Fellows at the Forefront is an innovative faculty-led summer pilot program in which students collaborate on a series of projects. Research, policy, and advocacy projects focused on some of the world’s most pressing social issues. The first group, led by Dustin Tingley, focused on climate change and sustainability issues.
The concept was developed by Harvard University’s 2021 Center for Public Service and Engaged Scholarship will be implemented as a way to leverage peer-to-peer learning, where students working on the same issues through different means participate in summer workshops led by Harvard faculty . Half of the 10-student cohort works with community partner organizations as summer interns. They learn about social issues from the perspective of organizations that seek to directly address them through policy and practice. The other half of the student cohort works directly with faculty leaders on research questions. Community partnerships are being developed by the Center’s Pathways for Practice team, led by Alisha Johnson-Williams.
Tingley and doctoral student Aleksandra Konevska organized weekly discussions with climate change and sustainability experts from around the world. We also facilitated reflection pairs, organized book clubs, and hosted special workshops for students about life in academia. Summer workshops deepen what students are learning in the field and provide an interdisciplinary and multidimensional understanding of climate change issues. Students heard from experts such as Thomas Malta, who manages the Zero Emission Bus Rapid Deployment Accelerator (ZEBRA) program in the C40 Climate Leadership Group, and Shannon Baker Branstetter, former associate policy director for climate change. I got a chance to learn. Humayun Tai, head of racial justice organization Green for All and McKinsey & Company’s power program. This group will also be implemented for his second year.
“What I really enjoyed was how integrated I was in the real-world setting,” Naomi Davey ’22 said. Davey said her summer workshop with Claire Schumer ’20 was particularly inspiring as it helped her navigate potential post-graduation paths. Schumer currently works at the World Resources Institute, one of his sites in the community where he participates in Fellows at the Forefront. Through her fellowship last summer, Davey said she worked at Green for All and plans to work at a renewable energy consulting firm after graduation.
Kaya Williams, assistant professor of anthropology, is leading a second group of students this summer focused on issues of racial justice and mass incarceration. Students will work with Professor Williams’ research team and community partner sites such as the Prison Journalism Project, the Orléans Public Defender’s Office, the Louisiana Capital Outreach Center, the MacArthur Justice Center, and the Vera Institute of Justice.
Future fellowship cohorts may focus on global health, food systems, housing security, educational equity, and human rights work. The center hopes to expand this model by summer 2025 to support five groups of fellows each year (50 student fellows in total). Faculty interested in joining Frontline Fellows should contact Travis Lovett. tlovett@fas.harvard.edu.