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Mary Bowmann,
2007-2009 PIP Placement Coordinator

"Transformation and growth—two words that characterize the changes I have seen in the Northwestern University Public Interest Program over the past three years.
 
As an NUPIP fellow in the program’s first year, 2006-2007, I was joined by a dozen other Northwestern graduates seeking to make an impact and gain new skills by working at community building organizations such as the City of Evanston, the Grand Victoria Foundation, Chicago Public Schools, and more.  Every week, we joined fellows from Princeton University and the University of Chicago for a seminar dedicated to exposing issues and ideas addressed in the non-profit sector.  In its first year, NUPIP and its fellows were focused on building foundations for the program and for our own futures.

Three years later, NUPIP’s mission to help train a new generation of leaders has continued to grow stronger.  As the coordinator who oversees the placement process of new fellows, I have watched the number of NUPIP applicants double from around 40 in 2007 and 2008 to more than 80 in 2009.  I have also seen the student coordinators who run NUPIP develop and strengthen their ownership, leadership, and vision for the program.  As a result, nearly 20 graduates will begin the NUPIP fellowship this summer at organizations as diverse as the Adler Planetarium, Urban Prep Academies, and Center on Halsted to name a few.
With all that growth, what comes next?  Well, only time will tell.  In the year ahead, NUPIP will settle into its first-ever office on campus at the Center for Civic Engagement.  Also for the first time, NUPIP will place a fellow in a satellite city, Washington, D.C.  So, what’s next?  Come along with us and find out!"