Public Allies Cincinnati: Reflections on a Year of Service

Public Allies Cincinnati, a program of BRIDGES for a Just Community, just ended its annual recruitment of talented young adults with a passion for service for its 15th class of allies. Beginning this month, candidates will begin the intensive, three-part interview process that potentially ends in a term of service with program.

So, what exactly is Public Allies, you might ask? Well, as a Public Allies alumna, I can tell you that it is life changing. Public Allies takes a group of 30-40 young adults, who may or may not have a lot of experience with or knowledge of social justice issues and non-profit work, and transforms them into a dedicated community of change agents ready to live out Public Allies’ motto of Everyone Leads. Through a community apprenticeship with local non-profit organizations; extensive education and training designed to advance both professional and personal development; and team community service projects, Allies emerge from the 10-month program equipped with the skills necessary to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. What’s more, Allies leave the program having engaged in the personal work necessary to engage communities and individuals on various discourses regarding power and privilege and creating change. Allies engage in a vigorous, program that encourages them to challenge their assumptions and to build authentic communities dedicated to collaboration, continuous learning, diversity and inclusion, focus on assets and integrity – Public Allies’ core values.

In my experience, Public Allies equipped me with tools and skills that, even now, four years later, I still hold dear. I entered the Public Allies program as a timid, shy 23-year-old, struggling with a lack of self-confidence. Through my work at Beech Acres Parenting Center, a former partner organization, I was able to successfully manage, Mentoring and More, a school-based mentoring program for students identified as at-risk at Sayler Park Elementary School. Nestled along the banks of the Ohio River, Sayler Park is a low-income, Appalachian community on the outermost western perimeter of Cincinnati. As a young Black woman from a working-class neighborhood in the inner-city of Cincinnati, this small community seemed worlds away from my experience and I feared that I wouldn’t be welcome in this new environment. However, with the training I received around power and privilege, specifically issues of race and class, and with the skills that I brought to the program, I was able to forge close bonds with the faculty, staff, parents and students of Sayler Park and implement a successful program that partnered with local businesses to provide mentors to the students. I left that year with a sense of pride and accomplishment and with the confidence to pursue a career in non-profits, which is exactly what I did.

In addition, Public Allies helped me find and hone my voice. As a writer, my voice is perhaps the most important asset I possess and I was struggling to find and use it. With the help of a great program manager, and the support of a close class of Allies, I learned that what I had to say mattered and not only did it matter it was needed. With Public Allies central tenet – focus on assets – I realized that everyone’s unique skill set was integral to creating a better community, society, nation and world. It was on Marianne Williamson’s infamous words that I focused throughout my first year with the program and on which I centered my Presentation of Learning at the close of the year. Williams says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us … As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” The program was instrumental in both my professional and personal development reigniting in me my passion and determination to achieve the personal goals that I have set out to achieve.

So, that, in a nutshell is what the Public Allies program is all about. If you want to put your passion to work; if you want to discover how that potential within you can transform into something kinetic, into action; if want to change your life, change your community and change the world; or if you’re just curious, you should consider the Public Allies program. It’s worth it.

Written by: Rashida Manuel