Celebrating The Trust’s graduate student fellowship program
“Every spring, The New York Community Trust enjoys an infusion of new energy and perspectives as we welcome our annual cohort of graduate student fellows.
Trust fellows work with our grantmaking, marketing and communications, donor, and legal teams for a full year, providing high-level support to our work while learning the ins and outs of our region’s nonprofit and philanthropy scene.
To mark The Trust’s graduate student fellowship program’s 25th anniversary, we’re checking in with a handful of alumni to see where they are now and how their time with The Trust influenced their professional journey.
Our history of tapping graduate students goes back to 1976, when former Trust President Lorie Slutsky joined the foundation as an intern. For the next 25 years, The Trust continued to sporadically invite graduate students to join us for paid internships, typically for just a summer.
The Trust’s graduate student fellowship program, as currently configured, began in 2000 when we expanded it to a year-long paid opportunity with a more focused learning and working agenda. Fellows work full-time in the summer between their first and second years of graduate school and part-time during the academic year. Marlyn Torres (featured) and Jocelyn Felter were our inaugural fellows. (In fact, both began their Trust fellowships right around the same time I started working at The Trust!)
More than 70 students have participated in the program, which is now one of the longest-standing and most well-known graduate student fellowships in the field of philanthropy. In keeping with The Trust’s passion for permanence, the fellows, not surprisingly, span three generations—Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.
Each new cohort of fellows has brought fresh outlooks, skills, and passions to The Trust. As the region’s community foundation, we rely on diverse voices to inform our work. The fellows have added theirs, and each one has left a lasting mark. Here’s to many more years of The Trust’s fellowship program helping new generations of changemakers launch their careers.”
MARLYN TORRES
Senior Advisor in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management
New York University
Fellowship: 2000 – 2001
“I was one of two fellows selected for the program’s inaugural year. This fellowship helped launch my career in philanthropy. One lesson I draw from my time at The Trust is the value it placed on collaboration and awareness. We can’t achieve change alone or in a vacuum. We need to include other voices at the table, acknowledge the innate power imbalance in philanthropy, and increase grantee involvement in decision-making.
The fellowship gave me a bird’s eye view of our local nonprofit sector. Going on site visits across the city, even for a native New Yorker like myself, solidified the love I have for New York City. It’s a multicultural gem where, for all its challenges, it continues to be a place of opportunity and potential. As one famous New Yorker, Alicia Keys, puts it, “In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.” I would add, there’s nothing we can’t do with a little help, and philanthropy—and The Trust in particular—is one of the many helpers.
I worked in the education, humanities, and arts program area, which was led by a former program director, the late Jane Stern. Jane was a seasoned staff member, and it was so inspiring to work with her—it was like a philanthropy “boot camp” for me. I learned so much in that year. I appreciated Jane’s direct and no-nonsense approach, which was coupled with empathy and understanding. Jane valued collaboration with nonprofit partners and wasn’t afraid to challenge other funders to step up and support smaller grassroots organizations.
Being part of several funder collaboratives—a hallmark of The Trust’s work—early on was also eye-opening for me. I saw how this collaborative approach could create a mechanism for funders to support groups they might not ordinarily be able to fund, and how it also formed a space for more grantee participation and partnership.”
JASMINE THOMAS
Senior Director, Microsoft
Columbia University
Fellowship: 2005 – 2006
“My fellowship at The Trust cultivated my permanent commitment to prioritize the needs of communities and stakeholders directly impacted by the issues when developing grant strategies and solutions. I cherish numerous memorable projects, from supporting the Design Trust for the city’s first yellow taxi compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act to reviving the New York City AIDS Fund with Vogue and CFDA. As I have gone on to work in philanthropy—at the Surdna and Citi foundations—as well as my current role at Microsoft, the learnings from The Trust have stayed with me.”
DANIEL PATRICK
Associate Attorney, Cuddy & Feder LLP
Pace University School of Law
Fellowship: 2015 – 2016
“I was drawn to the opportunity to focus on the environment and economic development, two areas I was pursuing in my law school studies. My role as a fellow let me engage with a range of nonprofits, from global organizations seeking to address climate change to local organizations providing employment services and increased access to housing and nutrition.
The understanding of strategic partnerships and hands-on experience I gained from the fellowship continue to play critical roles in reaching goals for clients in my profession as an attorney, in my efforts on the board of directors for Volunteer New York!, and in navigating challenges in my day-to-day life. The Trust sets the standard for demonstrating the power of collaboration.”
ST. CLAIR LOGAN
Senior Policy Analyst, New York City Housing Preservation & Development
The New School
Fellowship: 2018 – 2019
“I applied to the fellowship because I knew it would expose me to a breadth of program areas while I was deciding what I wanted to do after graduate school. It introduced me to nonprofits providing valuable services, including affordable housing advocacy and community development. This is useful in my role working for the city, where I continue to see how The Trust intersects across many areas and makes our region a better place for all.”
DIENTA ROCHANI
Program Analyst, Fortune Society
SUNY Downstate
Fellowship: 2022 – 2023
“My most memorable fellowship project was analyzing grantees’ administrative rates. My recommendations contributed to The Trust creating a more flexible approach for grantees with operating budgets of less than $4 million: The Trust now allows these groups, on a case-by-case basis, to use up to 25% of their grant—typically focused on a project—for organizational needs. I’m proud that this work left a tangible legacy, both at The Trust and for dozens of nonprofits.
Another memorable experience was participating in the Immigration Legal Services’ Convening. As someone personally impacted by the immigration system, witnessing the initial conversations that eventually led to the Pro Se Plus Project was especially meaningful.
Attending project-specific convenings in areas like social work and animal welfare provided valuable insights into nonprofit perspectives and challenges across different sectors.
In my current role as a program analyst in Fortune Society’s evaluation and quality improvement department, I regularly apply skills developed during my fellowship. My responsibilities include supporting programs through data analysis, developing system improvements, and enhancing operational efficiency—essentially expanding the analytical approach I used for the administrative fees project. I gained valuable insight into funder expectations and grant management processes.
The fellowship also strengthened my ability to communicate technical information to diverse audiences. At Fortune, I translate complex data sets into actionable insights for program managers, much like I distilled grant reports at The Trust.
My experience was transformative, especially as someone who graduated during the pandemic, when most of my previous internships and graduate education were online. The in-person mentorship from program officers and connections with other fellows created a community that I still value today. I was particularly inspired by The Trust’s ethos of meeting nonprofits where they are—acknowledging their unique challenges while supporting their growth.
The fellowship provided not just professional development but also a deeper understanding of New York City’s complex social challenges and the dedicated organizations working to address them. This perspective continues to inform my work supporting evidence-based services for justice-involved individuals at Fortune Society.”
