New Orleans Initiative - CIPA-NOLA

Amanda Quemore (asq2@cornell.edu)

Amanda is a CIPA Fellow from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to starting at CIPA as a spring-start in January of 2009, Amanda served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar where her primary responsibility was serving as a local English teacher. Her concentration is international development with a special interest in youth and corruption studies. She was immediately drawn to CIPA-NOLA because of the emphasis on servant leadership and service learning. She feels that CIPA NOLA provides a unique opportunity for fellows to take the lessons they have learned in their public policy courses and transform them into action in a real city with real problems. She hopes that through CIPA-NOLA fellows are empowered to challenge themselves as leaders and develop their passion for serving the community- be that locally, nationally, or globally.

Dawn Hopkins (ddh55@cornell.edu)

Dawn is a CIPA Fellow originally from Sunnyvale, CA. She came to CIPA with a background in nonprofit work, and is concentrating in public and nonprofit management, with an emphasis on knowledge management. Inspired by the dedication of the founders of the program, she is eager to see CIPA-NOLA expand its contributions to the redevelopment in New Orleans. She hopes that CIPA-NOLA will enable CIPA students to contribute to the ongoing effort to rejuvenate New Orleans.

Jesse McCree (jm853@cornell.edu)

Jesse is a CIPA Fellow from Bangor, Maine with a concentration in Public and Non-Profit Management. Before coming to Cornell, he managed the Cambridge, MA office of LIFT, a non-profit that combats domestic poverty by helping low-income community members locate housing, employment, and public benefits. Jesse attended the New Orleans Spring Break trip in March of 2009 and was impressed with the effectiveness of non-governmental organizations in filling the significant gaps in local governance, but rather dismayed by the bureaucratic obstacles that impede homeowners from successfully rebuilding their houses. CIPA-NOLA has provided Jesse with an opportunity to put public policy skills into action, develop strong connections with non-profits that are eager for more student-consulting assistance, and learn plenty about mold remediation.

Keiko "Satoshi" Nakamura (kn269@cornell.edu)

Keiko is a CIPA Fellow from Tokyo, Japan where she worked for a Japanese commercial bank for five years. She came to CIPA having interest in International Development, in particular, partnership between public, non-profit sector and business in socio-economic development in developing countries. Her background coming from Japan where the biggest earthquake hit the second largest city in 1995 led her to be involved in rebuilding process of New Orleans through activities of CIPA-NOLA. The Spring Break Service Trip in 2009 ignited her passion for further engagement of CIPA-NOLA. She hopes that CIPA-NOLA will provide CIPA Fellows with hands-on experience and learning opportunities in the rebuilding process of New Orleans.

Michaela Stewart (mas649@cornell.edu)

Michaela is a CIPA Fellow from Averill Park, NY concentrating in government, politics, and policy studies with an emphasis in public service. This is Michaela’s second year as a member in CIPA-NOLA. She has seen how much CIPA-NOLA grew last year and is looking forward to helping the program expand and grow toward its potential this year.