What to know about the Hope Reichbach Fund Fellowship:
The Hope Reichbach Fund fellowships take place during the summer for 10 weeks. Fellows are placed at Brooklyn non-profits where they do community organizing or public service, based on their interest. Fellowships offer paid experience, and leadership opportunities within a supportive community.
If you are a college freshman, sophomore, or junior, please come visit in the fall for information on how to apply for a 2023 fellowship.
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*Due to Covid-19 restrictions this fellowship may be in-person, fully virtual, or a hybrid.
2022 Timeline: Application is now closed.
February 28th: EXTENDED Application Deadline at 11:59pm
Mid March: Interviews
Late April: Final Notices
Mid May: Fellows notified about placement
June 5th: Fellowship Orientation
June 6th – August 12th: 10-week, full time fellowship
August 14th – Culminating Ceremony
If you are a potential applicant and have any questions about our future application, please email us at apply@hopeforbrooklyn.com
Thank you for supporting us in making this a summer to remember. We couldn’t have done it without you! Our 2021 cohort had meaningful summer experiences, both in-person and virtually, working with their host organizations.
Hello! My name is Ravita Choudhury and I am an anthropology student at the University of Rochester. I am the daughter of two Bangladeshi-American immigrants who raised me in Queens, NY. I am deeply interested in the ways race functions within our society and how it helps us to destabilize racist and classist institutions like mass incarceration, criminalization, and the school-to-prison pipeline. If I could describe myself in a few words it would be hopeful, encouraging, abolitionist, dreamer, and student. I hope to one day be able to give back to NYC as much as it has given me.
Cheyanne Deopersaud
My name is Cheyanne Deopersaud, I am 19 years old and I am a freshman at John Jay pursuing a major in Human services and Community Justice. I decided on this major because I am passionate about advocating for myself and other foster youth. At the moment I advocate for Fair Futures, FYSA, for CASA’s Youth Leadership Council and I also work with Teens Take Charge; these are various organizations that strive to make a change and impact on youths’ lives whether they be foster youth or youth in general.
Ishrat Jahan
Ishrat Jahan is a first-year, first-gen student at NYU studying political science. Growing up in Brooklyn, NY she developed a passion for civic engagement and community involvement, continuing to exercise it in professional and personal settings. She looks to expand her skills in the fields of law and government, hoping to translate it into a legal career in the nonprofit sector. Outside of these interests, she enjoys exploring the city, playing badminton, and taste-testing cuisine from all over the world.
Stefany Quiroz
Stefany Quiroz is a Stuyvesant High School graduate and now attends the Macaulay Honors College at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as the class of 2024. She discovered her passion for combatting educational inequality when applying to high school when she noticed the lack of resources and knowledge in marginalized communities. As one of the few Latinx students in the school at Stuyvesant, she became committed to tackling this issue and playing a small part in equalizing a broken education system. She is the Director of Communications at RISE, an organization founded by Stuyvesant students that aims to create a more diverse educational community in order to allow students from all backgrounds equal access to the resources and opportunities that NYC’s prestigious schools have to offer. Outside of RISE, she was a tutor and board member for Sparks Within Reach, a tutoring organization that serves students in homeless centers, the Senior Assistant of Media Outreach & Branding at Project Reach Youth, a teen health and youth empowerment organization, and is a member of the Honors Scholars Council, the Committee on Diversity Inclusion and Equity, and the Latinx Honors Committee at her college. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, discovering new food spots, and fashion.
Bless Reece
My name is Bless Reece. I am a junior at Williams College with a double major in Psychology and American Studies. As the chair of student organization Converging Worlds, I am a passionate prison abolitionist and have been striving to educate those in my community on the extensive harm the carceral system inflicts on primarily low-income people of color. I have conducted research on disenfranchisement, mental health, reentry, and reparations and look forward to utilizing these findings in local communities.
Each student will receive $525 per week of full time work, plus unlimited MetroCards (or equivalent value). Internships are 10-weeks long, $5250 for the length of their summer internship. If you are a Freshman, Sophomore, or Junior in college and wish to apply please click this link
*Due to Covid-19 restrictions this fellowship may be in-person, fully virtual, or a hybrid.
Join us for an afternoon of free entertainment for a great cause!
We are hosting a virtual variety show with a diverse line-up of talent including actors, singers, comedians, composers, and more! Support our 2021 Summer Fellowship cohort and enjoy an incredible show from the comfort of your living room!
What: Join us for our very first virtual variety show: Hope’s Got Talent!
When: Sunday October 25th 4:00-5:30pm
Who: We’ve got a talented lineup of actors, dancers, singers, and comedians
Charlotte Lily Gaspard is the founder of Midnight Radio Show, a multi-disciplinary collective based in Brooklyn. The group has been written about in the NY Times, The Brooklyn Paper, and Faerie Magazine, and has received grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council and New York Restoration Project to provide free shadow puppet theater to children in public gardens throughout the city.
Chris Myers is an actor/writer (and sometime director and producer). His acting has been featured at leading Off-Broadway theaters in NYC and on popular streaming platforms. His original work and more can be found on his website chrismyersinc.com.
Hannah Jane McMurray is a New York actress born and raised in Los Angeles. She holds degrees from both The Boston Conservatory in Musical Theater and from LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) in Shakespeare and Classical Acting. In addition to stage, TV and film, Hannah Jane is a sought-after voice over and commercial actress, and has worked on over 70 spots. She believes in learning something new everyday and is an avid history buff and science enthusiast who loves bad jokes. Visit hannahjanemcmurray.com.
Paige Madison is a Classical Vocalist from Brooklyn, New York. She has always had a love and appreciation for music since a young child. She embraced her first operatic experience during her sophomore year in high school and has remained an enthusiast of classical music since. She received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance at Howard University and her Master of Music in Voice Performance at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College. She has performed in productions with the Martina Arroyo Foundation, Bethesda Summer Music Festival and Sienna Summer Music and more. She is currently performing around the New York area.
Julia Kaplan Toce is a founding member of the Hope Reichbach Fund, and spent a lot of time in the early 2000s trying to get Hope to sing in key. Julia works as a lawyer in the Thousand Islands Region of New York State.
Conductor and Pianist Scott Gentile has performed with a wide range of orchestras including the Klangkraft Symphony Orchestra in Germany, the Cittadella Symphony in Italy, the Orquestra Costa Atlantica in Portugal and most recently the Das Cuerdas Orchestra in Santiago, Chile. In 2019, Gentile was named the Grand Prize Winner of the International Maestro Competition which resulted in his debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. He is a prize-winner in international competitions in Chile, Germany, and the United States. He is excited to be performing for Hope’s Got Talent!
Cara Weinberger is a writer and comedian. She currently writes for the NPR trivia/comedy show Ask Me Another and her humor writing has been published in a variety of online publications including The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and Reductress
Tom Toce is an award-winning singer-songwriter living in New York. He is a longtime supporter of the Hope Reichbach Fund and is thrilled to participate in this event.
Honza Pelichovsky is a dancer who has had the privilege to study various movement forms ranging from Ballroom to Contemporary Dance. Born and raised in Prague, he moved to the States in 2012 to pursue concert dance at Marymount Manhattan College. Honza has had the pleasure to perform with companies and on national tours all over the country and he cannot wait to return to live performance once it is safe again.
Marcia Belsky is a New York City based stand-up comedian, writer, and musician. She co-wrote Handmaid’s Tale: The Musical with Melissa Stokoski in 2018, which played in New York City and Brooklyn, as well as in Washington D.C. at the John F. Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Recently her musical comedy was featured on Comedy Central’s Taking The Stage, which included the hit song “100 Tampons” written about the first American woman in space, Sally Ride.
Jared Arnold is a Brooklyn-based composer and sound designer. His work has appeared in ads for brands including Nike, Starbucks, and Lexus. A graduate of Brown University’s computer music program, he focuses on the use of novel synthesis techniques in the production of popular music.
Ariana Perlson is thrilled to be singing in Hope’s Got Talent! She’s a graduate of UCLA’s Musical Theater Program. Regional theater: Mamma Mia, Pippin, and Bonnie and Clyde at Summer Repertory Theater. Upcoming: Olive in Spelling Bee at Pricilla Beach Theater (Covid pending!) in Summer 2021. Currently, Ariana is working for an Influencer talent agency. She’s so happy to be supporting such an amazing cause.
Jared Bryce Goldsmith is thrilled to be singing in Hope’s Got Talent. He was last seen in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway and the First National Tour. A graduate of Elon University, Jared is also writing his own musical Mazkapan, which is being presented virtually through Texas State University this fall.
Justin Walker White is an actor born and raised in New York City. He has worked in television, film, and theater, as well as in voiceovers and commercials. In 2017, he earned his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the Graduate Acting program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Ezra Bloom is an interdisciplinary event- and music-maker based in unceded Lenapehoking (Kingston, NY). Ezra has performed & composed music for concerts, theater, and dances throughout NYC including Washington Square Park, Signature Theater, and the Queens Museum of Science. They currently produce events for Brooklyn Youth Chorus and serve as Music Director for Midnight Radio Show, a Brooklyn-based shadow puppet collective.
Matthew Jost @matthew.jost made his Broadway debut as Zack the guitarist in School of Rock. A lead guitarist and vocalist he can be heard rocking out throughout NYC with his band @mischiefboys , with the Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra and lately jamming in Central Park.
Our 2020 Fellows have been working remotely at their Brooklyn based organizations. We are so proud of how adaptable they’ve all been through this unique reframing of their summer fellowship.
Here are some of the incredible projects they’ve been working hard on:
“I am going to be the technical support for Brooklyn Defender Services’ Circle of Support session next week. The Circle of Support is a support group that formerly incarcerated folks can join and speak about their challenges and emotions related to navigating a society post-incarceration. Service providers will attend the sessions to be a listening ear as well as provide resources. The main goal is to allow folks to have a safe space to talk freely about what they are experiencing. I am honored to be able to participate because I see and value the importance of how support circles can be a form of healing and relief for folks.”
“For the Community Conversations project, I worked on creating the sign up sheets for each neighborhood and researching about how the participants would be able to receive virtual visa gift cards. I’m excited about the first conversation and getting to hear from community members more directly even if it’s through Zoom.”
Kayla Rennick, Brooklyn College
Kayla’s enriching summer experience is being hosted by The Hope Program.
“This week involved learning about case story summaries and how we will use the client information to hopefully afford them with a grant which could really allow them to continue to progress on their journey. In addition to this, my week also consisted of census calls, outreach calls, and continuing to help prepare resumes. I love being able to not only learn from my mentor but to learn from the other interns because they are graduate interns, so I feel like that brings a unique perspective for me. I think this whole experience is teaching me so much and already helping me gain new skills I did not previously have.”
“On Wednesday, another intern and I attended a meeting with the rest of the training staff in order to resolve all issues with Zoom prior to the scheduled Zoom Mock Trial. This meeting made evident to me again, the amount of effort LAS trainers were inputting into our virtual time together, as the manner in which they translated the tangible world into the virtual world seemed to be incredible difficult. Their efforts were entirely admirable, and my increased comprehension of Zoom technicalities is something I will be using in the future.”
Alan Zhou, Columbia University
Alan’s engaging summer Fellowship is being hosted by Uprose.
“This week I was able to work on a debate UPROSE was hosting for the Assembly person race in District 51. I helped with the wording of the questions being asked and participated in run-throughs prior to the event. Leading up to the event, I was able to reach out to various media outlets to try to get them to cover the event. During the event, I helped with the social media and live-tweeting of content from the debate. It was a very informative experience to be able to work on the backend of an event like a live debate. I also continued to make calls and conduct surveys on the underlying health vulnerabilities and affect of COVID in Sunset Park.”
We are so inspired by the importance of togetherness even during a time of social distancing, so in lieu of our annual “Run for Hope” race, we are excited to invite you to:
ComeTogether for Hope
This is a live stream gathering where we will connect virtually to chat, sing, and remember Hope and the legacy she left. We’d be so pleased if you could join us and we will be inviting all registered race participants and the Hope Reichbach Fund community at large.
When: Sunday April 26th 10am
We hope to see you (virtually) there
Click Here on Sunday April 26th at 10am to join virtually
This is a 10-week, full time fellowship with a stipend of $525/week (excluding taxes). If you are a Freshman, Sophomore, or Junior in college and wish to apply please click this link
Learn more about the 2020 Summer Fellowship timeline
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