Oranette Johnson
Community Planning Fellow • 2024
City College
About the Community Planning Fellowship
The Community Planning Fellows Program places graduate students in urban planning with NYC community boards. This provides community boards with much-needed additional capacity, and offers students first-hand experience in community planning.
In the community board offices, fellows face real-world community planning issues as they work on zoning, transportation, retail development and other land use projects. They assist board members and staff in finding solutions to quality-of-life issues of importance to local neighborhoods.
Now entering its 13th year, the Community Planning Fellowship Program is a highly regarded and coveted professional development opportunity serving urban planning students and local community boards, helping them meet their community planning needs.
Community Planning Fellows often take permanent or consulting positions with their Community Boards in the summer after their fellowship has ended. Several former fellows have gone on to work for land use units at the City Council, offices of borough presidents and related Mayoral agencies such as the Department of City Planning and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Eligibility & Criteria
Requirements
- Second-year graduate students (master’s degree) in urban planning, architecture, urban design, historic preservation, public policy and public health.
- Outstanding candidates are chosen from seven area schools (but not limited to): Baruch College, City College, Columbia University, Hunter College, New York University, The New School, and Pratt Institute.
Apply
Community Boards
Participation
All Community Boards throughout the five boroughs are eligible to participate. District Managers may submit a project proposal that is both valuable to their community and a substantive learning experience for Fellows over a two-semester timeframe. If you need assistance developing the proposal, email communications@fcny.org.
Submit a Proposal
FAQ
Second-year graduate students (master’s degree) in urban planning, architecture, urban design, historic preservation, environmental policy, sustainability management, public policy, public health, and/or any related degree programs. Currently, outstanding candidates are chosen from seven area schools (but not limited to): Baruch College, City College, Columbia University, Hunter College, New York University, The New School, and Pratt Institute.
Fellows are expected to work both in-person and remotely. Fellows are placed primarily at appropriate participating community boards and, in certain instances, nonprofits working closely with community boards on timely projects and identified priorities. Some placements are flexible with location, while others prefer/require in-person participation. Fellows are also expected to meet collectively in person twice a month for orientation, lectures, and training (generally scheduled on Fridays) at the Fund for the City of New York.
The fellowship program carries through both semesters of the academic year (September-April) and fellows are expected to work up to 12 hours per week (varying depending on project scope). The fellowship also follows the academic holiday calendar. Each fellow receives a $5,000 stipend paid in two equal $2,500 installments disbursed in the fall and spring semesters.
FCNY liaises with Community Board offices and ensures that there are enough projects for all fellows. Fellows have the opportunity to review placement options and request a placement that aligns with their interests, and potentially with their capstone project or thesis. In the appropriate circumstances, fellows can pitch to work with a selected Community Board/Project Partner. Proposals should be made before the end of August to ensure timely placements.
As a Community Planning Fellow, you will be assigned a Community Board where they have submitted a project proposal. Some projects are defined and you will aid in completing the project, while others are more flexible where you will have a hand in forming a project reflective of the Community Boards needs.
The advisor/professor is to help guide you along with project decisions and progress. It is not required to have one, but we do highly encourage fellows to keep their school advisors up to date with the project being completed. If the project is being completed for a capstone then your capstone professor is required to keep up to date on progress.
Just from this past year’s cohort, there were projects covering –
- Park Surface Coverage & Green Infrastructure Survey – Brooklyn Community Board 3, Bedford Stuyvesant
- Newkirk Plaza Space Ownership and Community Engagement Study – Brooklyn Community Board 14
- Historical Building Indexing – Staten Island Community Board 1
- Preservation and Expansion of Non-market Rate Housing – Manhattan Community Board 7
- Zoning for Carbon Neutrality in Brooklyn – Brooklyn Community Board 14
Just to name a few. To see more examples of project titles visit fellow alumni bios here.
Yes, we welcome proposals from any of the 59 Community Boards in NYC.
Please submit a project proposal. FCNY will review proposals and determine if they meet the requirements of the program. If you need assistance developing the proposal, email communications@fcny.org.