AmeriCorps Alumni

Sophia Myszkowski served as a Promise Fellow in the summer of 2013 here in the Minnesota Alliance With Youth office. Her AmeriCorps service came right after her involvement on the Minnesota Youth Council. “I loved that I was able to continue to work with the council and all its inspirational members following my tenure on the council. I was consistently in awe of the passion and dedication of the members of the council and feel so lucky to have sat in their orbit for the time that I did.”

Nancy Vang served as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow in 2014-15 at New Millennium Academy. Her experience as a Promise Fellow strengthened her commitment to support students of all ages to live more successful lives and be engaged with the community. Education access and support has always been crucial to Nancy’s work in student development.  Nancy says “I am so grateful that my middle school students helped me develop more confidence and passion by coordinating service projects and creating dialogue around college access.”

Mary Dedeke served as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow from 2013-2015 in Duluth, MN. “AmeriCorps was the first step on a lifelong journey of service. My years as an AmeriCorps member allowed me to explore my passion of working with young people, especially young girls of color, on their education journey. Throughout my years of service, I am constantly coming back to why I am drawn to this work, my mission. Again, I look toward Shirley Chisholm, who said, ‘Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.’”

Ryan Sarafolean served as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow with Project SUCCESS in Minneapolis in 2008. “As a Promise Fellow, I was able to gain incredible, hands-on experience both in the classroom working with middle and high school youth, and in the office in collaboration with other youth development educators. I was given a wide range of freedoms to explore, to create, to take risks, and ultimately to learn more about myself and what I can offer to an organization,” said Ryan.

Joy McBrien served at Laura Jeffrey Academy, a girl-focused middle school in St Paul, during the 2011-2012 school year. Her experience at this social justice-oriented school expanded Joy’s interest in feminism and women’s rights. “I was working with 7th graders who knew more about intersectionality than I knew existed, and it was very humbling to learn from them and the Laura Jeffrey Academy staff. I learned a lot about the kind of organization I wanted to start by being involved as a Promise Fellow: one that values advocacy, the voices of all people, continual learning and growth, and where change is a part of constant improvement,” said Joy, of her service experience.

Dimple Patel served at El Colegio Charter High School in South Minneapolis during the 2013-14 school year. Dimple says that an aspect her service that had the most impact on her was the resiliency and heart that her students carried with them. She says, “One of the biggest benefits that AmeriCorps provides service members is the opportunity to learn and support some of the most inspirational youth across the country. My time as a Promise Fellow exposed to me the educational inequities that exist for children of color and for low-income communities. This ignited my passion to pursue a Master’s degree in Education Policy from Brown University.”