Category: Knapp Fellowship

The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service is honored to announce the three selected Knapp Fellows for academic year 2022-2023: Jennifer Ko, Bailey Moore, and Grace Rafferty.

The Steven and Diane Robinson Knapp Fellowship for Entrepreneurial Service-Learning aims to recognize, reward, and facilitate creative public service and academic engagement led by GWU students, undergraduate and graduate. Selected students design and implement entrepreneurial service-learning projects that make a significant difference in the lives of others.

Jennifer Ko

Jennifer Ko (she/her) is a graduate student in the Masters in Public Health (MPH) Epidemiology program, at GW's Milken Institute School of Public Health. The faculty advisor for her project is Dr. Sean Cleary, Professor of Epidemiology from the Milken School.

Knapp Fellow Ko’s project aims to allow adults with developmental disabilities (DD) to participate in a 10-week course on health and wellness, and to learn the basic principles of healthy activities that can be easily recalled and applied in their everyday lives. Ko’s Health Really Matters curriculum is an expansion of the first Health Matters course offered in Spring 2022. With this project, Ko targets the prevalent issue of poor mental and physical health commonly seen in adults with disabilities that are often the direct result of poor diet and sleep habits, lack of physical activity, mood disorders, core problems with relationships, and lack of community integration. This project aims to provide adults with DD with the skills they need to become better stewards of their health through distinct realistic goals and easily replicable tasks that reinforce ways to incorporate healthy measures into everyday life. Ko plans to track progress of her autistic particpants through pre- and post-activity survey data collection.

Ko partners with non-profit Our Stomping Ground (OSG) for this project, whose mission aims “to build inclusive communities and strengthen neighborhoods through diverse programming, sustainable, affordable housing, and social spaces for people of all abilities.”

Bailey Moore

Bailey Moore (she/her) is a junior at GW, majoring in Public Health, with a minor in Human Services and Social Justice, and a micro-minor in Health Equity. She aspires to be a medical physician, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, to combat the inequalities Black people face within the child-birthing systems in the US. Moore’s faculty advisor for the project is Dr. Maranda Wardfrom the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Through her Knapp Fellowship, Moore plans to expand the Sisters Informing, Healing, Living, and Empowering (SIHLE) DC-based program, an already-existing peer-led training and educational intervention for Black girls and women between the ages of 14 and 19, who are at risk for negative sexual health outcomes. Moore is working in conjunction with SIHLE’s current programming to develop a supplementary curriculum on new topics, such as sexual hygiene and consent & communication; And she is also developing a training for young Black women between the ages of 19 and 23, who are SIHLE alumni or would like to become a peer educator, to educate them on sexual health advocacy and reproductive justice.

For her project, Moore is working with Planned Parenthood of the Metropolitan Washington D.C. (PPMW) as her community partner to create and facilitate this program series, while also amplifying young women’s voices by including them in the curriculum development.

Grace Rafferty

Grace Rafferty (she/her), a double-major junior at GW, is pursuing her B.A. in Human Service & Social Justice and another B.A. in Music. Rafferty’s faculty advisor for her project is Dr. Michelle Kelso from the Department of Sociology at the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences.

As a Knapp Fellow, Rafferty is developing an after-school mentorship program for DC high school students to become informed and engaged civic leaders in their communities through service and advocacy. Rafferty aims to do this by building connections between George Washington University students and DC public high school students to provide mentorship, advising, and guidance on intentional community service. Since District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) students are required to complete 100 hours of service to graduate, Rafferty strives to expand upon this by building capacity and raising awareness on the value of serving one’s community, as well as informing the mentees on future academic and professional opportunities. The program aims to create civic leaders of these high schoolers, rather than students simply completing service hours without goals or meaningful reflection.

Grace is partnering with the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and with the DCPS Counseling Team to develop the program, connect with DC high schools, and recruit GWU student mentors for this project.

Erin Powell, a senior majoring in International Affairs and minoring in Theatre and Sustainability, is one of the two 2020 Knapp Fellow winners. In addition to being a Knapp Fellow, Erin is also one of the 2020 Luther Rice Research Fellows. ...continue reading "Erin Powell, a 2020 Knapp Fellow Winner, discusses her project, Gender as a Barrier in Winterveldt, South Africa"

“The Climb Is Our Story” will provide college and career readiness skills to School Without Walls high school students who participate in the Multicultural Student Services Center student internship program.  GW students will facilitate college and career readiness workshops with the assistance of the MSSC from September 2019 - May 2020. 

Zaniya Lewis,  a 2019-2020 Knapp Fellowship winner is a senior studying Political Science with a minor in Human Services and Social Justice. Community-Engaged Scholar, Emebte Atanaw, sat down with her to learn more about her research project.  

Zaniya created this program because School Without Walls does not have a college prep course,  this program will help students prepare for college success. All students participating in the program are overcoming obstacles to get ready for life beyond high school. The program includes a service component, students will volunteer at least once a month at a local non-profit organization during the school year. At the end of the program, students will have the opportunity to participate in The Climb Tour visiting local businesses in D.C. to learn about career opportunities. After completing the program students will have a portfolio that of college and career tools.  

Lewis will use surveys throughout the program to measure success and assess how the program could be adjusted in the future. In addition, there are individual target goals for students who participate in the program. The project will be a model for other high schools looking to improve their college and career preparation program.  

 Zaniya believes it’s important to incorporate members of the community into her research. Lewis explains, “My whole project is about helping others on their climb and leaving the door open. As college students, we have experienced the college and career process, so why not teach students the lessons we learned from our experience. My goal has always been to use what I have learned and give back to others.”  

 In the future, Zaniya hopes to implement her program at other schools throughout the United States with college and career readiness. She will do this by partnering with more businesses, and her non-profit organization, the YesSheCanCampaign.  

 if you are interested in learning more about Zaniya’s work visit her website 

http://www.yesshecancampaign.org

Applications for next year's Knapp Fellows are open to learning more about the fellowships and application information click here.