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Q&A
Proposal for CUNY fellowship program to improve community engagement
3:26:48
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110 sec
Amanda Melillo introduces a proposed CUNY fellowship program aimed at enhancing community engagement in civic participation. Council Member Farías expresses interest in further collaboration on this and other civic engagement initiatives.
- CFB is exploring a fellowship program in partnership with CUNY's Institute of State and Local Governance.
- The program aims to place CUNY students in two-year fellowships with community-based organizations in the South Bronx.
- This initiative seeks to develop more effective models for community engagement and education.
- Farías suggests integrating this effort with existing community engagement programs like participatory budgeting and CEC engagement.
Amanda Melillo
3:26:48
We always love that.
3:26:50
One thing I'll say is we find elected officials to be some extremely valuable partners in getting community information out.
3:26:57
So when we are distributing field materials, some of our best customers tend to be elected officials and we're routinely sending materials out across the city.
3:27:07
We also work with elected officials all the time.
3:27:09
We would love to work with you to identify groups that are in your neighborhoods because that local knowledge is always extremely valuable.
3:27:17
You know, since you are a reader of the voter since analysis report, one other thing I would love to mention is that in our report that we published last year, one of our recommendations was that the CFB should explore maybe creating a fellowship program as a model.
3:27:34
And we actually are working with the Institute of State and Local Governance at CUNY starting this summer to pilot that model in the South Bronx.
3:27:43
Working to place up to 15 CUNY students in two year fellowships early in their careers within community based organizations.
3:27:53
And one of the things we want to take a look at is this model really a more successful model than maybe some that have been tried in terms of tailoring community engagement and education, and making it very effective, we will look at a number of measures to evaluate that program, and we'd love to connect offline and talk more about that as
Amanda Farías
3:28:13
well.
3:28:13
Yeah, that would be great.
3:28:14
I mean we have several different things happening in our community between, you know, the CEC engagement.
3:28:20
The mayor has like a public funding engagement.
3:28:22
Most councilmanic offices are doing participatory budgeting.
3:28:26
There's like a general space where more civic engagement and education can be going outward into community to partner up and do that.
3:28:35
Happy to continue the conversation offline.
3:28:37
Thank you folks and thank you chairs.