David Bohnett Public Service Fellowship

OVERVIEW

The Bohnett Fellowship, sponsored by the David Bohnett Foundation, allows outstanding masters students the opportunity to engage in the challenges of governing at the city level.

The Bohnett Fellowship Program provides a full tuition scholarship, as well as a $7,500 summer stipend and internship opportunity for two incoming MPA or MUP students each academic year.

Bohnett Fellows network with mayors from across the country and Bohnett Fellows from other schools when they attend the annual winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington DC accompanied by a faculty. Fellows also participate in a summer internship at the highest levels of NYC government or in the Mayor's office of another US city through the US Conference of Mayors, which has an ongoing partnership with NYU Wagner.

See current and past Bohnett Fellows.

Fellowship criteria

An explicit interest in working for municipal governments to solve our most urgent social issues.
Highly articulate in both speaking and writing

Students enrolled in dual degree programs with other NYU schools are not eligible for NYU Wagner Named Fellowship programs.

HOW TO APPLY

Submit your Fellowship Application Essay along with your online application to NYU Wagner. Fellowship applicants must also submit the one-minute video essay in order to be considered for fellowship.
Those selected as fellowship semi-finalists will be invited to participate in a virtual interview.
Those selected as fellowship finalists will be invited for a virtual interview with the Selection Committee. This panel of judges will be comprised of representatives from sponsoring organizations, faculty and NYU Wagner alumni.

The David Bohnett Foundation

The mission of the David Bohnett Foundation is to improve society through social activism. David Bohnett is a philanthropist and technology entrepreneur.

2022 FELLOWS

Tony Bodulovic (MPA 2024)

Tony Bodulovic recently graduated from Columbia University, majoring in political science. A first-generation college student, Tony is deeply committed to addressing inequity through a combination of service, scholarship, and policy analysis. His passion for public service blossomed while working with the Office of NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera, where he advocated for constituents facing housing insecurity. During his time at NYU Wagner, he aims to fully explore the intersection of his interest in housing policy and his identity as a queer person. In doing so, he will be better equipped to serve New Yorkers facing homelessness, gentrification, and discrimination, especially those who identify as LGBTQ.

Cataydra Brown (MPA 2024)

Cataydra Brown was born and raised in Corona, Queens, New York, and is driven by her interest in public service, local government, and amplifying the voices of marginalized communities. She is a first-generation college graduate from CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice where she majored in Law and Society and minored in Africana Studies. Cataydra is currently a Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff and Policy Advisor at the NYC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives. Prior to this role, Cataydra worked and oversaw policy issues related to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, the Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Veterans’ Services, the Young Men’s Initiatives, and the Racial Justice Commission under the de Blasio administration. She has also worked in local government in Sydney, Australia where she researched social cohesion metrics.

2021 FELLOWS

Kartika Fuentes (MPA 2023)

Kartika is a Bronx Native and first generation American. She is very proud of her Ecuadorian heritage and the immigrant community that makes New York City so unique and diverse. She went to college in Ecuador and acquired an international perspective on social issues relating to community empowerment, activism, inequality, and grassroots organizing. Kartika is passionate about working across municipal government systems and the nonprofit sector to create more inclusive government responses. Prior to NYU Wagner, Kartika worked in the AmeriCorps program at South Bronx United and as an intern for the office of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, furthering Kartika’s commitment and dedication to social justice and community organizing.

Saunders Ruffin (MPA 2023)

Galvanized by the climate crisis and local political campaigning, Ruffin drafted, lobbied for, testified on behalf of, and mobilized communities around a resolution in Virginia’s legislature that would have made the state the first in the nation to declare global warming a climate and ecological emergency. Although the bill failed to pass in early 2020, its introduction kick-started an enduring grassroots movement in Virginia that led to the bill’s reintroduction in 2021 and ignited a passion in Saunders for climate advocacy. Saunders carried his motivation for service to Pittsburgh, where he served as an AmeriCorps VISTA supporting the city’s civil rights agency to engage more deliberately with the region’s robust immigrant, refugee, and asylee populations on fair housing issues and combat unjust evictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

ALUMNI FELLOWS

Rochelle Brahalla (MPA 2022) - 2020 Bohnett Fellow

Rochelle is a Master of Public Administration graduate and assistant director at New York City Department of Transportation. She is passionate about understanding the role of transportation in facilitating equitable and thriving cities, and moved to NYC to continue creating meaningful infrastructural change. Within City government, Rochelle collaborates with DOT colleagues and other City agencies to develop innovative strategies to calm traffic near schools.

Parker MacLure (MUP 2022) - 2020 Bohnett Fellow

Parker is a Master of Urban Planning graduate who is committed to becoming an urban planner that focuses on intersectional solutions that benefit disadvantaged communities. They feels strongly that municipal government is uniquely positioned to have the greatest impact on people’s day-to-day lives. After graduating with a Bachelor's in economics and minor in urban studies from Tufts University, Parker moved to New York City to work for the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), a city agency that investigates complaints made against the New York City Police Department.

Zara Nasir (MPA 2016) - 2014 Bohnett Fellow

"[Wagner] helped me develop the relationships and inroads in the field that I wanted to be in." Zara Nasir (MPA 2016) is a New York City-based muslimah community worker who serves as coordinator of The People’s Plan NYC, a collective of organizations working to create a multi-issue social justice agenda for the new 2022 session for New York City. Zara is also the deputy director at New York City Anti-Violence Project which serves LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected survivors of violence through organizing, counseling, and legal support.

Kevin Hansen (MPA 2013) - 2012 Bohnett Fellow

"NYU Wagner helped me develop professional skills in areas like project management, negotiation, data analysis, as well as program and impact evaluation. The program introduced me to a vast network of researchers and public servants; and taught me how to leverage peer-reviewed research to advance evidence-based policymaking."

Kevin Hansen is the Senior Vice President and Head of Public Policy at Empire State Development, New York State's chief economic development agency. He leads teams that are responsible for public policy, legislative affairs, economic analysis and research, and climate and environmental programs. Over the course of his career, Kevin has held public and private sector roles focused on strategy, operations, public policy, real estate and finance for the City of Chicago, the District of Columbia Mayor's Office, and Bain & Company.