2016/2017 NLC Menino Fellow
The Initiative on Cities (IOC) is pleased to announce Alessia Riccio (Boston University Class of 2018) as the 2016/2017 National League of Cities (NLC) Menino Fellow. Riccio is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from the College of Communication with a minor in Political Science. Through this Fellowship, Riccio will spend the fall semester under the mentorship of IOC Director and Political Science Professor Graham Wilson in an on-campus Directed Study program. She will spend the 2017 spring semester in Boston University’s (BU) Washington, DC study abroad program, where she will take classes and participate in a paid internship with the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education and Families.
Through her Directed Study and her internship with the NLC, Riccio plans to research potential links between family economic success and early childhood education and literacy opportunities. Riccio will investigate the policies and practices of five cities in the United States to inform what factors are the greatest influence on educational opportunity and success for families of varying economic means.
Riccio is already an experienced advocate as the Southeast Regional Team Advocacy Chair for the America Cancer Society. In this role, Riccio works as a mentor for schools around the country to educate students on advocacy and recruitment techniques for local chapters of the American Cancer Society: Cancer Action Network. Already in her Fall 2016 semester, Riccio has attended National Lobby Day in Washington, DC to spread awareness of the rising costs of healthcare.
On campus, Riccio is the Vice President of Operation for the Kappa Delta Sorority where she regularly organizes chapter events, including on- and off-campus workshops for Girl Scouts and Boston University women to assist in professional development and confidence building. Riccio has also served as the Communications and Development intern for Reach Out and Read, a Boston-based American non-profit organization that advocates for childhood literacy.
The National League of Cities Menino Fellowship is a joint effort by the Initiative on Cities and the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families. It is named in honor of IOC Co-Founder and former Mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino. Mayor Menino was dedicated to serving the youngest members of urban populations and in 2000, he helped found the Institute for Youth, Education and Families. The NLC Menino Fellowship upholds that commitment.