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Lisa Fittko Internship
 About
the Internship
The Lisa Fittko Internship at
Crossroads Fund was established by the friends of Lisa Fittko, to honor her
legacy as a social justice activist. All her life, on two continents, Lisa
advocated and worked for social justice and political rights. From her
teenage years until she fled Europe in 1941, Lisa worked to oppose facism.
She and her husband helped to lead people out of Nazi-occupied France into
Spain.
When she settled in Chicago, Lisa
continued her activism. She helped organize Hiroshima Day in Hyde Park, was
active as a precinct captain, tirelessly demonstrated against the Vietnam
War, picketed for Farm Workers, helped to organize clerical workers at the
University of Chicago, and served as board president of Harper Square, a
housing co-op designed to integrate residents both racially and
economically.
Lisa passed away in 2005. She is
remembered by her friends, family, and a global community of individuals who
are grateful for her efforts to fight facism and injustice. Crossroads Fund
is excited to host a program that honors Lisa’s legacy and engages a young
person in social justice work. We hope to build the program as a lasting
memorial to the life and work of Lisa Fittko.
A Request for Support
from the Founders of the Internship
A year ago we told you about some
of the projects our first Lisa Fittko Intern was involved in at the
Crossroads Fund. Rachel Wallis was such an asset to the organization that
her stay was extended to the beginning of July (for a total of fifteen
months) when she left with the following inspiring statement on her work and
experience:
"As a young activist who was new to Chicago, the Lisa Fittko Internship
was the best introduction to the city that I can imagine. During the time I
worked with Crossroads Fund, I discovered an incredible landscape of
activism across the city. I got the chance to learn about organizations
working on a wide range of issues, and hear about their work, their
struggles, and their goals. In researching the Crossroads Fund's 25th
anniversary exhibit, I was able to explore the historical context of
activism in the city, and to discover the campaigns that laid the groundwork
for movements today. And through my work with Crossroads Fund donors,
grantees, staff and board members, I was introduced to an incredibly rich
and diverse community of organizers. Not a week goes by that I don't come in
contact with some individual or organization that I met through my time at
Crossroads Fund. Perhaps most importantly, the Lisa Fittko internship
connected me to the incredible legacy of Lisa herself. After reading her
memoirs and meeting the people who loved her, I feel honored to think that
in some small way I am carrying on the tradition of social justice that she
was so committed to in her life."
Rachel Wallis was the kind of person and did the kind of work that we were
hoping for when we established an internship in Lisa Fittko's name and asked
for your support. Efforts are now underway by Crossroads to recruit a second
Lisa Fittko Intern who will be expected to join a group that will attempt to
evaluate the long-range success of grantees in fulfilling their original
mission The prospective intern will also survey grantees to assess their
needs for technical assistance workshops and training.
Since the internship was so successful and useful, it will be continued for
as long as possible, and we would therefore very much appreciate a
gift from you to Crossroads Fund. (Just click on the Donate Now button at
the bottom of this page and type "Lisa Fittko Internship" into the Comments
or Questions field.) By doing so, you will help us work
towards two goals Lisa always kept in mind: social justice activism and the
involvement of young people in the progressive movement.
We hope very much to hear
from you soon.
Sincerely,
Gloria Carrig, Jackie Kirley, Vreni Naess, Sue Purrington, & Jackie
Zevin
To support the Lisa Fittko
Internship Fund, please click on the button below and write "Lisa Fittko
Internship" in the Comments or Questions field.
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