Five-Year Updates: Meet Adria Chamberlain F’08

When we last featured five-year updates, it was members of Fletcher’s Class of 2007 who described their paths since graduation.  But another class graduated last May, and now we turn to the Class of 2008.  Kicking off the new year for this feature is Adria Chamberlain who has taken on a pivotal role in bringing together members of her own graduating class, as well as other alumni in the Boston area.

We all want to change the world for the better, right?  Leave that lasting mark; help people, organizations, and cultures redefine the concept of neighbor; dramatically improve the opportunities of those who may have extremely limited ones, right?  Right.  The question is, how are you going to do it, and what do you need to get you there?  The answer: Fletcher.  Fletcher produces a feast by taking what you’ve done, challenging your notions of what should be done, and blending it together with others who are similarly driven and knowledgeable, and who come to the table with myriad experiences.  It’s a feast from which you can draw unlimited nourishment both during and after your time in the Hall of Flags.

For the years between college and Fletcher, I worked in private practice immigration law — mostly on asylum cases from around the world.  I found my job extremely valuable and rewarding, but was getting frustrated doing work that didn’t affect the system creating the nightmare situations these asylees had had to live through.  I chose an international affairs graduate school because I wanted to play a role in improving systems, rather than administering band-aids to consequences.  Thankfully, that is exactly what I get to do now.  I chose Fletcher because it was the very best at the factors that were important to me about graduate school.  I knew it was an incomparable feast.

My concentrations at Fletcher were Human Security Studies and Leadership Studies (self-designed).  Through research and in-depth interviews of leaders at the highest levels, my thesis examined leadership differences and similarities across the public, private and nonprofit sectors.  Their insights and my learnings continue to aid my leadership trajectory today.  I also organized the annual ski trip, and now serve as the Class of 2008 Reunion Chair.

After grad school I became a Chief of Staff on a U.S. Senate campaign in Massachusetts, then went on to join New Profit Inc. where I work on a rotation of special initiatives on behalf of the founder and Executive team. New Profit is a nonprofit social innovation organization and venture philanthropy fund headquartered in Boston.  We invest significant growth capital in a portfolio of social entrepreneurs, work to scale their impact and drive systemic change in areas such as education, workforce development, public health, community development, and poverty alleviation.