The Mel King Community Fellows
The Mel King Community Fellowship program is dedicated to the legacy of Mel King, a champion of cities and the communities they comprise. Mel King initiated the program in 1970 when he was an adjunct professor at MIT.
The fellowship program builds on a 40-year-old tradition of bridging practice-based knowledge and academic research. Mel King Fellows are recognized leaders in communities across the country and have experience in a range of social justice pursuits. The program’s goal is to create a dispersed learning network among the Fellows for co-creating knowledge.
Centering Equity in Long-Term Care
The motivating vision of the Centering Equity in Long-Term Care Class of the Mel King Community Fellowship Program is the creation of an LTC system that builds shared wealth in communities of color. Fellows from the 2022-2023 cohorts worked in close partnership with DUSP Students, MIT Faculty, and MIT CoLab to engage a diverse set of practitioners in LTC and finance to answer the following research questions:
Building Equitable Financing Models
How can we build new equitable public (or public/private) LTC financing programs in NY, CA, MA, and nationally that improve job quality; improve access to care and quality of care; and increase the ability for communities of color to build shared wealth?
Supporting Infrastructures and Strategies for Worker Co-ops
What are effective investment infrastructure and strategies to support worker-to-owner conversions of nursing homes and home care agencies?
Reflections from the Class of 2022-2023
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Aquilina Soriano Versoza
Executive Director, Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California
“The Fellowship carved out a space to bring our projects together, and created relationships with different groups who are thinking about different pieces of the system”
“Our time in Berlin helped us understand way more about the mechanisms, policies, and structures that play a role in care. We also learned ways to lift patients, get people to do things like take showers, and basic things that improve patient care and make workers' jobs easier.”
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Yvonne Armstrong
Senior EVP of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
“The Fellowship showed that I wasn't crazy for thinking this is a possibility––other people are dreaming about this too, and there are a variety of ways to tackle these issues. It’s an opportunity to learn from others’ successes.”
“It’s part of a movement––I had a perspective on where I wanted to go, but MIT came in and showed me that there's a different way I can achieve the same goals through the Fellowship, instead of doing it on my own.”
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Kevin Prindiville
Executive Director, Justice in Aging
“Through the Fellowship, we’re building systems for people as they age and grow through life”
“I’m proud that we've been able to find a path forward on the LTC benefit side––our path forward reflects some real learnings from the group. If we’re able to expand coverage in California, that will directly track to Mel King”