The High Road New York Fellowship Program aims to engage students in communities across New York State and advance high road principles of uplifting workers, promoting sustainability and resiliency, and fostering equity, justice and democracy for all. We accomplish these goals using cross-sector collaborations, community engaged learning, and leadership development of the next generation of change makers.
History
Cornell's ILR School has been a leader in community-engaged research, public outreach, and activism across New York State as well as nationally and internationally.
We first opened our extension office in Buffalo, New York in 1946. Since then, ILR has played a vital role in the region, working in partnership with businesses, unions, government, education and community organizations to build an economy that works for all.
The ILR High Road Buffalo Fellowships were launched in 2009 as a new way to connect students with practitioners with local leaders who were driving change in the local economy. The High Road New York initiative expanded the program statewide from Buffalo to New York City (in 2023) and Ithaca (in 2024) to provide new undergraduate opportunities building upon the infrastructure and community connections of ILR’s extension offices in New York City and Ithaca.
Partnering with the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement through the Engaged College Initiative, the ILR School aims to build on ILR's strengths in outreach and public impact while advancing and sustaining community engaged learning and upholding high road principles in a constantly and rapidly changing world.
High Road Fellowship
High Quality Community-Engaged Learning
High quality community-engaged learning experiences such as the High Road Fellowships address a specific community interest, problem or public concern, includes working with and learning from a community partner, is connected with educational content and disciplinary perspectives and includes structured, documented critical reflection.
High Road fellows practice critical reflection, which requires an explicit set of questions that prompt self-evaluation, self-critique and examination of social structures, in order to develop meaningful relationships with people and groups addressing a problem and/or social issues.
High Road fellows' reflections focus on how their learning experience advanced their thinking on furthering sustainability, expanding community and belonging and/or advancing shared prosperity in the present and across generations. Fellows also reflect on how they can apply this learning in future endeavors.