 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Drum Major Institute Fellows Program seeks to counter the domination of the conservative right in the discussion about public policy by cultivating New York City's most talented up-and-coming progressives. DMI's first-rate Fellows program will take on the institutes of the right, but not by matching them policy wonk for policy wonk. Instead, we will pioneer a new model that gives a platform to progressive leaders working in the communities of New York City. From the founder of Brooklyn's first black-run credit union, to a pioneering advocate for environmental justice and sustainable development in the South Bronx, to the organizer of a grassroots student activist and leadership training organization at Hunter College in Manhattan, quite literally, the DMI Fellows not only span the physical city, but a range of pressing issues its residents care about. With a combination of their talent and experience, and our rigorous research support, communications training, and aggressive dissemination and placement of their work, DMI aims to change the face of discussion about public policy in this city.
Kia Franklin
A native of Seattle, Washington, Kia C. Franklin graduated from Stanford University in 2003 with a B.A. in Political Science and African and African-American Studies. She wrote her Senior Honors Thesis on Youth Mobilization and Hip Hop, exploring the use of music as a cross-racial tool for civic engagement and coalition-building among Bay Area teens. After college she worked at two Seattle-area law firms, gaining exposure to civil and criminal litigation matters.
Kia earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She was active in the Black Law Students Association, the Total Knock-Out Mentoring Program, and the Just Praise Gospel Choir. She also participated in the Street Law Clinic and interned at the Public Education Network, exploring the intersection of law and policy in issues of educational equity. Kia devoted pro bono volunteer hours to various projects for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the Center for American Progress, and other organizations. During her summers, Kia explored her interest in civil litigation while working at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP (Washington, DC) and Perkins Coie, LLP (Seattle).
Kia is honored to join the Drum Major Institute as their 2007-2008 Civil Justice Fellow.
The Latest from Kia Franklin
Happy 100th Birthday, Thurgood Marshall, July 2, 2008
More about Kia Franklin >
Mark Griffith
Mark Winston Griffith is a community economic justice activist and journalist whose articles have appeared in dozens of publications including the New York Times, the Nation, the New York Daily News, the Village Voice, the Source, Spin magazine and Essence magazine. Mark is also a columnist with Gotham Gazette, a board member of Free Speech TV based in Denver Colorado, and a board member of City Futures, which includes City Limits magazine and the Center for an Urban Future.
From 2005 to 2007, Mark served as the co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, a leading economic justice advocacy group. Prior to that he served for twelve years as the founding Executive Director of the Central Brooklyn Partnership, a grassroots economic self-determination organization, and was the founding board chair of the Central Brooklyn Federal Credit Union.
Mark is a graduate of Brown University and received a Master's degree in contemporary literature from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in 1988. Mark was also a Revson Fellow at Columbia University, a Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Fellow and an Open Society Institute (OSI) Community Fellow.
The Los Angeles Times’ Ron Brownstein called Mark a “fresh voice” on economic security policy. Mark was the recipient of the Union Square Award and has also received awards from Crain's New York Business, Black Enterprise magazines, Fortune Magazine and New York Magazine.
The Latest from Mark Griffith
Griffith: Giving people a chance to keep their homes is sound public policy, April 25, 2008
More about Mark Griffith >