Accessing a Career in Public Service
Panel Timing and Registration
- Session 1 (11:30AM-12:45PM)
- Milstein LL002
- Registration Link
Panel Description
One defining characteristic of Barnard students and alum is their interest in making our world a better place. Helping others is a core value in the career aspirations of many students we serve, and this panel showcases how recent Barnard alums have directed their energy and liberal arts training to the public good. Public service is defined broadly as it relates to working on topics ranging from social justice and equity, to environmental policy and government jobs. You will hear from alums who will share about their work, what led them there, and how specific fellowships and internships programs worked as stepping stones in their professional development.
Public Service Careers Panel Participants
Susan Palefsky has spent the past three years working in non-profits in New York City. Directly after graduation, she worked on COVID-19 education and outreach for New York Disaster Interfaith Services, a NYC based interfaith non-profit. Currently, she works as a case manager in an eviction prevention program for Bronxworks. Susan is a 2020 graduate of the Double Degree Program between Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Anna Sugrue graduated from Barnard in 2020 with a degree in Urban Studies with a concentration in sociology. While a senior at Barnard, she founded The Remedy Project, a non-profit that organizes college students to advocate on behalf of incarcerated people. Today she works as the co-director of the project. Outside of The Remedy Project, Anna does part-time work for the SIT study abroad program IHP Cities. She lives in Brooklyn and is always trying fun new hobbies (most recently, fishing!).
Catherine Zhu is a recent graduate of the NYC Urban Fellows program and is currently a policy advisor in the office of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, working to coordinate multi-agency initiatives related to workforce, procurement, and other mayoral priority areas. During her time at Barnard, she studied Urban Studies with a focus on Sustainable Development and held a variety of internships within the public sector.
Morgan is from Astoria, Queens. She graduated from Barnard in 2018 with a major in urban studies, specializing in Political Science, and a minor in Anthropology. After graduation she participated in the NYC Urban Fellows Program, where she was placed with the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) working to support worker cooperative-owned businesses. Now, she is still with SBS as the Director of Capacity Building in the Neighborhood Development Division. Morgan’s team works to support place-based non-profit organizations throughout NYC to build thriving neighborhoods. Morgan lives in Sunnyside with her husband, an ethnomusicologist.
Jennie Rose Halperin (she/her/hers) is a digital strategist, community builder, and librarian who serves as Director of Library Futures. She is focused on growing the organization and its reach and fostering a culture of open, inclusive leadership to support equitable library policy, technology, and advocacy. Jennie joins Library Futures from Harvard Law School Library, where she served as the Assistant Director for Outreach and Community Engagement. Previously, she managed communications for Creative Commons and worked on growth and community at O'Reilly Media and Mozilla. A committed civic leader, in 2018, she was chosen for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's SPARK Cohort for Millennial Leaders and received a New Urban Mechanics Public Space Invitational Grant in 2019. In 2021, she was named a visionary by Public Knowledge – a "future leader who will drive tech policy in the public interest for the next 20 years." From 2021-2022, Jennie was on the Community Advisory Board for Invest in Open Infrastructure and is currently an Advisor for the Flickr Foundation. Jennie has completed the Coaching Fellowship, Outreachy, and the CBYX Exchange for Young Professionals in Germany. She speaks German and some Spanish. Jennie received her MLS from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Carolina Academic Library Associate and her BA from Barnard College of Columbia University. She is currently a candidate for an Executive Masters in Public Administration from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service as part of the Global Public Leaders program.