Ford Motor Co. Names New Fellow in International Program

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DETROIT — Neighborhood Service Organization, a nonprofit human services agency, named its vice president of real estate development and management Joe Heaphy as a fellow in the Ford Motor Company International Fellowship program of 92 Street Y.

Heaphy will take part in an intensive three-week program from May 28 to June 19 in New York City.  Designed to enhance skills of emerging leaders from communities, the program offers leadership and management classes focused on nonprofit organizations.  Additional sessions will cover topics including finance and budget, public relations, grant writing, and fundraising.  Faculty from the Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs will teach the courses.

While the program often accepts only international participants, this year it accepted two Americans, both from Detroit.  Organizers felt it was important to have these individuals participate as a way to embrace Detroit at a critical turning point in its history.

Since the program’s launch in 2001, more than 290 people from nearly 70 countries have participated in the program. More than half of the program takes place outside the classroom through visits to community-based, non-governmental, and nonprofit organizations; workshops; and tours of diverse neighborhoods that have successfully united ethnically, racially, and religiously.

The fellowship is rigorous with high expectations, according to officials. Homework must be completed before, during, and after the program; little free time is allowed; and every class and activity is mandatory.  Toward the end of the program, the fellows will take an overnight trip to Ford Motor Co.’s World Headquarters in Dearborn to meet key Ford executives and gain insight into the intersection of corporate and nonprofit interests and goals. Following the fellowship, participants serve as mentors to future fellows, and are expected to report back to organizers about the ongoing impact of the fellowship on their work.

Heaphy received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.