A Florida State University master’s student and Presidential Scholar was accepted into a highly competitive national fellowship program for emerging civic leaders.
Ella Garcia, who is working toward her master’s degree in public administration, was accepted into the Coro Fellows Program housed at University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The Coro Fellows Program was founded in 1947 in San Francisco to train young World War II veterans in civic leadership skills. It now operates four centers in St. Louis, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, where it serves to advance civic engagement and accelerate the careers of those in public affairs.
As a Coro Fellow, Garcia will live in St. Louis and participate in a full-time, graduate-level leadership training program that includes seminars, interviews with local leaders, opportunities to learn about regionally specific topics, and placement in organizations across nonprofit, business and government sectors.
“I’m excited because it’s going to be very fulfilling to focus on the aspect of public administration that’s about giving back, not just pursuing my own professional goals, but learning how I can better the communities around me,” Garcia said. “It’s one thing to study administration and government in a theoretical way, but it’s another to apply what I’ve learned hands-on. It’s what I feel like I’m called to do.”
From Mount Dora, Florida, Garcia is a member of FSU’s Presidential Scholars Program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and will graduate with her master’s degree this summer with support from FSU’s More in Four program, which helps high achieving students complete a bachelor’s degree in three years and continue immediately into a master’s degree.
Professors and mentors say Garcia’s involvement at FSU has prepared her well for the Coro Fellows Program. That includes her participation in FSU’s Applied Politics & Policy Learning Experience (APPLE) program, in the Department of Political Science, where she was able to intern for a state representative and a member of U.S. Congress.
“Ella has used her time at FSU to gain extensive hands-on government experience and advanced analytical skills, with the aim of driving informed, community-oriented public service,” said FSU professor Amanda Driscoll, cofounder of APPLE and one of Garcia’s mentors. “The Coro Fellowship will provide her with additional public service experience and practical leadership training to deepen her impact and professional growth. I am confident that she will translate her established civic commitments into effective, real-world solutions, and we can’t wait to see what she will accomplish next.”
Garcia’s interest in policy work extended beyond U.S. government last summer, when she traveled with a group of FSU Honors Program students to the Oxford Consortium of Human Rights workshop at the University of Oxford in England.
“Ella is among the finest students I’ve worked with at Florida State,” said Ross Moret, who led the trip to Oxford and serves as an associate teaching professor in the FSU Honors Program. “She is dedicated, responsible, insightful and caring. She will make an outstanding Coro Fellow.”
As a Presidential Scholar, Garcia said she enjoyed mentorship and a peer community that helped motivate her to reach her goals.
“FSU and the Presidential Scholars Program specifically have been instrumental for me,” she said. “It’s really shaped who I am, as a leader and as a person.”
To learn more about student support for pursuing national fellowships, visit the Office of National Fellowships and the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards.
Visit the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy website to learn more about the college, department and programs.