The School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution Undergraduate Program has partnered with the Shinnyo-en Foundation to offer recently graduated S-CAR undergraduate students the opportunity to serve with a conflict related or peacebuilding organization for a 10-month entry level paid fellowship beginning in August 2017.
The Shinnyo-en Foundation was established in 1994 by Shinnyo-en, a lay Buddhist order, as a secular, philanthropic arm of Shinnyo-en USA. The mission of the Foundation is to promote global peace through service by nurturing future generations through supporting community based organizations and educational institutions that promote and engage youth in meaningful acts of service.
The fellowship will provide the opportunity for students to gain skills in project management, networking, community building and ethical practice that can pave the way for midlevel entry into an organization or strengthen an application to a graduate school. The fellow will have space to explore the deeper meanings of service while remaining connected to the S-CAR undergraduate community by acting as a bridge between the community and the academy. The fellow will also work with an S-CAR mentor who will support growth, consultation and reflection during the period of the fellowship.
Students who graduated from the S-CAR Undergraduate Program in Spring and Summer 2017 are eligible to apply for the upcoming Shinnyo Fellowship. Applicants are encouraged to review and consider the Shinnyo-en Foundation's Peace Initiative and Paradigm of Service as well as the attached document Six Billion Paths to Peace: Reflecting on the Power of Service and Leadership to Create Global Harmony by Harumitsu Inouye, Liane Louie-Badua and Maura Wolf.
Please find the application material below:
The selected fellow will engage in the following activities over the ten-month fellowship period:
- Identify a community based partner organization or NGO that compliments the interests and goals of the fellow and aligns with the Shinnyo-en Foundation Infinite Paths to Peace and Paradigm of Service
- Work with the S-CAR mentor to develop, complete and submit the Shinnyo Fellowship Prospectus
- Attend and participate in the Shinnyo Fellows Summer Orientation on August 10 and the Shinnyo Annual Retreat August 11 thru 13, 2017 at the Marconi Conference Center in Marshall, California (costs for this trip will be covered as part of the fellowship)
- Spend four days working with partner organization and one day with S-CAR / campus activities including recruiting future fellows, organizing service events, and assisting with the Shinnyo-en / Mason events.
- Maintain a journal that documents the ten-month service experience beginning with the Summer Orientation and Annual Retreat
- Meet weekly with the S-CAR mentor to reflect and discuss progress in service and leadership experiences
- Participate in various professional develompment activities including lectures, seminars and workshops in Northern Virginia and D.C. metro area.
- Compile and submit a final report and electronic portfolio as the final synthesis of service integrating experiences as a fellow and recommendations for engaging a broader community in services and its impact.
Genesis Lazo is S-CAR’s current Shinnyo Fellow. She graduated in May 2016 with a double major in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and Global Affairs. Her senior thesis lead her to look within and focus on Salvadoran conflicts such as the civil war and the current gang crisis and evaluate how they have impacted young Salvadoran Americans. This thesis was the inspiration for her Shinnyo Fellowship project which consists of improving the resources a nonprofit immigration law firm has to help more immigrants. Genesis partnered with Just Neighbors, a non-profit immigration law firm that focuses on helping the most vulnerable immigrants and refugees in Northern Virginia. As a Development and Outreach Fellow, Genesis is most proud of improving Just Neighbors’ online presence by creating a social media plan that has led to a 400% increase in online donations. She also has opportunities to transcribe and interpret for clients at Just Neighbors.
At the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Genesis focuses on creating opportunities for the George Mason community to discuss matters of peace, diversity, and inclusion. She has assisted Dr. Pamina Firchow on her Everyday Peace Indicators Project which asked students to reflect on what adds and takes away from their daily peace on campus. Genesis also created programming in the spring to focus on inclusion and peace. She is collecting student thoughts and questions on inclusion on campus and hopes to develop a report to disseminate throughout the university. She also partnered with AGORA to host a “Feel Good Day” in which students wrote their “peace wishes” on seed paper for future planting at S-CAR’s Point of View.
“I am beyond grateful to have had the Shinnyo Fellowship experience. It has truly pushed me to see peace as something we are all connected by. Working at Just Neighbors has allowed me to learn so much about nonprofit management and development but more importantly it has shown me that working on behalf of others is truly fulfilling and I daresay necessary. My projects at S-CAR have opened my eyes to the fact that students need and want ways to express their basic thoughts and needs on peace, diversity and inclusion, to each other and to faculty. If you are passionate about helping others, apply for the Shinnyo Fellowship.”
Lisa E. Shaw is the Director of Student Services and Field Experience and Administrative Faculty member with the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) at George Mason University. She has been instrumental in the institution and growth of the S-CAR Undergraduate Program as well as the Mason’s Peer Mediation Partners, a partnership between Mason students and peer mediators at local area middle schools and high schools focusing on the development of conflict resolution skills. She co-developed and co-facilitated the Post Conflict Peace Building Field Experience in Liberia, and currently facilitates the Transitional Justice Field Experience in Colombia. She is also responsible for the intership program at S-CAR, as well as the Master's International and dual-degree Master of Social Work and Master of Conflict Analysis and Resolution program.
Ms. Shaw has twenty years of experience in experiential education and community-based programs at the international, national, and local levels. Her experience includes education, environmental stewardship and wildland firefighting as an inaugural member of Americorps-NCC, creating curriculums and traveling nature trunks for the Chattahoochee Nature Center, teaching for High Touch-High Tech, a hands-on learning program focused on strengthening national science standards, and directing primary and secondary after-school and summer programs for the City of Decatur Recreation Department. Ms. Shaw completed a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Philosophy, and Environmental Science at Regis University in Denver, Colorado and received a Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution in Arlington, Virginia.
For additional questions about the Shinnyo Post-Undergraduate Fellowship please contact Lisa E. Shaw at [email protected].