Rappaport Institute marks 10th anniversary

In 2002, after her first year as a master in public policy student at Harvard Kennedy School, Amy Dain, HKS ‘03, spent the summer as a Rappaport Policy Fellow in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Almost 10 years and two jobs later, that fellowship is still paying dividends.

“The Rappaport Institute and network launched my career and has kept it moving along ever since,” said Dain to more than 100 people who attended a reception marking the Rappaport fellowship’s 10^th anniversary that was held on Oct. 13 at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln.

The policy fellowship, which is administered by Harvard’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, gives a dozen graduate students from throughout greater Boston the opportunity to work with senior officials in state and local government for the summer. A parallel program, overseen by Suffolk University’s Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service, provides a similar opportunity for law school students from throughout the region. Over the last 10 years, 245 students – about half of them from Harvard – have worked received the fellowship. Recipients have used the fellowship to work in a variety of officials, including both Gov. Deval Patrick  ‘78; J.D. ‘82, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

Dain noted that because many fellows have stayed in the Boston area, “the Rappaport Fellowship has become more than just a 10-week summer internship. It is a powerful and growing network of people committed to public service.”