Prestigious program sponsored by Rutgers–Camden
The Latino Leaders Fellowship Institute prepares Latino undergraduates for the workplace and graduate school, and encourages them to pursue policy-level positions in New Jersey, where they represent the second-largest ethnic population.
The institute is a partnership between the Rutgers–Camden Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership and the state Department of Community Affairs Center for Hispanic Policy, Research, and Development.
“We teach the students the tools they need to become leaders,” says Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy and director of the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership at Rutgers–Camden.
Throughout the 10-week program, which began in June, the students engage in experiential learning through structured internships to gain valuable work experiences, establish connections that expand their professional network, and explore career options.
Participants intern with a state agency, banking institution, corporation, or community non-profit organization four days a week. On Wednesdays, the students, who are college juniors and seniors, attend intensive leadership training workshops in Trenton facilitated by the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership.
This year, a select group of 19 students are participating in the program. They are interning at such organizations as the Academy for Urban Leadership, the Department of Community Affairs Center for Hispanic Policy, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the FOCUS Hispanic Center for Community Development, and PSE&G.
“This program promotes an identity for Latino students beginning their careers,” says Johan Zafra of Secaucus, a junior at Rutgers University–Ne
Zafra is interning at the U.S. Hispanic Advocacy Organization in Newark, where he is researching the effects of the U.S. economic downturn on Latino diversity in the nation’s law firms. He says the internship is creating opportunities he would never have on his own.
“It’s opening doors for me and I’m learning how to approach problems,” he says. “I’m a part of something that will help me in the future because the education we’re getting now will have an impact on the future of our nation.”
The program is funded by a $25,000 grant from Wachovia, a $100,000 grant from the state Department of Community Affairs, and grant money from PSE&G.
“We are dealing with a group of Latino students who are already in college and doing well, so that is half the battle,” says Wanda Garcia, associate director of the Rutgers–Camden Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership.
“The main goal of the summer program is to provide them with options for life after college and potentially get them motivated to enter into graduate programs for advanced studies,” Garcia says.
Jeffrey Vega, president of New Brunswick Tomorrow and a 1989 alumnus of the Latino Fellows program, was the featured speaker at a recent training session. He told the current class of students that his time in the program helped him discover his desired career.
“It allowed me to meet other Latinos and I learned that my experience was not unique to me,” says Vega. “A light bulb went off and I realized that I wanted to help people who come from a similar background as I do.”
More than 500 students have participated in the program since its inception, and Garcia says nearly 100 percent of those students have completed their college education, continued on to graduate school, and even continued working with their internship sites.
The program culminated in a graduation ceremony on Aug. 13 at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Woodrow Wilson Auditorium.
Latino students enrolled in a New Jersey university who are interested in the Latino leaders Fellowship Institute should click here for admission guidelines. For more information, click here.
Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
856-225-6759
E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu