Student Forums
A journal of social practice & professional engagement for the Antioch community

North Star Fund has partnered with Antioch College to provide students co-op opportunities and in the Fall 2015 cooperative work term, Antioch College student, Greta Treistman ’17, took advantage of that opportunity. Aside from the fabulous chance to live in the “Big Apple”, Greta joined North Star Fund and quickly fell in love with the team, its mission, and the victories for humanity they were propelling through the work they did. Alongside her team at North Star Fund, Greta managed the grant cycle. This allowed her to meet with a wide number of organizations working to tackle the various political issues in the city and to help redistribute grants to those organizations to further their causes. In meetings with the various organizers, Greta was introduced to the creative and innovative solutions they were generating to help garner more attention from politicians and community members to further improve the situations of those in need.

Encouraging other students to select North Star as a co-op, Greta states “If you’re at all interested in community organizing or urban political issues, I would strongly recommend you go to North Star…as a group, they have a really incredibly thoughtful and critical analysis of what their own role is in the non-profit world, including the power dynamics between funders and organizers. The perspective of the people that worked there was really nuanced.” She truly enjoyed being able to become aware of, analyze, and assist in improving the current political issues in the five boroughs.

Written by

Luisa joined Antioch’s Cooperative Education faculty in 2015. She serves as an Associate Professor of Cooperative Education focusing on performance, women’s and gender studies, international education, and community engagement through the arts. Luisa has designed new co-op coursework engaging art as social practice, community action research, and place-based learning. Her primary focus areas within co-op include the arts and therapeutic practices as well as opportunities in Latin America. In Argentina, Luisa has developed co-op partnerships with organizations engaged in community action and social change, including: Mujeres de Artes Tomar, a feminist performance activist troupe; Fundación Hampatu, engaged in arts, sustainability and skills-based classes; and Club de Reparadores, a "repair club" that recycles and repairs items for reuse.

No comments

LEAVE A COMMENT