|
Urban Policy
Back at Stanford, my internship enriched my work for the seminar. I
infused my analysis of theories of local government and race relations
with my experiences. Class discussions were strengthened by other
students' internship experiences.
 Political Science 104, Urban Policy:
Strategies for Urban Development
Similarly, my work was strengthened by my academic reading and the
exchange of ideas. Each student in the seminar was required to write a
final policy paper and make a presentation to the class, which for that
occasion became "the city council."
My paper was a description of the Family Violence Prevention Program. By
outlining the work of the police department and the high incidence of
domestic violence, I wanted to convince the council of the need for the
program. Although the students could not give me real funding, my class
paper became the basis for my grant proposal to the Packard Foundation.
After graduating, I decided to stay at the police department and
continue the development of the program. The proposal to the Packard
Foundation was accepted and I became the official, and salaried, program
coordinator.
As program coordinator, I have done everything from riding in a Little
League parade to receiving more than $100,000 in program funding. I
started with a piece of paper on which I outlined an ideal prevention
program. Today, there is an advisory board, foundation support,
community involvement, timelines, long-term goals and enough work, and
paper, to keep me very busy. And current students in the urban policy
seminar come to work in the Family Violence Prevention Program for their
internship.
|
