McCourt School deepens commitment to increasing diversity in public service
The National Urban Fellows program provides an intensive and immersive 14-month leadership development journey that includes a graduate-level education at the McCourt School and a hands-on leadership residency.
The McCourt School of Public Policy has deepened its partnership with the National Urban Fellows program by committing to fund full tuition for the Class of 2022 Fellowship cohort. The funding commitment will cover the cost of completing the Master of Policy Management program for all National Urban Fellows entering in May 2021.
“The McCourt School aspires to be the most inclusive public policy school in the nation,” said Dean Maria Cancian. “We are proud to expand our partnership with the National Urban Fellows under their visionary leader, Dr. Lisa Rawlings.”
The program named the McCourt School as its academic home in 2018. In August 2020, 27 Fellows became the first cohort of students to graduate through the McCourt School partnership.
Shared commitments at a critical time
The ongoing health, economic and social crises in the United States have revealed longstanding failures of policy and leadership. The need to remake our institutions, and invest in developing new leadership, has never been more evident.
The National Urban Fellows and McCourt School partnership is built on shared commitments to social justice, service to others and strengthening the pipeline of diverse public sector leaders.
“If we are committed to building a just and equitable society, it is essential that policymakers, civic leaders and public servants are representative of the communities disproportionately impacted by public policy,” said Lisa Rawlings, president and CEO of the National Urban Fellows. “The National Urban Fellows and the McCourt School share the goal of creating a consistent pipeline of diverse talent into the public and social sectors at a time when our nation needs it most.”
Georgetown established the McCourt School in 2013 to advance a vision that the world needs a new kind of public policy school to address the most pressing global challenges of today and to empower the changemakers of tomorrow. Located in our nation’s capital and connected to a network of policymakers at every level of society, the McCourt School is creating the most inclusive community of learning, preparing students for the very real challenges of working across differences, and expanding the people, resources and ideas that contribute to the McCourt community and culture, as well as that of our larger society.
Diverse leaders and change agents
The National Urban Fellows program develops mid-career professionals of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, particularly people of color and women, to be leaders and change agents in the public and nonprofit sectors. The program provides an intensive and immersive 14-month leadership development journey that includes a graduate-level education at the McCourt School and a hands-on leadership residency under the mentorship of a senior leader at a partner organization.
“The McCourt School takes tremendous pride in these students. Their perspectives, experiences and talent are immeasurable assets to the entire academic community,” said Cancian. “As alumni, they are the rigorously trained, ethically grounded impatient changemakers whose leadership serves as the foundation of our civic architecture.”
Fellows have gone on to leadership roles in nonprofits and at all levels of government, including White House appointees, state assembly members and city council members.
Learn more about the National Urban Fellows program and how to apply here.