By Abby Van Selous (COM’25)
Sabrina Abreu (CAS’23, GRS’23), who recently completed the joint BA in Political Science and MA in Political Science and Government, has become the first student from Boston University to receive the prestigious FAO Schwarz Fellowship in social impact.
“[The FAO Schwarz Fellowship] is a fantastic opportunity for service-minded candidates who aspire to be social impact leaders,” said Jeff Berg, the Director of National and International Scholarships at Boston University. “Recipients get the chance to learn from and contribute to highly respected and successful nonprofit organizations.”
Each year, the Fellowship selects seven recent college graduates who have demonstrated an interest in the world of equity and social impact for paid, two-year positions at leading nonprofit host organizations. With host organizations located in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia, the program is designed to foster the Fellows’ interests in becoming equity and social impact leaders.
Fellows work directly with their host communities, play active roles in special project work, engage with other social impact leaders, and explore careers in the social impact sector to develop their leadership skills and understanding of current social issues.
“I have access to all of these different avenues that are valuable to my career goals, but also life goals,” said Abreu, who intends to pursue a master’s degree in public policy. “Having the opportunity to do this type of community engagement post-college is something that’s really really nice because most people just go straight into corporate America, but I get to basically do community service.”
In September, Abreu will start as a fellow at Jumpstart New York, a nonprofit organization that serves preschool classrooms in underserved communities.
Jumpstart New York focuses on community engagement, like programs to donate books to schools and hosting events within underserved communities. Jumpstart New York is involved in the City’s First Readers initiative, which works to foster literacy development in children from 0-5 years old through a collaboration of nonprofit organizations, and the NYC Early Learning Network, which works to make the city a place where all young children can be successful learners.
“I’m working on their policy advocacy team, which would entail monitoring and advocating for early education and care policy and university policy, basically all policy that’s applicable to advancing things, like broader education and equity goals,” Abreu said.
In addition to working for a nonprofit organization, fellows have opportunities to participate in retreats, attend professional trainings, and have two mentors over the course of the fellowship.
“I feel like I’ve had a bunch of various accomplishments, and if I looked back, like years ago, I would be like, ‘Woah, I can’t believe that I did that,” Abreu said. “It feels wonderful, it just doesn’t feel real.”
Founded in 2008, the FAO Schwarz Foundation has hosted 69 Fellows from more than 40 colleges and universities across the United States.
Other 2023 CAS fellowship recipients include:
Gates Cambridge
Sabrina Ghosh (CAS`21) – Neuroscience
Nicole Flors (CAS ’24), Astronomy & Physics
Madison VanWyngarden (CAS ’24), Astronomy & Physics
Hallie Baker (CAS ’25), Asian Studies, Archaeology
Naomi Grusby (CAS’25), International Relations
Nikta Khani (CAS ’20), International Relations and Middle East & North African Studies
Critical Language Scholar (CLS)
Sahika Aydinol (CAS ’24), Political Science, International Relations
Fulbright US Student Program Grantees
Gabriel Calistro (CAS ’23), Biology and International Relations
Natalia Clark (CAS ’23), Computer Science
Bridgette Lang (CAS ’23), International Relations
Maria Caceres Suriel (GRS ’20), International Affairs
Zoe Albert (GRS, PhD candidate), Anthropology
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP)
Kyle Hsu (CAS ’23), Chemistry
Shiba Esfand (CAS ’21), Psychology
Zoe McDonald (CAS ’23), Mathematics
Kavya Raghunathan (CAS ’18),Neuroscience
Hristiana Stoynova (GRS, PhD student), Earth and Environment
Francis Short (GRS, PhD student), Anthropology
Arielle Moore (GRS/MED, PhD student), Neuroscience
Renata Serio (GRS, PhD student), Biology
Erin Frates (GRS, PhD student), Biology