FELLOW PHILADELPHIANS

A nice piece on Philly Fellows in today's Inquirer: "Their Calling: Reinvigorate the Region's Nonprofits." It's a potent combination for Philadelphia: match talented do-gooders with local service opportunities. The young college grads develop a stickiness with Philly, its communities, and its issues; and the non-profits shore up their constant deficits in staffing and energy.

Fortunately, this has not just been limited to Philly Fellows. Most notably, the Nutter Administration is replete with smart young staffers who bring a public interest perspective and a start-up mentality to their jobs each and every day.

Demographically, we need more of this to happen, lest we lose young'uns to other, more glamorous cities, and lest our charitable institutions atrophy as top management ages out. Let's hope the young among us mature well, ever hoping for the best, willing to do what it takes to make it happen, not discouraged by the occasional (OK, perennial) instance of "that's not how it's done" frumpiness or progress-stultifying bureaucracy.

Comments

Nicholas said…
As a native to the Philadelphia area, it was interesting to get through four years of Penn, where the rest of the nation and the world come and scrutinize the city. I'm encouraged in that a good majority of people I talk to love Philly.

Whether it's friends from LA who gladly stay after graduation, or friends who've gone on to the typical jobs in New York but wish they could have stayed, or a friend from France who was very sad to return, most of today's grads find plenty appealing in Philadelphia, whether they end up staying or not.

There's plenty of reason for optimism these days about the city's future and its appeal to us young'uns, which as I understand was not always the case.

Popular Posts