Year + One

College Access in Baltimore

During my term of service with Public Allies Maryland and to prepare for the 20th anniversary of Public Allies I’m participating in a blog project called “Ally Snapshots.” Here is my latest post!

Since October I have worked with the other second-year Allies at Public Allies Maryland on our Team Service Project (all the Allies at Public Allies Maryland are split into teams ranging from 4-6 people to work on a community service project in Baltimore utilizing the Asset-Based Community Development model) to address the issue of college access in Baltimore.

We know college access is a HUGE issue, so we looked at the assets Baltimore already had around this issue and decided to partner with a wonderful organization called Upward Bound. The Upward Bound Program provides Baltimore City Students with exceptional college preparatory services, emphasizing academic excellence, individual expression, and service to school and community. The program assists them in developing the academic and social skills necessary for success in high school and matriculation in post-secondary education.

When we met with Upward Bound’s Executive Director Greg Hunter we asked “What is the one thing you would do if you had unlimited time and resources?” And he said that he would put on a College Access Fair for Baltimore students not only in his program, but other organizations that work on the college access issue as well.

So, on April 14th, we hosted the first annual Upward Bound College Access Fair!! Our fair included representatives from local and out-of-state colleges, breakout sessions for parents and students presented by Bank of America and The Maryland Higher Education Commission, and all students received a free copy of From US to U: An Inside Look Into College from Those Who Know Best… College Students, thanks to a generous donation from the book’s author, Samantha Zipp-Dowd.

This was the first time I had planned a large event or fair before and I am already using the same skills at my placement site at The SEED School of Maryland for an upcoming service day. I never would have had this opportunity if it wasn’t for Public Allies. It was challenging and stressful at times, but at the end of the day I felt amazing knowing I had not only built capacity at a nonprofit, I had made a difference in the lives of Baltimore students.

Here are some pictures from the event:

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Tags: Asset-Based Community Development, Baltimore, Bank of America, Collaboration, Cooperation, education, Higher education, Public Allies, Public Allies Maryland, SEED Foundation, Snapshot Blog, Team Service Project, The SEED School of Maryland, TSP, Upward Bound

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Categories Blogging, Public Allies

Graduate School

28 Mar

I have been working on a ton of new posts, I am presenting this weekend at the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Conference hosted by Baltimore Collegetown at Coppin State.

But I just can’t wait to share the news.

I’ve been accepted to the Master’s of Public Policy program at Johns Hopkins University. I am thrilled to the point where I can hardly describe it in words. I’m living the dream. It’s a phenomenal school that has international recognition that I can walk to from my neighborhood of Hampden in Baltimore. I will have the opportunity to provide direct service to Baltimore while I’m in school full-time and I can keep volunteering and helping with the amazing organizations I care about: Baltimore SquashWise, Youth as Resources, & Public Allies Maryland.

I feel happy, thankful, lucky and deserving all at the same time.

It’s a wonderful feeling that I know I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

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Categories Uncategorized

Three Lessons The Muppets taught me about Leadership, Community Building & Taking Action

27 Feb

During my term of service with Public Allies Maryland and to prepare for the 20th anniversary of Public Allies I’m participating in a blog project called “Ally Snapshots.” Here is my latest post!

Three Lessons The Muppets taught me about Leadership, Community Building & Taking Action

Image via Wikipedia

This year The Muppets made a triumphant return to the big screen! I was more than happy to welcome them back as childhood memories of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show came rushing back to me full force. I love everything about The Muppets, and I’m not ashamed to admit it! I love their googly eyes, furry faces, big mouths, and colorful plumage! But my love for The Muppets isn’t just felt deep.

There’s something more that makes them so endearing and gives them a home so close to my heart, but what is it?! Then it struck me, many of the values I have today can be traced back to the lessons I learned from the beloved Muppets of my youth!

In honor of The Oscars, I thought it would be appropriate to write about the important lessons I’ve learned from The Muppets—it may not win them a coveted Oscar, but they’ll be remembered longer than who won best screenplay.

Leadership

“You can be what you want to be, see what you want to see—believe in yourself. Some folks try to tell you there are things you shouldn’t do—you’re not strong enough or smart enough at all. But what seems right to them quite often might be wrong for you.”

What does this teach us about leadership? I believe that knowing yourself is one of the first steps towards being a better leader. You have to know what you stand for before you can stand for something or someone else. What Ray Charles and Elmo teach us here is that there may be people in your life and in your career that try to tell you what to think, how to act, and what to believe. By believing in yourself and understanding what you stand for, you will be able to hear what others are saying, and stay true to yourself and your values.

Community Building

“Cooperation makes it happen. Cooperation: working together.”

In this video (which I remember vividly from my childhood) The Muppets on Sesame Street sing about cooperation in a neighborhood and working together to build a community garden. It doesn’t get more grassroots than that! As more people become involved in the garden other community members begin to ask questions about how they can get involved and work together to build and maintain their community garden. What does this video teach us? That through collaboration and working together we can strengthen our communities. It also leads directly into my final lesson…

Taking Action

“If just one person believes in you, deep enough and strong enough believes in you, hard enough and long enough, before you know it someone else would think, if he can do it, I can do it.” The song goes on to add more and more people believing in “you” until “maybe even you can believe in you, too!”

This is one of my favorite videos from Jim Henson’s memorial service because, in rare form, you can see The Muppets and their “Muppeteers,” the “invisible” people who support them. While this video highlights the others before it: the importance of believing in yourself and using the assets of your community to make a change, it also adds something incredibly important: believing in others and taking action on your beliefs. If you support someone and believe in them you should tell them and show your support by taking action. After all, leadership is about an action many can take, not a position few can hold.

What lessons did you learn from The Muppets, Sesame Street, or other cartoons, movies, or books when you were a child? Share them with me in the comments!

Tags: Community Building, Cooperation, Elmo, Film, Jim Henson, Leadership, Muppet, Muppet Show, Muppets, Oscar, Public Allies, Ray Charles, Sesame Street, Snapshot Blog, Taking Action

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Categories Blogging, Continuous Learning, Public Allies

Lunch Interrupted: An unexpected inspiration

8 Jan

Image via Wikipedia

Check out this excerpt from my latest blog post from the Ally Snapshots blog.

“It was just your average Monday. It was 12:00 and I had just sat down to have my lunch when my phone rang.

“Ms. Goldberg your appointment is here.”

I paused and said, “I don’t have an appointment today.”

“Well, someone is here to see you.”

I headed out to the main entrance and saw a small woman with a warm friendly smile standing before me. She looked to be around 60 or 70 years old. I walked up to her and introduced myself.

“Ms. Goldberg, my name is Treopia Washington and I’m here from Bowie State University. I know I didn’t confirm an appointment with you, but I’ve been looking forward to speaking with you and I thought we might talk after my first meeting.”

I had no appointments that afternoon and told her I would be more than happy to meet with her. We walked over to a small conference room in one of the administration buildings at SEED. Little did I know this would be one of the best meetings of my life.

Ms. Washington had been referred to me by SEED’s head of school because he thought we could partner with Bowie State University by having their students tutor our students. During our meeting Ms. Washington and I talked about a lot of things, including education in Baltimore City, training new teachers, challenges with the traditional public school system, the power of positivity, and the ideas we both had about making a change for students in Baltimore. It was then that Treopia began to tell me her story, and how she hoped to share it with the students at SEED to teach them about overcoming adversity to attend and graduate from college.

Ms. Washington grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, at a time where schools were still segregated and Jim Crow laws plagued our country. She told me that she had always wanted to become a teacher because her family emphasized the importance of education and because her own mother was an elementary school teacher.”

To read more please check out my posts here: Dara @ Ally Snapshots Blog.

Tags: Bowie State University, Little Rock Nine, Public Allies, Snapshot Blog, The SEED School of Maryland

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Categories Public Allies

I’ve won a Scholarship to the National Service Learning Conference!!

13 Dec

Today I received great news! I’ve been awarded a scholarship to the National Service Learning Conference in Minneapolis. I am happy to put this down as my first donation since I began raising money last week! Thanks to NYLC I am one step closer to going to the conference that is at the forefront for the field I am passionate about!

To give back for this generous donation I will also serve as a volunteer for the event and participate in multiple service projects in the Minneapolis community. Without this scholarship attending the conference would be even more difficult for me and I want to make sure I show my appreciation.

If you’d like to help me attend the conference please visit my donation page or use the “Donate” button from PayPal on the right. Donations of any size help me on my way to my goal of $1,883. And a donation of $50 or more will earn you a handmade button with an inspirational quote about service!

If you have any questions you can visit the FAQs about donating or contact me.

Thank you again to the National Service Learning Conference (who is still accepting exhibitor applications until Thursday… which is also the same day their early bird registration expires!!)

Do you have any fundraising tips or suggestions?

Tags: Conference, Donation, Fundraising, fundraising tips, Minneapolis, minneapolis community, National Service Learning Conference, National Youth Leadership Council, Scholarship, Service Learning

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Categories Service Learning, The National Service Learning Conference 2012

Send me to The National Service Learning Conference

10 Dec

As a current AmeriCorps member who receives only a small living stipend each month, I have learned to be resourceful. That’s why when I found out the National Service-Learning Conference hosted by the National Youth Leadership Council would be in Minneapolis, MN this year, I knew I had to figure out a creative way to get there.

That’s where you come in!

By making a donation (using the PayPal donate button to the right) as small as $5 and spreading the word about my fundraising efforts you are helping me work towards my goal of becoming an expert in the field I am so passionate about. You will also help bring more quality service-learning programming to Baltimore–a city whose youth are in desperate need of such programs. There are also many benefits to making a donation for organizations and individuals.

Cost of Attending

Total: $1,470

“The conference is the number one forum for the service-learning field to meet, greet, and exchange ideas on an annual basis. I love the diversity of topics, presentations, special events, and resources offered. The conference provides a spotlight under which I gauge the field’s progress and identify the needed areas for future growth.” — James Toole, Ph.D.

Additional Information

Benefits of Donating
Donation FAQs
Donate Now

For more information about this amazing opportunity please check out the NSLC Brochure,, the NSLC Flyer, or visit the conference website here: The National Service Learning Conference.

Tags: Conference, Fundraising, Service Learning

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Categories Continuous Learning, Service Learning, The National Service Learning Conference 2012

Ed Reed Feeds SEED

8 Dec

Yesterday I was featured again on the Ally Snapshots blog, here’s a preview of my post. Check it out on the Snapshot Blog to see the whole thing!

The SEED School of Maryland is a very special place, and through Public AlliesI am lucky enough to work there. SEED is a state-wide, public, tuition-free college preparatory boarding school that serves youth who are disadvantaged and at-risk. Many of the students I work with do not have anyone in their family who has gone to college. Many live in poverty, have parents who are incarcerated or addicted to drugs, and come from some of the toughest neighborhoods in Baltimore and across Maryland. As you can imagine, holidays that are centered on food and family can be some of the toughest times for our students at SEED.

After donating food for 308 families, Ed Reed came to hand-deliver the food. He stopped to take a picture with this SEED family and many others.

That’s why on November 18, the day students at SEED left for a weeklong Thanksgiving break, we gave all 308 students a Thanksgiving meal with the help of Ed Reed, a star safety for the Baltimore Ravens. Every student received stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, string beans, corn, sweet potatoes, rolls, a pumpkin pie, and a turkey.

This was the first time I coordinated an event this large and one where we gave away so much food. Thanks to Public Allies I felt prepared for the challenge and supported before, during, and after. The event felt like a huge success and I wanted to share some pictures with you from our Turkey Day. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving — thanks to Ed Reed and his Eye of The Hurricane Foundation, my students did!

Tags: Ed Reed, Public Allies, Service, Snapshot Blog, The SEED School of Maryland

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Categories Blogging, Education, Service

How an Idealistic Veterinary Receptionist became the Assistant Director of a Nonproft

22 Nov

As you may have read yesterday, I am officially a featured blogger on the Public Allies blog project called The Ally Snapshot Blog! I was lucky enough to be featured first and I wanted to share some of my first post with you today. Check out the full post at the Snapshot Blog (also listed in my blogroll) and subscribe to my feed on that blog here: Dara’s Ally Snapshot Feed.

All my life I’ve wanted to change the world. People have told me that goal is too “idealistic” and that if I want to be taken seriously, I need to set “realistic” goals. Public Allies taught me what those people didn’t know: changing the world is realistic; you just do it in small ways, every day.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. As you may have read in my bio, my parents raised me to value equality—to see similarities in people rather than differences. This could be because they were theater majors in college, or it could be because they’re just awesome like that. Regardless, something in their lives made them realize that they needed to teach their children how to treat people with kindness and compassion no matter what.

I learned at a young age that equality sometimes needed to be fought for and always needed to be defended, and I took this to heart. During High School I was very active in creating and running my school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. We created it because my close friend was unable to take his boyfriend to prom. After that I took every opportunity I could to advocate for LGBT rights, traveling all over New Jersey and New York. I even served on the board of the Central New Jersey chapter of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)…

To read the full post please check out the Ally Snapshot Blog! Check out the other amazing Allies while you’re at it!

Tags: Public Allies, Snapshot Blog

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Categories Blogging, Public Allies

I’m a Featured Blogger!

21 Nov

Starting today I became one of the featured bloggers for the Public Allies blog project called “Ally Snapshot.” This blog was created to prepare for the 20th anniversary of Public Allies. I could not be more excited to partner with the amazing organization I am so proud to be a part of. It seems fitting that an organization that has helped me learn and grow so much as a leader and a professional in the nonprofit world has helped me break into the world of blogging!

For those who don’t know, Public Allies is an organization that falls under the large national service umbrella of AmeriCorps. Public Allies purposefully picks young adults from diverse backgrounds and using their core values of continuous learning, collaboration, focusing on assets, diversity, and integrity builds them into the next generation of nonprofit and community leaders! It sounds like a mouthful, and it is. Public Allies is one of the hardest programs to describe because it is just that amazing.

Public Allies’ mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. Public Allies is changing the face and practice of leadership in communities across the country by demonstrating our conviction that everyone can lead, and that lasting social change results when citizens of all backgrounds step up, take responsibility, and work together. — Public Allies Website

If you’re interested in learning more about the Ally Blog project check it out! It’s listed in my blogroll and I’ll be re-posting my articles here too!

You can follow my Ally Snapshot Blog Feed here: Dara Snapshot Feed

What topics would you like to seem me write about?

Tags: AmeriCorps, Public Allies, Snapshot Blog