Harvard Kennedy School American Service Fellows Praise Opportunity Amid Federal Layoffs

Members of the Harvard Kennedy School’s inaugural cohort of American Service Fellows said the fellowship has become a critical landing pad for public servants amid mass federal layoffs of government workers.

David W. Gleaton, who has spent more than 20 years in federal technology roles, most recently at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said that he applied while working in Washington during a period of “a lot of change and uncertainty about what’s coming next.”

“The ASF program looked like a unique offering that allowed someone like myself to, in a lot of ways, take a step back and try to just pivot and figure out what comes next,” Gleaton said. “What should my role look like as a public servant in this new environment?”

Fellows described the yearlong program — which includes a $100,000 scholarship to attend the Kennedy School — as a chance to regroup as federal agencies shed staff, public health jobs dry up, and the Pentagon attempts to cut ties with Harvard.

HKS launched the program in July 2025, months into the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers, offering 50 full-ride scholarships for mid-career public servants. The fellowship is funded by $5 million in private donations and is the largest single-year scholarship program in HKS history.

Shannon A. Jackson, who retired after 28 years in the Navy doing medical planning and international health work, said she had planned to join U.S. Agency for International Development before the agency was upended. She said the administration’s policies ultimately pushed her toward Harvard.

“The time for action cannot wait, and somebody has to do it, and that person can be me,” Jackson said.

Holly T. Kostrzewski, who spent 24 years in tribal public health and traffic safety, said shrinking jobs and grants for public health professionals convinced her to “make a pivot.”

“During the pandemic, everybody thought public health professionals were the best thing ever,” she said. “Well, now there’s public health professionals that can’t find jobs.”

“I couldn’t have afforded to come without the fellowship,” she added.

Chuepheng “Ping” Lo, a retired Army officer with 34 years of military and federal service, said he has watched federal colleagues quit after the change in administration.

“The biggest challenge with public servants is for them to lose faith,” Lo said.

Lo said he hopes to move into policy work after graduating, serving as a bridge between officials who write policy and those who carry it out.

The Pentagon’s relationship with Harvard, in particular, drew some of the cohort’s veterans to the University. In February, the Department of Defense announced it would end its graduate-level military certification at Harvard starting in the 2026-27 academic year. The directive cited Harvard’s partnerships with Chinese institutions and antisemitism on campus.

When it launched, the fellowship said roughly half of its recipients would come from military service, a mix fellows said they have embraced.

“I’m a veteran myself. I have obviously a lot of veterans in my class along with me, and their voices are unique,” Gleaton said. “They’re speaking from firsthand experience on the ground around tactical operation and strategic level national security making around policy, and that’s an important voice that we need.”

Gannon M. Hendrick, chief of staff to Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair, said the order pushed him to retire as a lieutenant colonel in the army reserves before enrolling, because it was never clear whether it applied to reservists or to service members paying their own way.

“Out of an abundance of caution, I need to retire before I go, because I don’t want to be six months into this and suddenly the Army is coming after me saying you’ve been in violation of this directive,” he said.

Hendrick said he was surprised by how many veterans joined the cohort given tensions between the Pentagon and Harvard, calling it “a testimony to how important we think the opportunity is that we’re willing to put careers on hold or end them.”

The school’s 10-year strategic plan, released in June, held the fellowship up as an early model and credited it with helping drive a 235 percent increase in domestic applications to the mid-career program.

Fellows also pointed to the network of peers they have gained through the program.

“It isn’t just the funding and not having to worry as much about making your costs for tuition and other expenses. It’s also being part of the cohort, the team,” said Adam V. Caruso, a Special Forces officer who spent more than 20 years in the Army.

Fleischer said the fellowship is an opportunity to build a public service renewal in a time of uncertainty.

“I’m going to maximize this year to the best of my ability,” Fleischer said. “Also to show my kids that you can rise from the ashes. The phoenix can rise, and you can keep going. You must keep going.”

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at jenphan.74. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.

—Staff writer Mirei S. Saneyoshi can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at mireisaneyoshi.09. Follow her on X at @mireisaneyoshi.