City Initiatives

Alma Radio

Alma Radio is devoted to spreading the transformative message of hope, faith, and love through the powerful medium of radio.  Committed to serving the Spanish-speaking community, Alma Radio creates a sacred space on the airwaves where individuals can encounter God’s grace, find strength in their faith, and experience the joy of Christian fellowship. Through prayer, worship, and meaningful content, Alma Radio seeks to uplift, encourage, and equip its listeners for a purposeful life rooted in Christ.

The Fellow will help to secure financial support and partnerships to sustain and enhance the station’s operations.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: almaradio.org


Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op

The Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op (BSBC)  is committed to building a more equitable New Haven by getting people on bikes. Bikes are so important in the fight for climate justice, resilience, and redistribution of power. Volunteers fix up forgotten and broken down bikes that are then donated to clients at local partner nonprofit organizations. Additionally, BSBC provides a place where anyone can go to use tools and learn how to maintain their own bike. In warm months  BSBC holds mobile repair clinics to get people’s bikes in working order all over the city.  

The Fellow will have the opportunity to lend their skills to all aspects of working in a volunteer-led, community hub that loves bikes and building community. Weekly tasks will vary widely from editing grant applications, to attending a working group meeting focused on volunteer development, to fixing a flat tire, to conducting research on a transportation topic of interest.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: bsbc.co


City of New Haven City Plan Department

City Plan works to improve the well-being of all residents in New Haven by creating safe, equitable, healthful, economically vibrant and attractive places. Planners engage with residents, community leaders, and elected officials to guide the development of physical spaces and develop frameworks for the long-term sustainable growth and development of the city.

The Fellow will assist staff in both project and regulatory planning work relevant to the current issues in New Haven, such as long-term planning including the Vision 2035 Comprehensive Plan, sustainable growth, environmental concerns, regulatory and zoning work, active transportation, and historical conservation.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/government/departments-divisions/city-plan


City of New Haven Department of Arts and Culture

The Department of Arts and Culture assists, promotes, and encourages artists, arts and cultural organizations and events in New Haven while also serving as the steward for the municipal collection of globally inspired public art.  By celebrating arts and culture, it becomes a catalyst for economic development, equitable civic engagement, and spiritual uplift.

The Fellow will assist the Department with the curation and management of partnerships in presenting localized Summer/Fall events.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/arts


City of New Haven Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking

The Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking (TT&P) addresses the safety and mobility needs of the City while ensuring the quality of life of its residents. This includes planning and implementing projects and operations by prioritizing equity, public health and resilience from a systems perspective. The City is home to approximately 135,000 residents with almost a third of residents (primarily low-income, people of color) who do not own automobiles and who primarily rely on transit and other non-motorized modes to commute. Keeping in view the historical inequities and issues, this department is committed to working collaboratively with the residents, policy makers and other important stakeholders to provide innovative solutions to improve safety, mobility and accessibility within the transportation system.  

The Fellow will primarily support the implementation of the recently adopted City-wide Active Transportation Plan, also known as the Safe Routes For All (SRFA) plan. The work will include collecting data; performing data analysis, and research; creating databases; developing materials and graphics for communication with city staff and the public; and coordinating and communicating with the public.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/government/departments-divisions/transportation-traffic-parking


City of New Haven Office of Climate and Sustainability

The Office of Climate and Sustainability works with City departments, community organizations, and New Haven residents to advance and coordinate city-wide climate and environmental sustainability policies, practices, and initiatives. The Office seeks to implement climate mitigation and adaptation solutions that intersect with and address the immediate challenges facing New Haven residents: from finding safe and affordable housing, to accessing quality employment opportunities, to improving air quality and respiratory health. 

The Fellow will assist in organizing the City’s community outreach and education campaign regarding residential energy efficiency and home electrification. Tasks would include organizing meetings with community groups, managing teams of volunteers and participating in neighborhood-level canvasses, designing communications materials, and launching a community ambassador program that can carry on the Fellow’s work after the end of the Fellow’s term.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/climate


City of New Haven Economic Development Administration

The mission of the Office of Economic Development is to facilitate commercial development, attract quality businesses/investment, expand employment opportunity, and improve the City’s overall quality of life to create an equitable world-class city in which all residents who want a well-paying, career-oriented job can find one. 

The Fellow will assist with continued implementation of the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) COVID-recovery programs including economic development, housing and vocational/technical career pathways. Previous interns supported programming known as the “Summer Reset” and implementation of ARPA Phase 3 in Summer ‘22 which continued in Summer ‘23. Particular focus is on Black and Brown communities and other groups that have been impacted by systemic racism & other forms of discrimination.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenct.gov/government/departments-divisions/economic-development-administration


CitySeed

CitySeed is a community-based nonprofit with a mission to engage the community in growing an equitable, local food system that promotes economic development, community development and sustainable agriculture. Farmers from around Connecticut bring goods produced from their own local operations to sell at CitySeed’s Farmers Markets.  CitySeed’s  Mobile Market is a market on wheels, bringing fresh produce from Connecticut farms to New Haven neighborhoods and senior sites, along with cooking demonstrations and tastings of local, fresh fruits and vegetables. 

The Fellow will assist the farmers market team in developing community programming, tracking SNAP and demographic data, as well as improving marketing efforts. The Fellow will also assist with SNAP redemption at farmers markets, and will complete research on how to improve the local food system within New Haven.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: cityseed.org


DataHaven

DataHaven’s mission is to empower people to create thriving communities by collecting and ensuring access to data on well-being, equity, and quality of life. Since 1992, DataHaven worked with many partners to develop reports, tools, and technical assistance programs that make information more useful to local communities.

The Fellow will support the work of DataHaven to enhance and share the Town Equity Reports and Community Wellbeing Index. These programs track indicators of economic and social well-being at the state and local level.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: ctdatahaven.org


Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK)

DESK serves people experiencing homelessness or living in poverty by providing food assistance and services that promote health, community, and equity. 

The Fellow will work with DESK’s program staff to coordinate the weekly food pantry program; assist with coordination of the distribution of meals as part of DESK’s nightly dinner program; and oversee the Friday and Saturday evening Yale Community Kitchen program in coordeination with DESK staff.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: deskct.org


Greater Dwight Development Corporation (GDDC)

GDDC is a grassroots community organization formed by seven women in 1994 due to the community’s desire to address the problems of drugs, gangs and crime on the streets in the neighborhood. GDDC’s mission is to enhance the socio-economic well-being of Dwight residents by creating and implementing the Neighborhood Plan; increasing access to educational and child-development activities; increasing access to job training; revitalizing housing by developing affordable housing; undertaking community beautification projects; and encouraging economic development by expanding existing business and attracting new businesses. 

The Fellow will help build the next phase of a 30-yr community development initiative.  In collaboration with GDDC’s community engagement coordinator and DCMT members, the Fellow will help organize and document a community conversation designed to consolidate the community-driven character of Dwight’s work, and to draw on past plans and accomplishments and data and survey results to facilitate discussion of current challenges. 

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: gddcnh.org


Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association

The Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association (GNHBPA) promotes and assists in the development of minority- and female-owned  small businesses in the New Haven area.  GNHBPA provides technical training programs, networking, advocacy and economic resource referrals designed to strengthen its member businesses to broaden participation in the Greater New Haven economic infrastructure.

The Fellow will be involved in developing and coordinating the membership media and digital communications program.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: gnhbpa.org


Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven

Literacy Volunteers (LV) recruits and trains volunteer tutors who provide free literacy tutoring to adults within two core programs: Basic Literacy, a program offered to English speakers who are reading and writing at low literacy levels, and ESOL, or English for Speakers of Other Languages, a program offered to adults who need to learn to speak, read, write, and understand English. Many students in the ESOL program are recent immigrants and refugees to the USA and most students are from low income households. LV fosters partnerships with adult learners, tutors, and communities to enable individuals and families to achieve educational, career, and quality of life goals. 

The Fellow will focus on conducting community outreach to a variety of community organizations, recruiting and registering adult students and volunteers to be tutors. The Fellow will also provide Program Manager support related to tutor training, development of tutor sites, assisting with short term tutoring and other duties when necessary

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: lvagnh.org


Lost In New Haven 

The mission of Lost In New Haven is to educate, inspire, and enrich the understanding of history though an immersive presentation of over 10,000 extraordinary artifacts. The collection presents the creativity and ingenuity of New Haveners over the past 400 years with exhibitions that celebrate history and culture through the materials of manufacturing, commerce, arts and everyday existence.

The museum is planning a phased opening in 2024. This timing provides an extraordinary opportunity to help launch a new museum while working directly with the executive director to digitize the museum’s collection and help establish a permanent inventory information and collection management system. This will entail photographing, researching, and describing the artwork, artifacts and exhibit installations for archival and PR purposes. Basic training in artifact photography will be provided.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: lostinnewhaven.com


New Haven Urban Resources Initiative

The New Haven Urban Resources Initiative (URI) is a nonprofit Yale School of the Environment partnership that empowers and supports communities in the restoration, stewardship and enjoyment of the urban forest and nature in New Haven. URI hires community forestry interns for its Community Greenspace program each summer.  Through this program, URI community foresters work with about forty community groups in middle- and low-income neighborhoods to reclaim, restore, and replant parks, vacant lots, and streetscapes while revitalizing New Haven communities. URI community foresters receive training in urban forestry, project planning, site assessment, social forestry, and research techniques, and gain experience working with community groups, city officials, and nonprofit agencies. 

As a community forester, the Fellow will provide technical and material support to six or seven community groups engaged in environmental rehabilitation projects, such as tree planting, vacant lot restoration, or invasive species removal.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: uri.yale.edu


New Haven Works

New Haven Works, a partnership between government, community, labor and the private sector, works to ensure that regional employers and businesses have access to a local talent pool and that qualified New Haven residents have access to good jobs. New Haven Works seeks to: build a talent pool for regional businesses by recruiting, preparing, and screening city of New Haven residents for available jobs in growth occupations; collaborate on career pathways in construction, healthcare and educational services to meet employer demand for a skilled workforce; create access to regional jobs for city residents by collaborating with employers to ensure that local residents successfully navigate pathways to employment.

The Fellow will provide program support to New Haven Works’ community engagement and recruitment, communications, and member services. Key deliverables will be recruitment of residents with interest in high-demand occupations, an informational event/career fair, a collection of member testimonials for social media/communications use, and engagement with members to confirm their retention of jobs.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: newhavenworkspipeline.org


Sanctuary Kitchen

Sanctuary Kitchen, a program of CitySeed, partners with immigrant and refugee chefs to build economic opportunity and authentic connections through food. The program enhances the culinary skills of refugees and immigrants in a supportive environment that honors story and diverse cultural traditions, fosters community and understanding, offers professional development, and generates economic success in the most delicious way possible.  This is done through refugee and immigrant-led cooking classes, supper clubs and other culinary events. Sanctuary Kitchen Catering, its social enterprise, provides authentic, multicultural catering and food products that support employment, professional training and integration of refugees and immigrants in Greater New Haven.

The Fellow will support the development, growth and implementation of Sanctuary Kitchen programming by planning and promoting culinary events featuring refugee and immigrant chefs, their cuisines and stories; promoting and supporting the growth of Sanctuary Kitchen products and sales;  and assisting in culinary training, job readiness, and job placement.

Click here to read the agency’s placement proposal

Agency website: sanctuarykitchen.org