The Coro/Allegheny County Executive Fellows Program is a unique collaboration between the Coro Center for Civic Leadership and the Office of the Allegheny County Chief Executive. This program is designed to provide senior-level exposure and experience in county government to a group of highly-motivated and talented individuals who have an interest in public service. The program will consist of three full-time one-year Executive Fellowships.

Allegheny County and its largest city, Pittsburgh, share a strong commitment to attract and retain talent in the region and the Coro/Allegheny County Executive Fellows program seeks to nurture the skills of individuals with an interest in public service. The program creates a vehicle for harnessing the strength, energy and enthusiasm of talented individuals into a new government poised for change.

The Executive Fellows Program

The Executive Fellows Program seeks to attract the very best talent. Executive Fellows are full-time and should be able to "hit the ground running" from the beginning of the Fellowship and provide immediate, tangible and effective assistance on a wide variety of self-directed responsibilities and activities as assigned by the Office of the Chief Executive. The Executive Fellows will be expected to provide a wide range of high-level support to the County Executive Office and serve on local community and advisory boards as appointed by the County Executive.

Although work assignments will vary, Fellows' responsibilities will certainly include the development and implementation of project work plans, coordination with staff and consultants working on initiatives created by the Office of the Chief Executive, necessary research to identify existing practices and/or models and assist in the shaping and framing of these efforts and recommendations for individual and collective action based on findings. Coro staff and the County Executive's office work together to nominate, select and award the Fellowships to the most qualified candidates.

While Executive Fellows will be affiliated with the Coro Center for Civic Leadership, they will be assigned to report directly to the Office of the Chief Executive where they will be assigned specific duties with a wide range of responsibilities. Coro staff will provide on-going mentoring, training and further skills development while they are in County government. The County Executive's Office will be responsible for the direct reporting relationship and providing all work direction including personnel management, work assignments and office support.

Ms. Cosette Grant, who is from Palm Springs, CA, is one of three Coro/Executive Fellows who will be serving in the Roddey Administration for the next year. She is a former employee of Allegheny County Department of Economic Development where she served as a Business Development Specialist. While at the County, Ms. Grant ran Governor Ridge's Business Retention Program, Team Pennsylvania. Ms. Grant has past work experience working for the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. as a Political Analyst. She came to Pittsburgh in 1993 to pursue a Master in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. Ms. Grant also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science/Spanish from Dillard University. Ms. Grant is involved in numerous civic activities, including Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP), Action Housing's Advisory Committee, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Catherine J. Lewis is a native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a dual degree in Professional Writing and Literary Cultural Studies. Cathy joined Oxford Development Company in 1993 and most recently worked as the Company's Director of Business Development and Corporate Marketing. In November 1999, Cathy joined Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey's Transition Team and served as an Executive Assistant. As an active member of many of Pittsburgh's civic and cultural organizations, Cathy currently serves on the Board of Directors for Beginning With Books, Pittsburgh's Emergency Medicine Foundation, and Working Order; she also serves on the Urban Garden Party committee for the Mattress Factory.

Abe Naparstek's studies in political systems and international relations at the University of Rochester have been reinforced by his work interning for City Councilmember Raymond Pianka in Cleveland and Congressmember Howard Berman in Washington, DC. Abe graduated from the Coro fellows program where he worked with the Department of City Planning, the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, the Community College of Allegheny County, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and with Councilman Udin and the Downtown Planning Collaborative. Although his ultimate career path is undecided, Abe is intent on pursuing a career in which he will grapple with some of the major civic dilemmas facing America today. One of his special interests is Israel, a country in which he lived and worked for a year after high school.