Who We Are > Student Interns
Malorie Lakosky joined the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research in September of 2012 as an intern through the Philadelphia Center, an off-campus experiential learning program for undergraduate liberal arts students. Originally from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Malorie will complete her undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Alma College in April 2013.
During her time at Alma College she engaged in a plethora of activities. She founded the Michigan Mu chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, the International Honor Society of Philosophy, and serves as president of the Philosophy Club, an extension of the honor society to any students interested in philosophy. She also assists her fellow students in making post-graduation plans as a Peer Consultant in the Academic and Career Planning office and tutors philosophy students. In 2012 she received the Posey Global Leadership Scholarship, which funded a 5-week volunteer experience in Ghana for her and one other classmate. She enjoys volunteering within the states, as well, including alternative break trips to Tennessee and West Virginia and a Leadership Summit in New Mexico..
After graduation, she hopes to serve as a Teach for America corps member for two years in Detroit while simultaneously earning a Master’s degree in Education. Her interest in child welfare stems from a desire to better understand the effects of poverty and education on youth and families and how current systems address these issues.
Renee Manson joined the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice, and Research in September 2012 as an MSW intern from Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). She is currently a second-year Macro student with a focus on Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Reform.
Prior to SP2 Renee attended the University of California, Riverside where she double-majored in Political Science with a concentration in Public Service and Sociology. Throughout her undergraduate education Renee volunteered in her community, and worked as a tutor in low income school districts. She also served as an Independent Living Coordinator for a group home in Riverside working with youth transitioning out of the foster care system. Her experiences interning at The Alliance for Children’s Rights and at the group home motivated Renee to pursue graduate school to gain a deeper understanding of the intersectionality of the child welfare system and other systems such as education and law.
Renee’s first-year placement was at the Philadelphia Defender’s Association in the Child Advocacy unit, working with a multidisciplinary team of social work practitioners and attorneys. At the Defender’s Renee conducted home evaluations, interviewed clients, attended court hearings, and gained a working knowledge of the Child Welfare System and the laws and regulations that govern it.
In her free time Renee is an active member of the Penn community serving as the Chair of the Black Graduate Students Association, a member of several organizations on campus, and a Graduate Associate for Stouffer College House.
Nicole Royer joined the Field Center as an MSW intern in September 2012. She is currently a first-year MSW candidate at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Social Policy and Practice, who is interested in pursuing a dual degree in Bioethics.
Nicole grew up in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated in May 2012 with a BA in Anthropology and a concentration in Medical Anthropology and Global Health. Throughout her senior year, she completed an independent study on mental health and sexual development in urban communities titled Human Sexuality and Development: Orientation, Identity and Psychology. While living in Philadelphia, Nicole has been an active member of the community through volunteer work at the Urban Nutrition Initiative and engagement in the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. With a particular interest in working with urban youth, Nicole has served as a volunteer in West Philadelphia through recreational clubs, tutoring projects, and mentoring programs. Nicole also worked at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as a research assistant in the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry.
At the Field Center, Nicole will be working several days per week at Project Penn in Family Court to engage families in concrete resources in the community. She enjoys the interdisciplinary nature of the Field Center and hopes to incorporate this framework of critical thinking into the pursuit of her passions, which are social justice, human development and health care.
Harper Seldin has been selected as this year’s Alan Lerner Fellow in Child Welfare Policy. He will spend the 2012-13 academic year as a member of the Field Center’s interdisciplinary team.
Harper graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 with a BA in American History. He is currently a second year law student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he is an Associate Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and Co-Director of the Reproductive Rights Law Project. Harper was awarded Penn Law’s Lerner Child Advocacy Fellowship last summer and served as a law clerk in the Delaware Office of the Child Advocate where he assisted the Deputy Child Advocate on an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court and drafted petitions and briefs on behalf of children in their dependency proceedings.
While at the Field Center, Harper will be researching states’ definition and application of aggravated circumstances which allow state agencies to move more quickly toward permanency for children in cases of severe maltreatment. Harper hopes “to develop a cogent policy response to the continuing problem of parents’ constitutionally protected rights to the care and custody of their children coming into conflict with children’s best interests.”
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