About the Connecticut Governor's Fellows Program
Conceived in 2021 as a direct response to the urgent needs of the State during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the program is made possible by a partnership between the Connecticut Governor's Office, Yale, and Social Venture Partners Connecticut.
The Tobin Center is pleased to contribute financially alongside Social Venture Partners Connecticut and provide technical assistance to the Connecticut Governor’s Fellowship program. This relationship allows the State to tap into the incredible strengths of Yale’s faculty, students, and infrastructure to bring about real-world solutions to Connecticut’s most pressing policy problems. In turn, the partnership enables Yale to enrich its programmatic and research partnerships, advance the university-wide priority to deliver empirical policy relevant research, and bring distinct value to its home state.
The program brings together talented early-career professionals with a track record of impact and senior leaders from across state government to solve problems and make Connecticut a better place to live. Governor’s Fellows play leading roles in the design, management, and strengthening of policies, projects, and programs with deep and measurable impact. In this way, the Governor’s Fellows provide much needed talent, capacity, and diversity to address important problems of public policy.
The program has already succeeded in attracting highly talented and diverse cohorts that have made an immediate difference. To date, Fellows have:
- Drafted and led the passage of legislation including Public Act 22-49, An Act Reducing Lead Poisoning, which brings Connecticut in-line with CDC guidance on allowable lead levels in CT’s children and makes a $30 million investment in removing lead from homes in CT’s most vulnerable communities.
- Developed plans for the strategic allocation of over $3.9 billion in Federal COVID recovery dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act with a focus on: defeating COVID-19, investing in CT’s future, creating a more affordable Connecticut, inclusive economic growth, and modernizing state government
- Led the design and stand-up of an Evaluation and Evidence-Building unit to facilitate the development of program evaluation plans and coordinate access to state data resources while focusing on providing ‘hands-on’ assistance to agencies as well as collecting and synthesizing evidence relating to program effectiveness.
- Founded and chaired the Governor’s Afghan Evacuee Taskforce, an interagency-public-private-nonprofit working group focused on bringing a coordinated approach to providing a safe haven and hope for all who are resettled in Connecticut.
- Developed and managed Connecticut Communities Challenge, a competitive grant program to spur investment in CT's main streets and vibrant neighborhoods through high- quality, transit-oriented development
- Designed, developed, and launched the Connecticut Campus Mental Health Program, which allocated $2.7 million in federal funding to support Connecticut’s colleges and universities implement mental health programs and supports for students