The Riley Institute at Furman University has selected Stacie Strotman, executive director of Covington Partners, to participate in the White-Riley-Peterson (WRP) Policy Fellowship. A partnership with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the WRP Fellowship is a 10-month national program designed to equip participants with a real-world understanding of policymaking for afterschool and expanded learning.
Strotman looks forward “to working with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to diversify funding to sustain effective out-of-school time programs across the state.”
Stacie Strotman
The newest class of WRP Fellows will participate in a hybrid program combining virtual and in-person classes. As part of the fellowship, Strotman will develop and implement a state-level policy project in cooperation with KYOSA and the national Afterschool Alliance.
As significant monies become available through the American Rescue Plan to support academic recovery as result of the pandemic, much of the Fellows’ focus will revolve around leveraging funding to grow and strengthen evidence-based afterschool and expanded learning programs.
Including Strotman, 19 individuals have been selected to become WRP Fellows this year. The number of WRP Fellows nationwide has grown to 156 in 50 states since the initiative launched in 2012. Projects completed by WRP Fellows have calculated the return on investment of afterschool funding, mapped afterschool programs across states, improved afterschool quality standards, and forged partnerships with state departments of education working to address learning loss related to COVID-19.
While afterschool is a time-tested approach proven to promote the social, emotional, and academic development of children, ensuring that out-of-school time programs are accessible and well-equipped takes on a new urgency during the pandemic, said former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley.
“As we work to address learning loss as a result of COVID-19, afterschool and summer learning programs are critical partners toward gaining equity in education for all students. I am so proud to welcome 19 more policy leaders to this outstanding program,” Riley said.
The White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship is named for Secretary Riley; William S. White, the late chairman of the board of trustees of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; and Terry Peterson, national board chair of the Afterschool Alliance and senior fellow at the Riley Institute and the College of Charleston.
Learn more about the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship HERE.
