2023

Q&A: Harli Strauss-Cohn ’24 Discusses Her Community-Building Internship in Allentown

She has supported the Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley’s Promise Corps program, which provides opportunities for young people in the city by connecting them to environmental justice service opportunities in the Lehigh Valley.

By: Keanna Peña ’25  Monday, May 8, 2023 10:19 AM

Harli Strauss-Cohn ’24 tabling at EcoFest as part of her internship

This semester, international studies and sustainability studies double major Harli Strauss-Cohn ’24 is participating in the Office of Community Engagement’s Community Internship Program. The program runs every spring and summer and offers students a stipend as they work with local communities at nonprofits, schools and government organizations. 

Strauss-Cohn works on the organizational side of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, located in downtown Allentown. Through events and programs, Promise Neighborhoods aims to address the systemic and unjust issues facing the Allentown community, such as gun violence, health equity and community wellness, while also creating leadership opportunities for youth. 

Why were you interested in working with Promise Neighborhoods?

I was really wanting more of a connection and feeling that I was a resident of Allentown, and not just a resident of Muhlenberg. When looking through the different organizations I could work with, Promise Neighborhoods really spoke to me. It's an organization that's Black-led, anti-racist and woman-centered, and they take a really grassroots, community-centered approach to all the work that they do. I've volunteered at different community organizations in the past and this internship presented an opportunity to be more on the organizational side, which really excited me. And as I'm thinking about the future, community and nonprofit work is definitely something that I can see myself doing. 

Tabling at EcoFest; photo by Kristi Morris

What does a typical day look like for you?

For the first month, I was doing a lot of front desk work and getting in tune with the organization and learning how it runs. And now on a typical day, I go in, check in with people in the office and then work to create and organize recruitment materials, edit policy documents to make them more visually appealing and then get people to sign up to do the different programs Promise Neighborhoods runs. A project I’m helping out with now is the Promise Corps program, which aims to connect young adults in the Lehigh Valley to nature and future opportunities through hands-on conservation work, sustainable farming, and community leadership. I also helped with bringing more allyship and collaboration with other community organizations. We went to Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center to envision some different programs that the two organizations can do jointly in order to expand our community reach and support toward collective liberation.

How has this program helped you feel more involved with the Allentown community?

This experience has been huge for me and has made me feel so much more connected to Allentown. I take the bus and walk through the city to get there, and even just that experience alone has made me a lot more comfortable and confident in my public transportation knowledge and ability. I’m also getting this new familiarity and understanding of Allentown. I know that I am welcome back to Promise Neighborhoods at any point after this internship ends. A big phrase within the organization is that we are each other's medicine, and that healing happens in community. It’s so beautiful.

Will you be doing more work with them after this internship ends?

It's definitely a place that I want to go back to and stay connected with in whatever capacity I can. I think I've gotten so much from it and I feel and know that I have also given to Promise Neighborhoods. It's so important to me that it’s a reciprocal relationship because I didn't want to be an outsider, or this privileged white college student going into this organization that's serving people who are not privileged white college students. And I was and am very aware and trying to grow that awareness of my positionality and the space that I am taking. 

How has being a part of this internship affected you?

I think it has broadened my understanding of justice and sustainability. It has shown me that there are people working every single day to address a lot of the huge, scary issues of injustice, racism and systems of poverty that I study about at school but don’t learn how to address in my everyday life. Integrating within the Allentown community and being part of an organization that is truly doing work has given me such hope and connection to reality.