Students Awarded Lauble Fellowships

Heinz School students Meredith Fisher and Allison Haley were recently awarded the 2005-2006 Stephen M. Lauble Community Fellowships, which are presented annually to students who are committed to working to improve the economic and community development of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato honored the students at a Feb. 1 event at PNC Park.

Fisher completed a fellowship with the Pittsburgh branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in the summer of 2005. As an intern in the Community Affairs Department, she researched vacant properties and brownfields for future development, and organized conferences and outreach projects. She is pursuing a second Lauble internship with the Forbes Fund to develop and implement a knowledge-management strategy for the region's nonprofit sector.

Haley is interning at the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, a nonprofit intermediary that provides grants to community development corporations. She assisted with distribution of grants and helped plan a town hall meeting to discuss the future of community development and neighborhood revitalization in Pittsburgh.

"Our universities represent one of our greatest assets and are critical to the future economic growth of the region," Onorato said during the awards ceremony. "I've had the opportunity to work with many Heinz School and Carnegie Mellon graduates and have seen the quality work they consistently produce."

The Stephen M. Lauble Community Fellowship encourages committed public policy students at the Heinz School to choose careers that make a contribution to the city's economic and community development. The fellowship is named in memory of Steve Lauble, a 1993 Heinz School alumnus whose academic and community work exemplified a commitment to Pittsburgh. The fellowship has been awarded to more than 25 students since 1995.

"Meredith and Allison are two of our best and brightest," said Mark Wessel, dean of the Heinz School. "Through the Lauble fellowship, we are pleased to have this opportunity to encourage our students to stay and apply their skills for the benefit of the region."