From the Peace Corps to the Bronx to the World: IPED Fellows at UNHP
Angel and Andres, UNHP’s first IPED fellows, survey buildings with Cathie Brady of Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation in the Northwest Bronx
Since 2006, UNHP has welcomed Peace Corps Fellows from Fordham’s International Political Economy and Development (IPED) Master’s program as three-semester interns. Fordham University offers the Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellowship to selected returned Peace Corps volunteers. The prestigious fellowship offers tuition for the IPED program and a Bronx community internship; UNHP is one of the internship sites. After proving their dedication to community development abroad through their Peace Corps service, in countries as varied as Nicaragua or Madagascar, Fellows have risen up to the challenge of working with our organization while completing their Master’s in Development.
The contributions of these Fellows towards the work of UNHP cannot be underestimated; they have supported the work of UNHP through their commitment to community development, their data analysis skills, their assistance in our Tax Preparation Program, and their desire to learn from our advocacy efforts in the Northwest Bronx. Thanks to the length of the internship (three semesters), the Fellows can fully engage with our work to create and preserve affordable housing and bring needed resources to the Northwest Bronx.
Josh assists a Bronx resident during UNHP Free Tax Preparation Program
Each IPED Fellow has shared their unique background and skillset with UNHP. Andres Romero helped to launch our Free Tax Preparation Program, Josh Kyller assisted us to track our energy conservation efforts, and Angel Ventling assisted us with fundraising work. IPED alum, Kristen O’Neil (IPED 2014), helped us manage and update our Building Indicator Project Database. Anthony Cotton who served in Senegal, supported our work on water and sewer rate reform to preserve affordability in community-controlled housing.
Fellows have also been major contributors to our research on housing affordability in the Bronx. In addition to helping us update our website and update the BIP, Elizabeth Wisman Strojan (IPED 2013) co-authored our report, Nowhere to Go: A Crisis of Affordability in the Bronx with Deputy Director, Greg Lobo Jost. She stayed on to assist UNHP to form a collaboration with our neighborhood partners, Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation and Fordham Bedford Community Services. Thomas Zuber served in Benin, West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer and assisted us with tax preparation, updating the BIP, and adding videos, blog posts, and photos to our website. Thomas is an African History Ph.D. Candidate at Columbia University. Richie Koch was instrumental in the writing and research for UNHP’s “Affordable Water for Affordable Housing Report” in 2015, as well as updating the BIP. Adam Pearlman served in Namibia for the Peace Corps. He helped with the BIP and developed a survey for home-based daycare providers. Jessica Way assisted with small business development in Nicaragua for her Peace Corps service. Jessica assisted UNHP with the BIP and housing research and was also able to help our many Spanish-speaking residents with financial services assistance. Donovan Hotz served in Paraguay for the Peace Corps and has assisted Spanish-speaking clients for UNHP’s Free Tax Program and was instrumental in helping UNHP upgrade their Salesforce database that tracks Northwest Bronx Resource Center program use. Megan Madeo served in Tonga, South Pacific for the Peace Corps and increased rainwater storage capacity in her village. Megan assists UNHP’s Free Tax program by gathering survey data from UNHP clients, created UNHP’s one-pager, and assisted us with affordable housing research.
Matt and Johanna meet with a Rose Hill tenant during a senior housing mobile tax day
IPED Fellows Elizabeth and Kristen at UNHP’s Bronx Ale House fundraiser
The combination of volunteer work abroad, a Master’s degree, and work in community development in the Bronx has served our Fellows well. IPED UNHP Fellows have found employment with the government (US Department of State, USDA, USAID), International NGOs (Catholic Relief Services), and the private sector. Joshua Kyller is employed with Catholic Relief Services and is working in Greece. In his previous CRS assignment, Josh was a senior manager responsible for their efforts to restore livelihoods and housing in those areas of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. In the private sector, Matt Ladd went on to work at Ernst and Young. Nathan Snyder was able to parlay his BIP data skills into his job as a senior data analyst for Haver Analytics and is currently with the Kansas Board of Regents. Fellows have also gained employment in community development in the United States. Elizabeth Wisman Strojan continues to partner with UNHP in her post-Fellow life at Enterprise Community Partners and now as a VP for Government Affairs for NYC Housing Development Corporation.
In addition to our Coverdell Fellowship interns, other IPED students have worked with UNHP in our Free Tax Preparation Program, namely: Drew Loizeaux, Katie Jaitner, and Michelle Virgin. We are grateful for and proud of the work of all our IPED interns. Special thanks to Dr. Henry Schwalbenberg, Director of the IPED Program, for his work to sustain the program and provide meaningful placements for his students. We look forward to a renewed collaboration with IPED Fellows and Fordham University in years to come.
Kristen and Thomas with UNHP Financial Director, Johanna, get ready for UNHP Building Tour
UNHP IPED Fellows and Where They are Working Now:
Angela Ventling, Intern 2006-07, US Department of State
Andres Romero, Intern 2007-08, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
Anthony Cotton, Intern 2008-09, USAID
Brian Quinlan, Intern 2009-10, US Department of Homeland Security
Matthew Ladd, Intern 2009-10, Ernst and Young
Joshua Kyller, Intern 2010- 11 Catholic Relief Services, Greece
Nathan Snyder, Intern 2011-12, Kansas Board of Regents
Elizabeth Wisman-Strojan, Intern 2012-13, New York City Housing Development Corporation
Kristen O’Neil, Intern 2013-14, NYC Department of Education
Thomas Zuber, Intern, 2013-15, African History Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University
Richie Koch, Intern 2014-2015, Human Network International- Mali
Adam Pearlman, Intern 2015-2016, Tester Construction Group LLC
Jessica Way, Intern 2016-2017, Catholic Relief Services Iraq
Donovan Hotz, Intern 2017-19, Brightwire (Latin American Office)
Megan Madeo, Intern 2018-2019, Boren Fellowship applicant
Anna Margarita Canero, Intern 2019-2020, Pacific Community Ventures
Preston Anderson, Intern 2020 – 2021, NYC Economic Development Corporation
Ellie Bauer, Intern 2020 – 2021, USDA
Sebastian Coronel 2021-2022, USCIS
Kendall Ogle 2022-2023 Current IPED Fellow with UNHP
Katie uses her Spanish language skills to assist during Tax Preparation
IPED Fellow Richie Koch is joined by Ariva’s quality reviewer Chris and Fordham student volunteer Kevin at a 2015 UNHP tax day at Refuge House.
IPED Fellow Adam Pearlman mans the student volunteer booth at Lehman College
IPED fellow, Jessica Way, and Donovan Hotz worked with other UNHP staff and volunteers to offer the NYC online affordable-housing lottery enrollment to Bronx residents.
Megan encouraged our free tax prep program users to take a survey, so UNHP could better understand the needs of neighborhood residents.
Anna Margarita trained 29 student volunteers at our Bronxtober Fest Resource Fair. Volunteers helped Bronx residents enroll in Housing Connect.
Anna Margarita Canero served as an educator in Guinea and is pursuing an additional Master’s Degree in Economics after graduating from IPED in December. Anna is currently helping coordinate UNHP’s first virtual tax prep program as well as doing research on the New York affordable housing lottery.
Preston Anderson joined us in September 2020 as an IPED fellow having previously worked with the Peace Corps in Peru. He is helping us connect tenants with rent in arrears to necessary resources, translating documents, and providing support to our tax preparation services.
Ellie Bauer, served as an agriculture extension educator in Ethiopia. Ellie has been researching and putting together newsletters, resource guides, and blog posts in the spring of 2021.