Creating a Model for Inclusive Civic Engagement | FUSE

About Us
About Us
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to engage communities, advance racial equity, and work more effectively for everyone.
About us Overview
Our Model
The FUSE Model centers around a one-year full-time public service role in city or county government and includes three primary phases from start to finish.
Our Fellows & Alumni
FUSE Executive Fellows and Alumni are experienced leaders committed to advancing equity through action-oriented partnerships with government agencies.
FUSE Careers
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to engage communities, advance racial equity, and work more effectively for everyone.
Our Team
The FUSE team and board of directors are committed to driving equitable change locally and nationally.
Work with FUSE
Work with FUSE
The power of government. The experience of community. The impact of new ideas. Together we can build better systems
Work with FUSE Overview
Partner With FUSE
The FUSE Model centers around a one-year full-time public service role in city or county government and includes three primary phases from start to finish.
Executive Fellowship Program
FUSE Executive Fellows and Alumni are experienced leaders committed to advancing equity through action-oriented partnerships with government agencies.
Funders And Supporters
Thanks to the generous support and close partnerships of our funders and supporters, we have been able to deepen our impact on issues that matter the most to communities and the government agencies that serve them.
Newsroom
Read more about our work, partner success, and updates.
Our Projects
Our Projects
Through strategic collaboration, these initiatives harness innovative solutions and practices to bridge gaps in healthcare access.
View All Projects
Health
Expanding access to affordable health care and mental health resources to improve key indicators of community health.
Justice
Enhancing public safety and reform of criminal justice by changing policing, 911 dispatching, bail, sentencing, probation, reentry.
Education
Improving options for childcare, early education, STEM, out-of-school-time, and post-secondary enrollment and affordability.
Climate
Building new infrastructure, disaster resilience, renewable energy, green economy jobs, and plans to reduce emissions.
Housing
Addressing issues of homelessness, housing insecurity, gentrification, and the need to preserve and build more affordable housing.
Jobs
Increasing the number of living-wage jobs and preparing for the future of work through expanded job training.
Apply for the Fellowship

Los Angeles is seeking to increase participation in the city’s vibrant grassroots electoral system, one of the largest in the nation. The City of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, or Empower L.A., engaged FUSE executive fellow Aparna Mukherjee to help increase civic engagement among young people, and to support the launch of the city’s new Office of Civic Engagement.

Partnering with another organization, Aparna helped conduct extensive research, including dozens of focus groups and stakeholder interviews, to inform the development of a centralized online hub designed to improve civic engagement, dialogue and outreach. She leveraged her findings to create an enterprise resource management system, including building the budget case for the new platform and identifying local tech innovators and potential implementing partners. She produced a playbook of tools and best practices to engage opportunity youth and amplify emerging civic voices. Her work has encouraged staff to engage more intentionally in creative outreach and storytelling that will inspire more local involvement in the democratic process.

APARNA MUKHERJEE (2017-18) is a product strategist and operations leader with experience helming digital and mobile projects for some of the world’s biggest media outlets. At The New York Times, she ran the paper’s education ventures group. Aparna’s other innovation-focused roles include launching social media for McKinsey & Co., serving as director of operations for startup accelerator Grand Central Tech, and relaunching Morgan Stanley’s alumni network. As a reporter, she has written for The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg News, and The New Yorker. Aparna earned a B.S. from Bryn Mawr College, as well as an M.S. in journalism and an MBA from Columbia University, where she lectures on business strategy to MBAs.

Aparna Mukherjee

2017-2018 | Los Angeles County - Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

Explore Related Content

Education , Pacific , California