COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 17 more about them. What are their interests? What would they like to get out of the experience?” says Brown-Ly, adding that the center has maintained relationships with former Fellows who remain connected as employees, volunteers, or donors. Political Science graduate student Maya Brooks, who began her fellowship with Bradbury-Sullivan in fall 2024, says of her placement, “I’m really passionate about social justice issues, and so I wanted to be able to create that intersection for myself.” For an event at the center, she is designing an activity for young children to educate them about bias. It dovetails with a paper she is writing in one of her classes which examines the importance of early education to combat racism and other biases. Adapting fellowship work to match personal interests was the key for Lorena Bravo ’21G. Bravo came to Lehigh after being a small business owner. When pandemic constraints made it difficult to complete face-to-face projects for the City of Allentown Planning and Zoning Office, she pivoted. Bravo, who now is a bilingual business consultant for the Kutztown University Small Business Development Center, wrote two guides as part of her Fellowship. One explained zoning laws and the second offered guidance for opening a service business in the city. An Emphasis on Community Community Fellow is an apt title for program participants. Community connection is integral to the field work they do at their respective agencies and is emphasized in the classes they take in their graduate program. Academic course content often includes case studies or work on community projects. Martinez saw an intersection between his work as a Fellow and his Lehigh classes. “I had so many classes where our main project was engaging with something that was happening in the community,” says Martinez. For example, some students worked on the Alley House project, a collaboration between the university and the City of Bethlehem to promote more affordable housing. Lauren Fosbenner ’18 ’19G says she has found a community-centered approach is integral to her work as a project specialist at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton. The center emphasizes science-based education, art, and community dialogue. It was founded as a flood resource and education center after the Delaware River flooded Easton in the early 2000s. Its work has evolved to include resiliency and natural hazard education and programming funded by several federal grants, including a NOAA Environmental Literacy Grant. Fosbenner earned a bachelor’s degree in Lehigh’s Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts and Sciences (IDEAS) with concentrations in environmental engineering and psychology before earning a master’s degree in environmental policy. She first worked at the Nurture Nature Center as an intern and then as a Community Fellow in 2018-19 before becoming a member of its permanent staff. As a Fellow, Fosbenner’s work focused on educating the public about the Lehigh Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan—a project that expanded in subsequent years with additional grant funding. Her work included meetings with elected officials and emergency managers and a community engagement component. For the latter, Fosbenner helped to write a series of hazard education cards that were distributed with emergency preparedness kits. Fosbenner says her biggest takeaway from the Community Fellows Program is the importance of community networks and connection to achieve goals and advance projects. “Connecting with all these organizations through my work has become core to how I’m always going to live my life and also to my work,” Fosbenner says. Finding Career Paths For some participants, the program introduces career options or clarifies goals. By the time Mitchell Hendricks ’23G earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and music from Monmouth University, he had rejected the idea of becoming a lawyer or working in politics. He
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