Shared Effort

By Emily S. Tang,
PP55 Program Coordinator

Through the Alumni Network, PP55 has helped to start and support similar alumni-driven public interest organizations across the country. We sat down with Travis Lovett of Harvard CPIC to learn more about the successful collaboration between Harvard CPIC and PP55 in the Boston area.

Name: Travis Lovett, Assistant Coordinator

Organization Name: Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard College (CPIC)

What does the Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard College do?
We place Harvard College students and recent graduates in fellowships and internships at nonprofit and public interest organizations around the country. We also provide fellows and interns with professional development opportunities.

Travis Lovett Relays Program Success in Boston:
Many of us this year are facing the prospects of stretched budgets during difficult economic times, but these challenges also present opportunities. Resourcefulness can build fruitful relationships, and collaboration has played a vital role in our success up to this point.

For our program in Boston, Princeton Project 55 and the Harvard CPIC program have teamed together to organize eight fellowship seminars which address topics such as social entrepreneurship, community arts programs, and environmental activism. Our last seminar on public interest law brought together a panel of three guests from different legal realms and they engaged fellows in meaningful conversation about the relevance of education and public service.

Harnessing the energy and enthusiasm of volunteers is critical in our ability to create opportunities for students and recent alumni. PP55 volunteers Bob Amick ’55 and Anh-Thu Ngo ’06 have played an integral role in our seminar planning, and Anh-Thu has also been working on organizing an additional seminar on negotiations and bargaining skills. Our fellows and interns have benefited from meeting one another and sharing their experiences, as many of us have benefited from sharing best practices.

This year, the CPIC program is in the process of launching an area committee in Boston to explore ways we can continue to grow and offer more opportunities for program participants. We also have put together area committees in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Alumni can be involved in all sorts of ways, ranging from reaching out to host organizations to mentoring students or planning seminars.

As students, alumni, and administrators, our charge is to build as many connections as possible for the benefit of our students and our communities as a whole. Our most successful ventures have bridged generations, sectors and experiences, drawing upon the diversity of our alumni and the skills of our friends. Project 55 inspired our launch at Harvard eight years ago and we hope to inspire others to carry on the mission of our work.

Travis Lovett is the Assistant Director of the Harvard Public Service Network and Assistant Coordinator of the Center for Public Interest Careers at Harvard College. He has previously worked for the New England Press Association and Earth Day Network, and has freelanced for the Boston Globe and Boston Herald. He is a founding member of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) Boston chapter.