First-Year Fellow Mentor: Jennifer Chandler Hauge '82

The First-Year Fellows program is a unique opportunity for first-year students to engage meaningfully in public policy early in their Dartmouth careers. Each year, around 20 students are selected and placed in fellowships with Dartmouth alumni in Washington, D.C., who are willing to take on a significant mentoring role.

"I care deeply about Dartmouth's role helping young people feel confident that they can choose a career that will make this world a better place for everyone. Social justice may be in their DNA, but unless students observe real people working day-to-day in public service they may not see how they could join their ranks. The First-Year Fellows program is a way to help Dartmouth students not only imagine but actually experience what it is like to work in pursuit of the greater good. A positive experience as a First-Year Fellow between Freshman and Sophomore year could mean the difference in the major someone chooses, or future off-term experiences those students apply for. It motivates me to think that the First Year Fellows program can contribute to the pipeline of future leaders in public service. That's exciting!"   -Jennifer Chandler Hauge '82, Vice President and Director of Network Support and Knowledge Sharing at the National Council of Nonprofits

At the National Council of Nonprofits, Jennifer Chandler Hauge wears many hats, but her primary focus is on resource development and knowledge sharing in a networked environment to help build the capacity of charitable nonprofits. Chandler approaches her work from all angles. Her past service for charitable nonprofits includes being a legal advisor, board member, senior staff member, program volunteer, and grantmaker.

Prior to joining the Council of Nonprofits in July 2009, Chandler served as a Senior Counsel and Director of Special Projects for the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, a national nonprofit that helps other nonprofits understand and manage risk. Before that, Chandler focused on self-regulation and governance of charitable nonprofits as Assistant Project Director of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, convened by Independent Sector, and was responsible for the legal analysis underlying the Principles of Good Governance and Ethical Practice. Following nine years in private practice as a lawyer with a concentration on tax-exempt organizations, in 2000 she founded the New Jersey program of Probono Partnership, a nonprofit that provides pro bono legal services to charitable nonprofits. She served as Deputy Director of Probono Partnership between 2000 and 2005.

Chandler has served as a board member of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, the Madison Area YMCA, the Overlook Hospital Foundation, the Princeton Day School, and the Hyde and Watson Foundation, and board chair of the Episcopal Community Development Corporation and the American Camping Foundation. She also served as Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association and on the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on Volunteerism. Chandler currently serves on the Advisory Board at American University for the masters programs in the Department of Public Administration and Policy. Chandler has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Boston College Law School. When she’s not at work, Chandler can often be found playing tourist in our Nation’s Capital, at an art museum, a farmers’ market, or hiking the trails with her rescue dog.

Jenny Chandler has mentored the following First-Year Fellows:

• Sunny Dresher '20
• Grant McArtor '19
• Ray Lu '18
• Alexadra Woodruff '17