Haas Center For Public Service

Stanford alums: Are you on campus for Reunion Homecoming Weekend? We hope to see you during all of the festivities! Find our table at the Ford Center Thursday through Saturday to learn about what's happening at Haas and how you can get involved as an alum. And, whether you'll be here for Reunion Homecoming Weekend or you're a local alum, join us at the Haas Center front deck on Sunday at 9:00 am for our annual breakfast! Hear how students are involved in service across campus, meet our executive director Yi-Ching Ong and other Haas Center staff, and discover how you can continue to make an impact on campus as an alum. RSVP for breakfast: https://lnkd.in/g6suxTux

Stanford Haas Center For Public Service is recruiting the next cohort of Distinguished Visitors and Social Entrepreneur in Residence focused on Public Interest Technology (PIT). PIT refers to the use of technology, design, and data practices to serve the public good by addressing societal challenges in ethical, equitable, and inclusive ways.   Learn more and apply/nominate a candidate using this link. Deadline is end of this week! https://lnkd.in/grKpZ6-Z -Founders or executive directors who are innovators in their field;  -Leaders who use technology, design, or data practices with a focus on social impact; -Committed to developing solutions that address societal challenges in ethical, equitable, and inclusive ways; and -Available to join us on campus for two weeks between January and March, and available on campus each Thursday from May 31 to June 12.

Nik Marda, ’21, MS ‘21, saw the many issues that developed from the rapid rise of social media use in the 2010s and felt that policy change could have reduced the harms that resulted. He saw an opportunity to have a more positive impact with the advancement of AI technology, an issue he was focused on in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as a Gardner Fellow, where he worked on improving policy to make AI use safer. He continued that work after his Gardner Fellowship, becoming chief of staff for the Tech Division in 2023. During Nik’s time at Stanford, he led initiatives on campus to help more students pursue careers in public interest tech. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and his master’s in computer science. Nik currently works at the Mozilla Foundation, where he sustains his commitment to advocating for safer and more accessible AI as the technical lead for AI Governance. #ChoosePublicService

Alondra E. Q. has been the assistant director for undergraduate fellowships on the Cardinal Quarter team since 2022, but this isn’t her first time at the Haas Center. When she first joined for the 2020-21 academic year, she served as one of the AmeriCorps’ Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) while working at East Palo Alto Academy Foundation (EPAAF). A former student of East Palo Alto Academy, Alondra received mentorship throughout her higher ed journey. After graduating, she wanted to give back to the communities that supported her. “I care about working with students to provide educational opportunities that are often hard to find or where information is lacking,” she said. “I wanted to serve as a mentor to first-generation, low-income students because of the personal impact that mentors had on my journey. As a VISTA, EPAAF let me further explore programs and advise students while tackling my projects, such as creating a pipeline of events and experiences that would benefit a first-time college student and building out general financial literacy resources.” On the Cardinal Quarter team, Alondra continues her work as a mentor, guiding students through summer or quarter-long public service experiences across the globe. Watch Alondra talk about her time as a VISTA: https://lnkd.in/d-vgGwwW

Join us on November 13 at Stanford University for an engaging conversation with Marshall Ganz, one of the world's leading authorities on democratic organizing, and Robb Willer, Stanford PACS Faculty Co-Director and Director of our Polarization and Social Change Lab. Ganz will discuss his latest book, "People, Power, Change," which draws from decades of teaching, research, and organizing to provide invaluable insights for students, practitioners, and activists on how to create collective action for lasting change. The event will open with a reception with light refreshments (4:00-4:30 pm), followed by discussion and Q&A (4:30-5:45 pm) and a book signing (5:45-6:15 pm). Hosted in partnership with the Cyber Policy Center (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Law School) and the Haas Center For Public Service. Learn more and register to join us: https://lnkd.in/guGEzQYx #PeoplePowerChange

Haas Center National Advisory Board member Leela Stake, '03, spoke with Cardinal Careers program associate Jessica Reynoso about her many learnings throughout her service journey, both as a Stanford student and in her professional career, influenced by her family's deep commitment to advocacy and community engagement. After graduation, Leela began her career in service as a Tom Ford Fellow in Philanthropy—a program that provides Stanford graduates with a mentored experience in a domestic foundation—where she worked with the Asia Foundation in six countries in South and Southeast Asia. Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/gWj6SYE7

Haas Center staff at the annual Staff Kick-Off before the start of the academic year. This year we gathered at the beautiful Bloomhouse community center in East Palo Alto for activities and conversations focused on our individual strengths, collective goals, and opportunities for team collaboration. We're excited to welcome students for another year of service at Stanford!

🌱 Meet the fellows who worked with our Partnerships for Climate Justice in the Bay Area (PCJ in the Bay) partner organizations! Through the PCJ in the Bay Fellowship (one of our Cardinal Quarter fellowships), students work with partners on projects that promote building equitable climate change solutions in the Bay Area, tackling the issues through a wide range of projects—from implementing rain gardens to developing local flood mitigation strategies and beyond. The fellowships are co-sponsored by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s Integrative Initiatives on Environmental Justice. Our 2024 PCJ in the Bay Fellows are: • Acterra: Ford Lucky Melillo, '25 • Climate Resilient Communities: Annabelle Choi, '26; Alister Sharp, '26 • Communities for a Better Environment: Angel Manuel De Dios López, '26 • North Fair Oaks Community Alliance: Panita Ruangkanit, '25 • Nuestra Casa: Yulitzi Vizcarra, MS '25; Valeria Vega Yañez, '24 • OneShoreline: Emily Mongold, PhD '25; Mavis S., PhD '28 • Rise South City: Linda Vera, '25; Sam Xiao, MS '25 • The Greenlining Institute: Zoey Hill, '25 • Valley Verde: Georgia Sasso, '25; Julia Hok, MS '25 Read more about the fellows: https://lnkd.in/gdvTK7xB

Today, I finished my internship with Silicon Valley at Home. It's been an incredibly impactful summer- I've learned so much about local housing policy, improved my technical skills, and made so many great connections in the housing justice space. I got to do a lot at SV@Home— I staffed events, wrote newsletter and blog post pieces, attended meetings with community partners, and produced a policy brief on community-based development. On top of this work, my main project was producing an ArcGIS StoryMap on the history of Santa Clara County's Black population and housing discrimination and displacement. You can check out my project at the link below. My research found that as Silicon Valley's economy boomed from 1980-2000, more and more neighborhoods, disproportionately those with higher poverty rates, lost more and more Black residents. This project will serve as a resource for SV@Home's future work in advancing housing justice in Silicon Valley. https://lnkd.in/g2Xc3QDJ Thank you to SV@Home's staff for all of their help and support, and to the Haas Center For Public Service for funding this Cardinal Quarter internship.

Congratulations to Alana Okonkwo for becoming a 2024 #VoyagerScholarship recipient! Created by the Obamas and Airbnb's Brian Chesky, this scholarship program is for young leaders who are ready to make their mark in public service. Alana is a rising Stanford University junior majoring in archaeology and African and African American studies. She was previously a Frosh Service Liaison through the Haas Center and lived in Otero, the public service theme dorm. Alana was also a Black Diaspora Fellow through the Cardinal Quarter program, where she interned at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. She is passionate about cultural heritage restitution – returning lost or stolen objects of historical or cultural significance to their community of origin. 🔗 Read more about Alana's work and the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship: https://lnkd.in/gayg-r-f