Jennifer Lesorogol ’17 and Chance Kawar ’17
Claremont, Calif. (April 18, 2017)—Pitzer College students Chance Kawar ’17 and Jennifer Lesorogol ’17 have been awarded Coro Fellowships to Los Angeles. The Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs is a nine-month graduate-level leadership-training program that prepares talented and committed individuals to become effective and ethical leaders. The fellowship is designed to develop change-makers who can forge connections and solve problems across all public sectors.
Kawar, a political studies major and Spanish minor, has taken on numerous leadership roles at Pitzer, including serving in the Student Senate for seven semesters, most recently as the senior class president. He is also co-chairman of Pitzer Activities (PAct), as well as a founding member of the Middle Eastern Student Association. During his time at Pitzer, he has interned for both regional and national political leaders, including US Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Susan Davis. Kawar also studied abroad on the Pitzer in Ecuador program. He plans to pursue a graduate degree in public policy or administration then work in the public or nonprofit sector.
Lesorogol, an environmental analysis and international and intercultural studies double major, has been active in many facets of campus life at Pitzer, including serving as an admission fellow, a research assistant, a student senator and a student field group representative. She has also interned with Global Green USA’s Green Urbanism Program. Her long-term career goals include working with an environmental think tank or an NGO dedicated to addressing climate change. The Coro Fellowship will help Lesorogol fulfill these goals through hands-on training experiences as an activist, advocate and policy maker.
Coro fellows are chosen nationally each year following a rigorous application process and assigned to one of five urban areas in the US, where they are rotated through major political and economic institutions. At least 10,000 program alumni are currently serving as leaders in nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, businesses and elected public office. Past Coro winners include alumna Robin Kramer ’75, former chief of staff to then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; alumnus Gilbert V. Gonzales ’03, who is a senior business development specialist in the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development; and US Senators Dianne Feinstein and Tim Kaine.
