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Public Service Resident Tutor Coordinator

Adrienne Baker (adbaker@jd10.law.harvard.edu)

The Public Service Advising Team is composed of resident and non-resident tutors, and we are here to help you navigate through the wide world of public interest and public service careers and internships. We can also connect you to an email network of Kirkland affiliates who may know someone in the field you're looking into.

We're here as kind of a catch-all for everything that is non-corporate, non-law, and non-medicine. But even that's not quite right, because many "public interest" and "public service" opportunities co-mingle with the corporate, law, and medicine fields. You may be here because you know exactly what you want to do, and just need some some advice on how to do it. Or you may be here because you're curious or uncertain about what is out there.

Maybe you've seen some friends go down the Pre-Law or Pre-Med routes, while others are interviewing for consulting and banking jobs. And maybe you don't think that's for you. Or perhaps you're in the midst of pre-law, pre-med, or interviewing, and you're beginning to wonder if there's something else out there. Well, there is, and hopefully we can help introduce you to it.

In addition to one-on-one advising, we send out various service-related announcements. To receive the weekly public service updates, please subscribe to the Kirkland House Listserv.

If you talk with folks from Harvard's Office of Career Services (OCS), they are likely to tell you that the two best ways to find a job or internship are first, personal networking, and second, researching internet opportunities. This web site is designed to help you do both by pointing you in the direction of networking opportunities (our service advising team, offices on campus), and by organizing a large number of Internet links.

This web site provides answers to an always-expanding set of Frequently Asked Questions, and an archive of the Kirkland House Public Service Newsletter.

FAQ

1. I have no idea where to start.
1a. This is information overload. How do I narrow my search?
2. Who are the public service tutors? How do I contact them?
3. What exactly is public service advising?
4. How can I get money for a summer internship?
5. What opportunities are there for work-study and public service?
6. What can you tell me about Government and Public Policy related opportunities?
7. What can you tell me about Public Health opportunities?
8. What can you tell me about Journalism and Media opportunities?
9. Are there public service courses at Harvard?
10. Does Harvard have Alternative Spring Break (ASB) options?

Advising team

Adrienne Baker
Resident Tutor (Law)
adbaker@jd10.law.harvard.edu
I am excited to serve as Kirkland’s Public Service Coordinator this year! I graduated from Harvard College in 2004 with a concentration in Psychology. While at the College, I directed a community service organization called SpeakUp , volunteered with Cambridge Student Partners, and was involved in the Public Service Network (PSN). Between college and law school, I was active in Saturday Children’s Fellowship, a local community program that focused on academic success and holistic well-being of at-risk children in New York City. In 2007, I entered Harvard Law and am now in my third year. This year, I will be active in the WilmerHale Legal Service Clinic to provide legal assistance to small non-profit organizations and businesses. Please let me know of any questions you have about public service at Harvard and beyond. I look forward to getting to know you!

Vanessa Dillen
Resident Tutor (Law)
vanessa.dillen@gmail.com
So excited to be living here with my darling wife Voop. Although this is my first time at Harvard, I’m not new to the Boston area--I graduated from Tufts in 2002 with a degree in International Relations. So technically I should have no right to complain this winter, but I probably will anyway.

After college, I moved to San Francisco to attend the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. My professional focus is primarily in family law, with a specific interest and experience in LGBT rights, domestic violence, adoption, juvenile dependency/foster care, and child support. I’m especially passionate about improving public knowledge of, and access to, the legal system. My most recent work experience was at the Family Law Self-Help Center at San Francisco Superior Court, where my days were like a cross between “E.R.” and “Jerry Springer”. Because of my work, I’m excellent at dispensing relationship advice…no matter how bad your situation, you can trust that I have most likely seen worse.

Alexios Monopolis
Non-Resident Tutor (KSG & Divinity School)
greekislander@gmail.com
Alexios' background is in environmental studies, international relations and photojournalism, having completed a Senior Fellowship in Environmental Diplomacy and Documentary Photography at Dartmouth College as an undergraduate. After Dartmouth, Alexios received a Fulbright Grant to study Environmental Science and Policy in Europe, followed by a M.Sc. degree at Oxford University in Biodiversity Conservation and Management. At Harvard, Alexios is completing a self-designed Master's degree in Environmental Ethics and Psychology.

During and in between school, he has worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (under President Clinton), for the National Geographic Society, as an E.M.T. and search and rescue professional (taking part in several operations around the globe ranging from Ground Zero to Sri Lanka post-tsunami), as a photojournalist (focusing on environmental and social justice issues), and as a wilderness guide. Through these experiences and his environmental research, Alexios has lived, worked in or travelled to over 40 countries around the world.

A significant portion of his life has been devoted to public service. While at Dartmouth, Alexios served as President of the Dartmouth Outing Club and as chair of several community service projects run through Dartmouth's Tucker Foundation. He continues his involvement with the College today serving as its Class President. One of the many service projects Alexios was intimately involved with was Dartmouth's Summer Enrichment At Dartmouth (SEAD) program, which provides a rigorous educational experience at Dartmouth for high school students from economically challenged rural and urban areas.

Alexios also worked in the Balkans as the International Political Advisor for the organization charged with the development of the first and only trans-frontier conservation area (or “peace park”) in the region, encompassing the Prespa lakes ecosystem between Greece, Albania, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In that capacity, he assisted in a number of areas including the diplomatic mission, conservation initiatives and the research, writing and negotiation of the tri-national management plan.

Most recently, Alexios worked as a policy analyst for the Frontier Group Think Tank (associated with the State Public Interest Research Groups or PIRGs) researching and authoring reports on environmental, natural resource and energy issues.

After completing his graduate work, he plans on committing his life to public service in some capacity.

Kirsten Pisto (Art)
Resident Tutor
kirstenpisto@gmail.com

Amanda Rivera (KSG)
Non-Resident Tutor
amandamrivera@gmail.com
Hi! I was also lucky enough to be in Kirkland House during my college years, and now as I have returned to Harvard to attend the Kennedy School of Government, I am thrilled to be able to once again be part of the community and serve as a non-resident tutor. I am originally from beautiful and warm Puerto Rico, where I lived until I graduated high school. During my senior year at Harvard I decided that I wanted to pursue public service as a career. Trust me, it was not an easy decision, as everyone around me seemed to have a clearly cut out path in banking, consulting, med or law school. Deciding to pursue an alternative career choice is not as easy as other more obvious choices, but thanks to the support of a few mentors I was able to find a great job as Director of Development and Marketing of a lovely Catholic school in Harlem, through a non profit called the Patrons Program.

After two years in New York I felt a strong calling to move back to Puerto Rico and serve the island. During my year there I worked coordinating a conflict mediation program in 24 public schools through a foundation, co-led the coordination of a conference on socio-economic issues in Puerto Rico for students and young professionals, and co-founded an amazing non profit, Puerto Rican Minds in Action.

I will be happy to provide advice on any public service careers, pursuing a masters in public policy, social enterprise, fundraising and marketing, applying to school for public policy, amongst others.

Rebecca Sawady (Public Health)
Non-Resident Tutor
rsawady@gmail.com
I am very excited to be a part of the K-house community as a Nonresident Public Service Tutor! My husband Joel and I are both Kirkland House alums (Class of 1998). At Harvard, I studied economics, with a focus on international development and environmental economics (and a passion for Spanish literature). I did my masters at Harvard School of Public Health (Department of Population and International Health), and I have three years of experience working in MA state government and various nonprofit organizations around Boston.

I have done a lot of work in Latin America and the Caribbean, and for the last 5 years I've been working with a grassroots organization in rural El Salvador. Here in Cambridge, I spend much of my time (and energy!) with my 4-year old son, Eyal, and my 1-year old daughter, Alina.

Laure ("Voop") de Vulpillieres (KSG)
Resident Tutor
laure.de.v@gmail.com
I graduated from Harvard in 2002 with a dual degree in Sociology and Women’s Studies. After college, I spent some time in Boston working about 8 part-time jobs simultaneously, before deciding to ditch it all and move to Cambodia. While there, I did organizational development and strategic planning for non-profits, and started my own consulting company. After 4 years in Cambodia, I moved to San Francisco and worked there for two years before returning here to pursue a Master’s of Public Policy at the JFK school.

I’d love to talk to you about organizational development, international non-profit work, entrepreneurship, or related interests. My other specialty is career coaching, so come find me if you’re looking for direction.