Haas Center Distinguished Visitors Fellowships - Summer 2026

The Haas Center Distinguished Visitors Summer Fellowships provide an opportunity for students who have taken URBANST 135 "Challenging the Status Quo: Innovation in the Public Sector" in Spring 2026 to continue work on projects started during the course over the summer quarter.

Each Distinguished Visitors Undergraduate Summer Fellow receives a base stipend of $7000 to cover most of the essential costs associated with an unpaid service experience. Financial aid and supplemental funding are available to undergraduate students who qualify. Graduate fellows will receive a stipend of $9000.

Students can apply to work with the organizations listed below.

Organization 1: First Place for Youth

Distinguished Visitor: Thomas Lee

Project Goals

This project will help First Place for Youth evaluate potential opportunities for expansion while strengthening how the organization communicates its mission and impact. Students will analyze where the organization’s model could have the greatest impact and identify factors that support long-term sustainability. For students, the project will provide hands-on experience applying concepts from the course including public-private partnerships, nonprofit sustainability, and strategic storytelling. Students will develop research, analysis, and stakeholder engagement skills while producing recommendations that may inform real organizational decisions.

Need and Background

First Place for Youth supports young people transitioning out of the foster care system by providing housing, education, and employment support. A prior national analysis conducted by Bain Consulting examined expansion opportunities across the United States. However, the organization is now reconsidering whether expansion should prioritize depth within specific regions rather than broad geographic growth. At the same time, the organization is interested in strengthening how it communicates the importance of this work to donors, policymakers, and community partners. Transition-age foster youth are often an invisible population, and clearer storytelling may help mobilize broader support.

Organization 2: Children and Screens

Distinguished Visitor: Kris Perry

Project 1:

This project will explore the feasibility of a national text messaging program designed to provide parents with short, age-appropriate guidance about children’s technology use. The goal is to assess whether a scalable messaging program could help parents navigate issues related to child development, screen use, and digital wellbeing. For students, the project offers an opportunity to apply concepts from the course related to behavioral change, public health communication, and technology policy. Students will examine how simple communication tools can support families at scale and identify design considerations for launching a national program.

Need and Background

Parents are increasingly seeking guidance on how to manage children’s use of digital technologies, including smartphones, social media, and online platforms. While there is growing research on the impacts of technology on child development, parents often lack accessible and practical guidance that translates research into everyday decisions. Children and Screens is exploring whether a text-based messaging program could provide parents with timely, research-informed tips tailored to the age and developmental stage of their child. Similar messaging programs have been used in public health contexts such as early childhood development and maternal health.

Project 2:

This project will analyze the national policy landscape related to children’s safety and wellbeing in digital environments. The goal is to identify key leverage points for policy change and understand which governance approaches are emerging as most effective. For students, the project offers the opportunity to explore the intersection of technology, policy, and child wellbeing. Students will apply policy analysis skills while examining how regulatory strategies, legal frameworks, and advocacy efforts shape the digital environment for children.

Need and Background

Concerns about the impact of technology and social media on children’s mental health, safety, and development have led to growing policy activity at the state and federal levels. Legislators, regulators, courts, and advocacy organizations are actively debating how to balance innovation, free expression, and child protection. However, the policy landscape is evolving rapidly and includes a variety of governance approaches, including legislation, regulatory oversight, litigation, and voluntary industry standards. Understanding how these strategies interact and where opportunities for progress exist is critical for organizations working in this space.

Organization 3: Alameda County Community Food Bank

Distinguished Visitor: Regi Young

Project Goals

This project will explore how a modern food bank can shift its narrative from a traditional charity model toward a broader vision of food justice and community transformation. Students will examine how storytelling can reflect the organization’s strategic direction while engaging younger audiences, partners, and donors. For Alameda County Community Food Bank, the goal is to develop new storytelling approaches that better communicate the dignity, joy, and agency of the communities it serves while highlighting the organization’s role as a hub for collaboration, learning, and innovation. For students, the goal is to understand how narrative shapes public perception of social issues and to apply creative storytelling tools to a real-world organization undergoing strategic transformation.

Need and Background

Many food banks were built around a charity-based model that focuses on emergency food distribution. While this work remains essential, many organizations are now working to address the deeper structural causes of food insecurity and to support community-driven solutions.

This organization is in the process of implementing a new strategic plan that emphasizes food justice, community partnership, and innovation. Leadership is exploring new ways to bring people into the organization’s work, including ideas such as a food justice incubator, redesigned spaces for collaboration, and deeper engagement with volunteers, donors, and community members.

At the same time, nonprofit leaders across the country are facing a challenge in reaching younger audiences and donors. Traditional storytelling approaches that focus on scarcity or hardship often fail to capture the full humanity and resilience of the communities involved.

This project will examine how storytelling can evolve to better reflect the organization’s values, reach new audiences, and inspire broader participation in the work of building a more just food system.