John Jay College Awarded $442,143 Grant to Launch Pinkerton Fellowship Initiative

For Immediate Release

For more information, call:
Doreen Viñas-Pineda 212-237-8645

April 3, 2012, New York, NY, – John Jay College of Criminal Justice today announced the creation of the Pinkerton Fellowship Initiative with a historic and generous $422,143 grant from the Pinkerton Foundation. The Initiative will contribute to the development of youth justice in New York City by engaging the efforts of talented John Jay students who, as Pinkerton Fellows, will assume positions of responsibility in the youth service field while supporting the mission of participating nonprofit community- based organizations.

“With this groundbreaking grant, the Pinkerton Foundation has established itself as a vital partner with John Jay in advancing bold efforts to reshape and improve youth justice,” said John Jay College President Jeremy Travis. “This initiative will enable our students to have a real-world impact on an issue of critical importance to our city and its communities.”

“The Pinkerton Foundation has long been committed to supporting innovative youth justice programs throughout the city,” said Rick Smith, the foundation’s president. “We are delighted that the Pinkerton Fellows Initiative at John Jay will both provide direct, hands-on assistance to many of our community-based grantees and offer a new generation of students and young researchers valuable experience in the field.”  Qualified students will engage in intensive year-long placements with the first cohort beginning in the summer of 2012. They will have the opportunity to pursue two program tracks as Pinkerton Community Fellows and Pinkerton Graduate Research Fellows. As Community Fellows, ten competitively selected Juniors and Seniors will be placed in direct service internships in nonprofit community-based programs. Four advanced  graduate students will work as Graduate Research Fellows with participating agencies to strengthen the evidence orientation and analytical capacity of the organization.

The Initiative is a collaboration of the Prisoner Reentry Institute and the Research and Evaluation Center of John Jay College.

The Fellowships will include financial support in the form of wages, stipends and transportation allowances.

The application deadline for 2012 Fellowships is April 17.

For more information about the Pinkerton Fellowship Initiative, visit  www.jjay.cuny.edu/Pinkerton.

The Pinkerton Foundation was established in 1966 by Robert Allan Pinkerton, the Chairman and CEO of Pinkerton’s, Inc., the corporate successor of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. The foundation, which retains no connection with the security company, supports community-based organizations serving economically- disadvantaged young people in New York City. Many of the programs take place in the after-school, weekend or summer hours and focus on providing opportunities for academic development, career readiness, cultural enrichment and youth leadership. Pinkerton also supports a number of mentoring, training and internship programs that offer a way forward for young people involved in the criminal justice system or after years in foster care. For further information, visit www.thepinkertonfoundation.org

About John Jay College of Criminal Justice:  An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit  www.jjay.cuny.edu.