Meet Robert Adams

My name is Robert Adams and I am the Rodel Foundation’s current Policy Fellow. My position lasts for the summer of 2016, and at its conclusion I will enter my senior year at Bowdoin College. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in biology and minoring in sociology. Although my studies are not directly related to the efforts of the Rodel Foundation, I possess a track record and passion for working in education policy.

My enthusiasm to join the Rodel team and immerse myself in the environment of education policy reaches far back before I began my college career. While still in high school, I was a member of a rigorous, college readiness, and leadership program called TeenSHARP. In my time there, directors Atnre and Tatiana Alleyne established a sub-group within in the program called College Access Ambassadors (CAA). As CAAs, we students devoted a portion of time away from the regularly scheduled program to learn, ask difficult questions, and think critically about the disparities that high-achieving, underserved students face in striving to access the best opportunities within the realm of postsecondary education. Our discussions ranged from our personal experiences to broader topics about the political climate of education. Being a CAA really opened my perspective to working in education.

As a firm believer of spreading the knowledge to high school students surrounding postsecondary attainment, I implemented an event in my high school called College Awareness Week, an entire week of programming designed to direct juniors and seniors toward the plethora of opportunities at their disposal. Since then I have volunteered with different mentorship programs that have the same goals in mind as my College Awareness Week. However, I know that in order to make lasting change, it needs to be motioned at the policy level, which is why I am so excited to be at Rodel.

Working as the Policy Fellow for this summer means that I will be working directly with the policy team as they  connect a vast number of individuals who all work in different aspects of education with the hopes creating lasting, positive change. I will be assisting with research and data analysis, project management, and coordinating databases. I am very excited to delve further into the policy world of education and help the Rodel Foundation serve the students of Delaware in the best ways possible.