Coro Fellow secures funding for project in Germany

The Office of Fellowships is thrilled to announce that alumna Diana Raiselis (SoC ’12) has received a German Chancellor Fellowship! Next year, Diana will conduct an independent project to study urban nightlife in Berlin.

Diana graduated from Northwestern in 2012 after majoring in theatre and completing the certificate in civic engagement. She is currently the program and training manager for Coro Southern California, a civic-leadership training institute active since 1957. With a cross-disciplinary background in theatre production and civic education, Diana directed and developed new plays in Chicago's vibrant theatre scene, including partnerships with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Pride Films & Plays, The New Colony, and the MacArthur-winning Albany Park Theater Project. As an educator, she has designed and delivered programs for the Center for Talent Development's Civic Education Project, Common Vision, and Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. Diana is an alumna of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company Professional Leadership Program, Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, which she won in 2017, and ITsINSTED international directors’ exchange. She is also a founding member of the Los Angeles Nightlife Alliance.

As a German Chancellor Fellow, Diana will aim to support collaboration among those who create, regulate, and participate in urban nightlife by disseminating a toolkit of best practices to foster safe and vibrant nightlife ecosystems. In residence at Clubcommission, Berlin’s nightlife association representing more than two hundred cultural producers and clubs, she will investigate the strategies that Berlin’s government, business, cultural, nonprofit, and public-safety entities use to promote a diverse ecosystem of safe, sustainable nightlife.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s German Chancellor Fellowship seeks university graduates from the United States, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, Brazil, and India who have an international outlook and leadership experience. The award addresses prospective decision makers, multipliers, and thought leaders from a broad range of professional fields, such as politics, public administration, and business as well as society and culture. The fellowships give recipients the opportunity to spend a year in Germany networking with other prospective leaders from abroad and explore new solutions to the global issues of our times.

Diana is Northwestern’s second consecutive recipient of the German Chancellor Fellowship. Last year, Yuchen Lin (SoC ’17) also won the award.

Contact Stephen Hill at s-hill@northwestern.edu to learn more about the German Chancellor Fellowship.