Two HLS students, Alice Abrokwa ’12 and Sean Driscoll ’13, were recently selected as part of the inaugural group of ten Presidential Public Service Fellows. The program, created by Harvard President Drew Faust to facilitate public service work, provides grants of up to $5,000 for undergraduates and $10,000 for graduate students. The awards are funded by an anonymous donor, and will go toward projects ranging from government and community service, to arts and technology- related initiatives.
The ten selected students will spend a summer working with a public service organization of their choice, or on a service project that they created independently. They will also have the opportunity to participate in symposia related to social service, and to speak about their experiences with future generations of Harvard students interested in careers in public service.
Abrokwa, who is jointly pursuing a Master in Public Policy at the Kennedy School and a J.D. at the Law School, has focused on developing legal and policy solutions to keep at-risk youth out of the American correctional system, to ensure fair sentencing and fair conditions for incarcerated juveniles, and more broadly, to promote reforms in the criminal justice system in America. Currently a 2L, Abrokwa received her bachelor’s degree in Public and International Affairs and African-American studies from Princeton University in 2008. This summer, she will intern for ten weeks at the Juvenile Regional Services in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Driscoll, who received his bachelor’s degree in Government and English Literature from the University of Virginia in 2004, worked as a Police Officer with the New York City Police Department prior to enrolling at HLS. This summer, building on his experiences as a patrol officer and his work in the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau, he will work in the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. His project involves assisting attorneys in preparing cases for trail, interviewing victims and witnesses, writing briefs for court, and assisting with ongoing investigations by federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the DEA.