Olivia Warren ‘11 Pursues Graduate Studies Through Coro Fellowship Program

New York, N.Y. – As a Marymount Manhattan College student, Olivia Warren ’11 has been a campus leader and has embraced the interdisciplinary nature of a liberal arts education. Her college experience offered her an opportunity to develop an awareness of social, political, cultural and ethical issues affecting the world. 

During the summer of 2010, she traveled to Cambodia to teach English to orphaned children as a Jeannette K. Watson Fellow. She had spent her previous two summers interning with the Gotham Gazette and the Office of Congressman Jose E. Serrano. She also performed as a member of the MMC Dance Company. 

Now, Warren, who earned a B.F.A. in dance last month, will apply her interdisciplinary experience to graduate studies as a member of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. Warren is one of 68 fellows nationally who were selected for the full-time, nine month, graduate-level experiential leadership training program that prepares individuals for effective, ethical leadership. After Warren concludes the fellowship, she plans to pursue a master’s in public policy and later to complete a law degree. Ultimately, Warren hopes to work in government in her home state of Wisconsin. 

“I grew up in a town which became increasingly beleaguered by policy problems,” Warren said. “Watching legislation and institutions fail, which subsequently led to a severe depression in my hometown, made me question what could be done better or what could have been done differently. The more I experience this country the more I see inequity, and I feel an intense commitment to serving as best I can.” 

“My experience in Cambodia was a dramatic wake-up call to the reality of the developing world,” Warren said. “I saw conditions that I never could have imagined, and I witnessed, firsthand, the challenges of international aid. I think this experience broadened my understanding of the world-at-large, but solidified my focus on domestic rather than international politics.” 

Coro is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational institute founded in San Francisco in 1942 by W. Donald Fletcher, an attorney, and Van Duyn Dodge, an investment counselor. Its purpose is to train young leaders in the skills necessary to assure that the democratic system of government in the United States can more effectively meet the needs of its citizens. 

“My experience within a liberal arts education gave me a broad base of knowledge and incredibly, flexible tools of analysis that can be applied to any situation,” Warren said. “I have been taught to examine the connections between history, society, government, the arts, and literature, and because of that, I think I have a fuller understanding of the events and movements that have brought us to where we are today. My experiences in a range of classes at this school, as well as my work as a J.K. Watson Fellow, have given me the academic base as well as the professional experience I will need to succeed as a Coro Fellow and in the future.” 

Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse student body by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development.

Published: June 09, 2011