By Margaret Morey ’25 and Hope Zionts ’26, Global Fellowship Ambassadors
The Global Fellowships and Awards office checked in with recent Grinnell alumni on their public service fellowship journeys. From Alabama to Saint Louis to Bangalore, these Grinnellians are making an impact and gaining valuable experience in their post-graduate lives.
Abby Lynch ‘24 from Gladwyn, Pennsylvania worked with Project Horseshoe Farm Community Health Fellowship, a nonprofit organization from Greensborough, Alabama that advocates for equitable public health initiatives. Fellows of Project Horseshoe participate in all aspects of community life, providing organization’s signature health partner’s program.
In a conversation before her service year, Abby shared, “I’m excited to learn about what life in Greensborough, Alabama is like and how multifaceted public health work can be in communities. This is a wonderful opportunity to approach community health from a systems perspective and promote equity at multiple levels of society, all while keeping people and their lived experiences at the heart of our work.”
Abby, an anthropology major, has been involved in community engagement since her time at Grinnell. Having participated in the Service-Leadership Work Study program with Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation, she assisted with initiatives related to community wellbeing.
Abby’s summer experiences also prepared her well for her year of service with Project Horseshoe. She did patient advocacy and education work for individuals with disabilities at Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance. She later worked with Strategy for access in social media marketing to raise awareness about ableism. As such, her work with Project Horseshoe was a continuation of her past experience, and a steppingstone to her future career.
“I’m interested in pursuing a career in the realms of social work and nonprofit management. Any opportunities where I have the joy of connecting with people on a deeper level and collaborating with them to better their quality of life excite and inspire me,” said Abby.
Abby aligns with Project Horseshoe’s vision of holistic community service. She said that “the deeply meaningful work that the organization does truly has a long-lasting, positive impact on the lives of local residents, and I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of serving the Greensborough community.”
Having completed her year with Project Horseshoe, Abby is now a Residential Advisor at Gould Farm’s Fellside, a transitional housing program for adults living with serious mental illnesses. In her current position she says that she “supports our program participants in navigating social-emotional challenges, developing independent living skills, and fostering a sense of community. The most rewarding part of my job is witnessing people’s progress in the everyday moments, not only during the big wins in their lives.”
Abby’s public service experience shaped her future goals as she shares, “my year with Project Horseshoe Farm showed me how much direct service work fills my own cup, and I am looking forward to pursuing a service-oriented career through a Master’s program at Boston University’s School of Social Work this fall.”
Chae Young Yu ’24, English and sociology double major interested in legal advocacy for multicultural youth, participated in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. The Fellows Program is designed to launch “the next generation of civic leaders into careers of impact and purpose” through “immersive training, hands-on projects, access to influential change-makers, and cross-sector exposure.” She completed five weeks of training placements across multiple organizations in public and private sectors including business, non-profit, and labor. Through this experience, she carried out projects on relevant issues in each of the placements, while learning about the functioning of leadership and teamwork.
The Coro Fellows Program provides a need-based, monthly stipend for participants. The Coro Program provides opportunities in four cities across the country, Chae, whose hometown is Namyangju, South Korea, completed her year in Saint Louis, Missouri.
As a Grinnell student, Chae was involved in the Asian American Association and the Korean Student Association. She also had leadership positions on campus as the Co-Editor in Chief of GOGUE and as a Community Advisor, roles that helped her build teamwork and community with students of varying backgrounds.
She spent a summer working as a research assistant for sociology faculty on the topic of “Conservative Filipino-Americans in Hawaii,” in which she conducted on-site field observation at Filipino-American educator meetings and did archival research at the University of Hawaii. She says that through this experience, she “learned more about how one’s own meaning-making of sociocultural identity informs one’s political views.”
Chae hopes to incorporate creative literary work into her future in legal advocacy, combining skillsets developed across her majors and undergraduate experiences.
Connecting back with Chae following her public service year, she shares, “My experiences in the fellowship taught me how to observe underlying connections among non-profit, government, and business sectors.” Currently in South Korea, Chae’s post-fellowship plans build upon her fellowship, saying “I am utilizing the lessons I learned from Coro to examine intersections between the Korean music industry and government policies for arts and culture.” Taking classes on K-pop song writing, Chae is “focusing on creating narratives that meet the demands of the music business, align with the government’s policies for promoting K-culture internationally, and satisfy K-pop fans, all with balance.” As for her future plans, Chae plans to attend law school in the U.S. or Canada, studying music business law while supporting immigration and family law cases.
Nicholas Lampietti ’25, Sociology major with a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies, is currently an American India Foundation (AIF) Banyan Impact Fellow. Nicholas shares that he applied to become an AIF Banyan Impact Fellow in order to “deepen my relationship with India and gain meaningful, on-ground experience working in close proximity to the issues that I care about.”
The AIF Banyan Impact Fellowship is an immersive volunteer service program which matches young professionals with development organizations in India. Fellows work on development projects that make an impact through service and fieldwork within the fields of education, livelihoods, and public health.
Nicholas shares that his Sociology major has given him “the tools to critically reason through the structural issues that I encounter through my work as well as navigate everyday challenges from office dynamics to fixing the plumbing in my apartment.” While at Grinnell, Nicholas was involved with the theatre department, his experience ranging from the Neverland Players to Infinite Coincidence (long-form improv). In the summer before starting his fellowship year, Nicholas was also a Projects for Peace grant recipient based in Jaipur. His global peacebuilding project was an original musical inspired by the Buddha’s journey to enlightenment which brought together the genre of Western musical theatre, Bollywood music, and traditional Indian folk sounds.
As a Banyan Impact Fellow, Nicholas works full-time at a grassroots NGO in Bangalore on a variety of initiatives including strategic planning, governance, marketing & branding, and impact measurement. Additionally, as a part of the broader fellowship experience, Nicholas takes Hindi language classes, contributes to several of AIF’s publications, and engages in professional development opportunities like field visits to other NGOS and networking with development sector professionals. “I also get to travel all over India and explore new places!”
When asked about his post-fellowship year, Nicholas says, “I plan to take a huge leap of faith and pursue my dream of writing musical theatre professionally. I credit my time in India, both as a Projects for Peace grantee and an AIF Banyan Impact Fellow, to giving me the knowledge, skills, and courage to do this!”
Learn more about public service and other nationally competitive fellowships through the Global Fellowships and Awards website. Then visit with advisors in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service—Chad Berman for education and social work, Gracie Brandsgard for law and public service, Ann Landstrom for fellowships, and Mary Jane Shroyer for health professions.
