The 2017 Rappaport Institute public policy fellows (photo courtesy Reba Saldanha)
The Boston College School of Social Work continues to be a strong feeder for the Harvard Kennedy School鈥檚 Rappaport Institute, as this year, two MSW students were awarded prestigious summer聽public policy fellowships. It鈥檚 the third straight year that 51茶馆SSW has been represented among the Rappaport cohort, and perhaps most strikingly, 51茶馆SSW鈥檚 student fellows are the first and only ever Rappaport Institute fellows to come from social work programs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 remarkable that each of the past three years, students from 51茶馆 Social Work have counted themselves among the select group of fellows awarded by the Kennedy School鈥檚 Rappaport Institute,鈥� says Professor聽Tiziana Dearing. 鈥淭his is both a testament to the quality of students that pass through McGuinn Hall, and to our school鈥檚 growing focus on training a next generation of changemakers.鈥�
The Rappaport Institute fellowship encourages 鈥済raduate students to spend part of their careers in public service through a paid, 10-week summer internship in key state and local agencies in the Greater Boston area.鈥� This year鈥檚 51茶馆 Social Work cohort members are Leah Igdalsky and Joanna Abaroa-Ellison. Igdalsky is working at Boston City Hall for the聽Mayor鈥檚 Disabilities Commission; Abaroa-Ellison聽is interning with the聽Somerville Police Department.
Igdalsky worked directly with the Rappaport Institute to design a placement that coincided with her own interests and goals 鈥� she envisions a career in the government or non-profit sectors working for the provision of disability services once her time at Boston College is complete. This summer, she has been charged with designing and implementing a survey for residents of the City of Boston who are living with disabilities on what they view the city should prioritize vis-脿-vis accessibility.
Leah Igdalsky (photo courtesy Reba Saldanha)
In the fall, Igdalsky will continue her training in government through her field placement at 51茶馆, where she鈥檒l work at the聽Massachusetts Executive Office of Education.聽She says that she is grateful for her diversity of experiences at 51茶馆, and feels confident that her next step will be a positive one, wherever she ends up.
鈥淏efore I arrived at 51茶馆, I went back and forth as to whether I wanted to study public policy or social work,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚 chose social work because I wanted to be more connected to social issues and people. I鈥檝e had the best of both worlds here, as I鈥檝e also been able to continue my study of policy, while learning concrete practices for how it can be best implemented.鈥�
Abaroa-Ellison, for her part, arrived at Boston College with a background in criminology and psychology, and she has parlayed her deep knowledge of each of these disciplines into her summer position with the Somerville PD. Abaroa-Ellison聽will be working directly with the social worker who heads the Department鈥檚聽Community Outreach & Help Recovery Division, an initiative designed to help the city鈥檚 residents to get the rehabilitation and mental health treatment they may need. Specifically, she has been tasked with researching the existing system of care, and speaking with both providers and clients to assess its efficacy, while providing recommendations for improvement.
Joanna Abaroa-Ellison (photo courtesy Reba Saldanha)
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a policy background, but it鈥檚 something that I really want to pursue,鈥� says Abaroa-Ellison. 鈥淚 believe that social workers need to be at tables of influence, and we need to have our voices heard. For that reason, I鈥檓 really excited to be able to represent social work through the Rapapport Fellowship this summer. I hope to help change existing stigmas about who we are, offer a positive example of how we belong in the policy realm, and then show, concretely, how we can be instrumental in creating lasting social change.鈥�
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 the least bit surprising that Leah and Joanna were awarded fellowships,鈥� says Dearing. 鈥淭hroughout their first year at Boston College, both have continually demonstrated excellent critical thinking skills, and the kind of communications savvy they鈥檒l need in their ongoing work to create social change. Both have also shown a strong capacity to recognize how the implementation of certain policies can deeply affect marginalized populations, both in positive and negative ways, and I鈥檓 confident that we will continue to hear from them in positions of influence, as they move forward with their careers.鈥�