I wanted to send a quick reminder about the opportunity to have one or more Revive The Dream fellows complete a 4-6 month volunteer project within your organization this spring. Please read below for more information and complete this SURVEY by Friday, January 10th if you’d like to host a fellow. In the survey, you’ll be asked to describe your project and what you’re looking for in a fellow.
This cohort’s fellows are wonderful and experienced professionals from a variety of careers (you can view their bios here). They can provide significant expertise and support to your organization at no cost to you.
If this isn’t the right time for you, please help us and share this message with other education organizations who may be interested in hosting a high quality volunteer!
Thank you,
Laura
P.S. This year, we’re hoping to be more involved in the process to ensure a great experience for partner organizations and fellows.
About Revive the Dream: The mission of Revive The Dream (www.rtdinstitute.org) is to revive the American dream for underserved children. We recruit emerging community leaders and develop them into education reform catalysts to improve education. It is a part-time program for participants to become more informed citizens about important educational issues. Revive The Dream was started in Chicago in 2011 and expanded to New York City in 2014. The program includes monthly seminars with leaders in the field and a volunteer experience in an education organization.
Fellows: Our fellows were accepted through a competitive selection process. They are a diverse group of talented professionals who have a wide variety of skills and experiences. Many of this year’s fellows have experience in education, and all are passionate about the field (and eager to learn more). You can see our fellows’ bios here.
Volunteer Projects: Volunteer projects will begin in February or soon after. They typically last for 4-6 months. The projects can be with one or more fellows. They should be discreet projects that the fellows can complete within the agreed upon timeframe. This is an opportunity for you, but should also be an opportunity for the fellow to learn more about the field. Examples of past projects include:
- DREAM Charter Schools: Two fellows worked with the recruitment team to help identify recruiting best practices including how charter schools can attract more teachers of color.
- NYC Department of Education Pre-K for All: Fellow spoke with prospective parents about the benefits of universal Pre-K at community fairs and during phone drives.
- Beginning With Children Foundation: Fellow mentored high school students weekly to equip them with skills and knowledge essential for securing a job and succeeding in the workplace.
- Thrive Chicago: Fellow helped the organization to launch a new website.
- Charter network in Chicago: Fellow led the start-up of a fundraising board for a small charter network and is now leading that board.
- Other ideas: Data analysis and reporting, legal counsel, financial modeling, etc.
NEXT STEPS: If you are interested in hosting a fellow, please complete the SURVEY by Friday, January 10th. Your responses will be shared directly with fellows. Fellows are responsible for coordinating their own projects. Therefore, if one or more fellows are interested in your project, they will reach out to you directly in mid to late January. You can speak with them, review their resumes, etc before committing to the project.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is there a cost to the organization? No. This is a free opportunity for you to get a great volunteer. In the future, we may ask for a donation, but this year it is free to you.
- How many hours do fellows volunteer each month? Each fellow is a full-time professional in another role. This is a part-time volunteer experience on top of their already demanding jobs. The average volunteer project is 5-7 hours a month across the 4-6 months. Some projects may be more or fewers hours (or a longer or shorter duration), but that is the average. If you have a bigger project, you can consider making it a group project so you get more total hours per month.
- Am I guaranteed a match? We will do our best to make sure that projects have fellows assigned to them (and that the fellow is properly following up), but we cannot guarantee that every project will get a match.Is the survey completion due date a hard deadline? If you need a bit more time, that’s ok. We will be sharing the results of the survey with fellows in mid-January and they’ll begin reaching out to organizations then. We’ll keep the survey open for all of January, but the sooner you reply to the survey, the more likely you are to get a fellow.
- What questions do I need to answer in the survey? Click on the SURVEY and you can see the entirety of the questionnaire.
- What if I already know a fellow I’d like to work with? Great! There is a place in the survey to provide his or her name.
- Do I need to be based in NYC to get a fellow? No, fellows are able to do projects remotely. If you are based in another city (or know a great organization who is), we’d be happy to consider you for a remote project.
If you have any additional questions, please reach out to rtdinstitute@gmail.com.
Just received the email above! Wanted to share the opportunity. -Deborah