, and has even started his own tackle football club, the Hyde Park Junior Spartans, for a group of 250 young men from all walks of life. He believes that you can learn something from everybody and the greatest teachers are his players.
Civic Leader: Ann Glotzbach ’05 Princeton Project 55 has been a life and career changing experience since the day of my first interview. It was here I met the wonderful Chet Safian, whose counsel I have returned to time and time again. He recommended that I consider a PP55 fellowship with the Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship Program not just for the fit with my undergraduate focus upon immigration and higher education but also for the opportunity to work with Alice Ilchman. I am grateful daily for taking his advice. My PP55 fellowship turned into an incredibly happy and productive three-year career with J.K. Watson. Currently, I am continuing my public service career in Argentina as the Associate Director of Project Development at the Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (Association for Civil Rights). This move is a direct result of my PP55 fellowship. As I assisted J.K. Watson students, many of whom were immigrants, I became more and more aware of the importance of an international perspective in our interdependent world. I decided it was time for me to be the one tackling the practical aspects of living and working in another country. With two years in Buenos Aires, I am gaining global competence, a more nuanced understanding of cultural differences, and an ability to tango. My long-term career goals are also impacted by PP55. I have internalized as my own its mission to address the causes not the symptoms of problems. I hope to do this by establishing a nonprofit agency addressing the challenges of immigrant youth in my home state of Arkansas. Towards this end, I have recently added to my Argentine life a postgraduate program in nonprofit management at the Universidad de San Andrés. I hope to build upon this by returning to the U.S. for a Masters in Business Administration. PP55 - from my fellowship, to the resulting jobs, and my service with the NYC PP55 Steering Committee - has given me friends, inspiration, and experiences that will last a lifetime. A heartfelt Thank You to its founders for their wisdom and action a mere twenty years ago!
“I have internalized as my own its[PP55] mission to address the causes not the symptoms of problems.” -Ann Glotzbach ’05
Civic Leaders: Ben Porter ’98 and Lea Weems ’99 Ben Porter ’98 My PP55 fellowship impacted my career a few ways. Positively, it exposed me to a poor minority community that few privileged white people ever get to experience. The dialogues I had with colleagues and youth were just as interesting as any from my freshman year dorm. The most lasting impact the fellowship made on my life was to expose me to the great city of Chicago. Though we don't have family here and could live anywhere in the country, we've decided it's the best urban living in the country. Though we took a hiatus to Boston for four years, we quickly decided to return and put down roots here. My wife, Lea Weems '99, and I both did PP55, both settled in our PP55 city, and both still work for nonprofits. I guess you could say the fellowship model did what it was designed to do in our cases. And we're quite happy. I work in major gifts fundraising for Northwestern University, where I have been for four years. Prior to this, I spent four years at Harvard University doing annual giving. I've come a long way since writing a couple of grant proposals for my PP55 organization some eleven years ago. I'm an active musician in the Chicago community. I perform regularly with my band Honkygrass, and I am an occasional student and teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago (I sing and play bluegrass guitar and banjo). I am a member of many arts organizations in Chicago but don't actively volunteer for any except PP55. I am interested in learning as much as I can about higher-education philanthropy before focusing on a particular mission, probably related to the environment or international development. I would love one day to be an executive director of a nonprofit.
Lea Weems ’99 My PP55 fellowship in Chicago at North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) led me to where I am today. I did 1 year as a fellow at NLEN and stayed on for 2 more years before deciding to go to law school. The fellowship and 2 additional years convinced me I wanted to do public service for my career, and I went to law school with this in mind. I clerked for 1 year for the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court after graduating from Harvard in 2005, and then received an Equal Justice Works fellowship to work at LAF. I was then hired on as a staff attorney at LAF. I probably would never have moved to Chicago were it not for PP55, and I liked it so much, I decided to make it home. Currently I am working as a staff attorney at Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago in the Home Ownership Preservation Project where I work on foreclosure defense and other homeownership-related cases (predatory lending, title fraud, rescue fraud, etc.). With a young son, I have not been very involved in community activities, other than that I am a member of the North-side Parents Network and get together with other moms for kids' activities. My husband, Ben Porter, is on the PP55 Chicago committee. My long-term career goals are to continue in legal services for the poor, either for an NGO or a government entity. I am also interested in teaching at a law school legal clinic.
Civic Leader: Elizabeth Perriello Rice ’90 As a college senior in the spring of 1990, I knew I wanted to spend a year working for social change. Despite the relatively prevalent availability of jobs at that time, however, Princeton University provided no road map for such a placement. Career Services had plenty of information on teaching, medical school and management consulting, but the section on the non-profit sector was essentially non-existent. About that time, a small advertisement in The Prince caught my eye, and an essay or two later, I ended up face-to-face with a fellow Religion major from the Class of 1955 in a small office on the second floor of a Nassau Street building. John Fish ’55 described the fascinating, dynamic opportunities of PP55 in the City of Chicago, a city at that time more foreign to me than ones in Europe. I was curious enough to venture out to Chicago for spring break to see if these options were real. John Fish sent me on a bus tour of the South side of Chicago to interview at several organizations. I was hooked. Three of us from the Class of 1990, the first fellows of PP55, arrived in Chicago that fall, wide-eyed, energized and ready to save the world. As an important complement to our community service jobs paying $15,000 for the year, John gathered an inspiring and supportive group of alumni who offered interesting seminars, wide exposure to an exciting city, and occasional outings and nice meals to us. I remember being at family Christmas parties that first December and having people at home say about my fellowship, “Now that’s nice, but what are you going to do when you grow up?” I planned to stay in Chicago for ten months and instead lived and worked in and embraced the city for ten years. PP55 had opened the world of the “third sector” to me, and twenty years later I have never left it. My PP55 placement was at Jane Addams Hull House Association, a multi-purpose social service agency on Chicago’s North side. Assisting the Executive Director in a wide variety of tasks and “other duties as assigned,” I spent a year learning many aspects of running a nonprofit agency. I was also able to spend a day a week interning at a local family foundation facilitated through Princeton alumnus. After completing my fellowship, I continued to work at Hull House for another two years until switching to the philanthropic side of the field. I worked for Prince Charitable Trusts, a family foundation with local giving programs in Chicago, Washington, DC and Rhode Island until 2000, when I moved back to the East Coast. I arrived in Baltimore with a new baby, an apartment and no job. My husband, Princeton class of 1989, with whom I’d connected in Chicago through a PP55-inspired community service meeting at John Fish’s home, was settling into a new job. Once again, PP55 provided me new and interesting professional opportunities. I became a member of the PP55 Board which offered me an intellectual and professional outlet as a young mother. Through the partnership with Liz Duffy ’88 and the entrepreneurial spirit of PP55, we created an alumni studies on-line course on Community Revitalization. Now having lived in Baltimore for nearly a decade, my family has grown to three children, and I continue grant making consulting part-time for the Baltimore Community Foundation and the Prince Charitable Trusts in Washington DC. PP55 opened the world of the non-profit sector to me and to so many undergraduates over the past 20 years. This dynamic sector was nearly invisible for graduating senior two decades ago. Additionally, an incredible network of alumni working in this sector has surfaced and become available to young alumni as a resource and inspiration to work to solve the challenges of our communities across the country. PP55 has given credibility and visibility to an important career option and provided a nurturing community for those pursuing this work. Tremendous appreciation and gratitude is due PP55 and its generous, visionary founders!
Civic Leader: Eric Westendorf ’94 Princeton Project 55 has had an extraordinary impact on my life and career. First, PP55 was responsible for placing me at St. Joseph’s School in Harlem, where I served as the Assistant Principal for two years. The experience, and the responsibility that came with it, changed my life, prompting me to pursue a career in educational leadership. I’ve never looked back. Second, the year after I finished business school, PP55’s Social Venture Fund helped me launch the National Teaching Academy (NTA), a nonprofit built on the vision of a more sustainable, leadership-oriented teaching corps. That vision now animates my work as a principal of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Our school is one of the highest performing schools in the city and I attribute our success to NTA’s vision of teacher development. I will always be indebted to Chet Safian ’55, Kenly Webster ’55, Sherry Riva, Stig Lesley, and many others at PP55. The example these extraordinary individuals set - the wisdom and passion that they shared – has sustained and guided me at crucial moments in my career. It has made all the difference. I am currently the principal of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., a PK-12 model school currently serving 460 students. Next year I will become the school’s Chief Academic Officer, overseeing the elementary, middle and high school principals, directors and curriculum coordinators. I am completely challenged and satisfied in my current work at E.L. Haynes. I am on the ground floor of an organization which touches lives every day and continues to grow. I get to be entrepreneurial, strategic, and see the social impact of my efforts. I am also finding that the more our school succeeds, the more opportunities I have to make a broader impact. Over the last year, over 500 educators have visited E.L. Haynes with the intent of bringing best practices back to their schools and districts.
Civic Leader: Bill Kurtz ’91 In my PP55 experience, I spent four years working at Holy Cross School in the South Bronx as an Assistant Principal. In that job, I taught history, coached basketball, created a fundraising program, started an advisory council, served as the Assistant Principal for the middle school. It was an incredible experience that certainly built the foundation for the last 12 years I have spent in education. My experience as a PP55 fellow was life changing. It provided me the opportunity to transition from Wall Street to seeking educational solutions for underserved students first in the South Bronx, then Newark New Jersey and now Denver, Colorado. My fellow experience taught me a great deal about serving low-income students, educational leadership, and how to work on a team. The mentorship of Pete Milano and Chet Safian ’55 was instrumental in my growth and something I will always be grateful for. I currently work as the CEO of DSST Public Schools, a charter management organization that currently operates two middle schools and a high school. We will be opening 7 more schools on four campuses in the next five years ultimately serving 12% of the secondary school population of Denver Public Schools. DSST's middle and high schools were both the top performing schools in Denver Public Schools in the 2008-09 school year. My career goals continue to be focused on helping build the highest performing network of public schools in Denver to ultimately help Denver Public Schools be the top performing urban public schools district in the country. I am committed to serving under-served students so that all students regardless of their race, family income, or academic preparation can go to a four year college. And I am committed to helping to re-integrating our public school systems.
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Individuals who have made or pledged a planned gift to Princeton Project 55 Thomas Boyatt ’55 Stephen Boyd ’55 Charlie Bray ’55 Milton Dietch ’55
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Corporations and Foundations Abbey K. Starr Charitable Trust Ariel Capital Management, LLC Ariel Investments Bank of America BP Foundation, Inc. Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Canto 6 Bakery and Cafe, Inc. Carnegie Corporation of New York Community Foundation Sonoma County Dalio Family Foundation, Inc. Edward S. Moore Family Foundation GE American Communications, Inc. General Electric Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Gilder Foundation GoodSearch Google Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Harris Finch Foundation Hyde & Watson Foundation Irving and Sara Selis Foundation, Inc. Jockers Family Foundation John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Johnson & Higgins JP Morgan Chase Keller Family Foundation Kellner Charitable Trust Kemnay Advisory Services, Inc.
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A Very Special Thank You to the 20th Anniversary Committee Chair: Anne Marie Maman ’84 Gordon Douglas ’55 Jane Gregoire s69 Chris Leahy s66 Sheila Mahoney s55 Pete Milano ’55 Ralph Nader ’55 Rose “Dede” Nini ’76 Kathleen Reilly Natasha Robinson ’04 Chet Safian ’55 Arti Sheth ’08
Princeton Project 55 Staff Kathleen E. Reilly, Executive Director Marjorie K. Berger, Administrative Officer Carrie G. Littauer, Administrative Assistant Stephanie L. Mirkin, Fellowship Program Manager Natasha M. Robinson ’04, Development Officer John Shriver, Fellowship Program Manager
Board of Directors: From 1989 to 2009
PP55 Board, 2009-2010 R. Kenly Webster ’55, Chairman William R. Leahy, Jr., M.D. ’66, President James D. Lynn ’55, Secretary Charles F. Mapes, Jr. ’55, Treasurer Illa Brown ’76 Margaret Crotty ’94 R. Gordon Douglas, M.D. ’55, Ex Officio Andrew Goldstein ’06 James A. Gregoire ’69, Ex Officio John D. Hamilton, Jr. ’55, Ex Officio Stephen D. Houck ’69 Jessica Johnson ’98 Landon Y. Jones, Jr. ’66 Stanley Katz h’21
PP55 Board, 1989-1990 Winthrop R. Adkins ’55 Thomas D. Boyatt ’55 Stephen M. Boyd ’55 Charles W. Bray III ’55 William P. Burks ’55 John H. Fish ’55 John Henn ’55 M. Scott McVay ’55 Peter T. Milano ’55 Ralph Nader ’55 R. Kenly Webster ’55 Alan M. Willemsen ’55
Elliot D. Lee ’74, Ex Officio Kathleen McCleery ’75 Arthur McKee ’90 Dominic Michel ’70 Kathryn Miller ’77 Ralph Nader ’55 Anthony Quainton ’55 Michael D. Robbins ’55 Marsha Rosenthal ’76, Ex Officio Arti Sheth ’08, Ex Officio Warner Slack ’55 Samuel T. Suratt ’55 Scott Taylor ’75 Richard O. Walker ’73 Lindsay Wall ’02
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