Outcome 3

Professional Development Education Pioneers (EP) Summer Fellowship is an intense 10-week fellowship program that focuses on four primary areas in the education sector: project/program management, operations, data analysis and strategy & planning. EP also has visiting fellows who are placed in a 10-month assignment. Both fellows are matched and placed with organizational partners based on professional experience, fit, goals and scope of work. Education partners range from school districts, charter school management, non-profit organizations, government agencies or other organizations that are committed to transforming education. The fellowship consists of two parts. The first part is working as a fellow for a partner organization. The scope of work is outlined prior to a fellow accepting an offer with an organization. The second part is EP Professional Development workshops/sessions. The sessions are designed to give fellows an overview of specific topics, case studies, engage with speakers, networking opportunities and is a platform for summer and visiting fellows to convene and collaborate in a learning environment. EP Professional Development sessions are not distributed in a conventional conference format, whereas, fellows attend sessions over 6 consecutive days. Instead, fellows meet over the course of the entire summer, June-August. Here is a breakdown of sessions: • • • • •

Two days discussing Opportunity Gap, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and Leadership Skills Two days discussing Immunity To Change (adaptive vs. technical), Consultancy Protocol Case Study, Design Thinking Protocol 1 Day of Community Service 1 Day of Capstone Presentations and Reflections Networking Receptions

EP Professional Development was a total of 50 hours of learning, group activities, speaker engagement, networking opportunities, community service, presentations and discussions. We also had pre-work prior to each session. Fellows were required to read articles, write bios and

impact statements, watch videos, etc. This fellowship was very intense and demanding. Fellows came from all over the country and attended various higher education institutions (i.e. NIU, Yale, UC Berkeley, Alcorn State, Columbia, Georgetown) and graduate programs (i.e. Public Policy, Higher Education Administration, MBA, Educational Leadership, etc.). EP is a national fellowship, established in 2003, where fellows are placed in 20 different cities within the United States. This is a very competitive fellowship to interview for. The stress is alleviated once an individual receives an offer by an organization and are assigned to a cohort. As a member of the Denver cohort, we worked together in order to complete our obligations, enter a new network, connect to various sectors of education reform and improve our leadership abilities. The sessions that focused on Immunity to Change, Consultancy and Design Thinking Protocol was new material to me. This information indicated effective leadership strategies that may be useful tools to approach technical and adaptive challenges within an organization. The case studies helped fellows identify barriers to change, link leadership strategies that can be implemented to help individuals/organizations transition to a new structure and/or policy in order to move an organization or department forward. Adaptive changes rely on people changing their techniques, methods, beliefs or interaction within a system and technical change is using technology as a remedy to change a system. The Design Thinking and Consultancy Protocol activities explored a new process used to approach problems within an organization, which allowed us to go through an extensive process to identify a problem, analyze context or history of issue, consider risks and share solutions. I enjoyed this group activity because it made us focus on the process instead of immediately presenting solutions. As I approach my second year of graduate school at NIU, this fellowship exposed me to more options on how I can leverage my degree and career endeavors. The fellowship introduced

me to leaders who work for education initiatives in Denver’s Mayor Office, Philanthropic/NonProfit Sector, Corporate Social Responsibility, Educational Organizations, EdTech, Scholarships and other sectors that have education as a core value. Post-graduation, I will focus my job search on Corporate Social Responsibility. I desire to work for an organization such as, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Walton Foundation, NBA Cares, Coca-Cola Scholarship, etc. When I return to NIU, I will meet with Career Services to help me organize my LinkedIn Page, edit my resume and discuss employment opportunities. In addition, I will contact NIU alumni office to request connecting with alumni in Washington DC metro area, which is my preferred location. However, I am open to other geographic locations as well. In September, I will attend the 40th annual National Black MBA Conference, located in Detroit this year. This conference is imperative to my job search because of their career fair, informative workshops on negotiating a salary, business strategies, leadership topics, higher education, networking opportunities, speakers and other information. I am proud to add Education Pioneers Alumni to my resume and enter a mighty cohort of 4,000 EP Alumni who are committed to being leaders in the education sector.