- Scholar:
- Eli Wolfe
- High School:
- Chestnut Hill Academy
- Home Town:
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Area of Study:
- Psychology, Biological Anthropology & Anatomy
- Summer 1:
- Cafe Reconcile
Web site
New Orleans, Louisiana - Summer 2:
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Summer 3:
- Social Entrepreneurship Internship
Echoing Green
New York City
Eli Wolfe graduated from Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia in 2003. Throughout his final two years of high school he was a member of Operation Understanding, a non-profit organization in Philadelphia that looks to bridge the gap between its Jewish and African-American communities by promoting tolerance and diversity. His time in this program left a lasting impression on Eli.
Eli spent his first Robertson summer as the Co-Director of the Caf? Reconcile summer camp, which provided educational and recreational opportunities to low-income youth in New Orleans. The experience was extraordinary, and he has maintained contact with other Co-Director in an effort to help her fund on-going programs. During his second summer, Eli was culturally immersed in Cape Town, South Africa, and was impressed with the transformational nature of his experience. His final Robertson summer was spent interning at Echoing Green in New York City, a non-profit social entrepreneurship organization that provides seed funding to impactful start-up NGOs, including Teach for America, City Year, Mapendo, and various others.
During his sophomore year at Duke, after spending his first summer with fellow '07 Duke Robertson Scholar Dan Kimberg in New Orleans and encouraged by his previous experiences, Eli decided to join Dan in the C.A.R.E for Carter program Dan founded. Eli helped organize and coordinate the volunteers, as well as assist with the classes provided by the student-run organization in which Duke students helped to run Physical Education and Arts and Language classes at a local Durham elementary school.
His experiences as part of the Robertson Scholars Program, combined with his various summer endeavors and his participation in C.A.R.E for Carter, instilled in Eli a belief that everyone has a duty to give back to their community, on whatever scale possible.
In 2007, Eli graduated from Duke with concentrations in psychology and biological anthropology and anatomy. After leaving Duke, Eli went on to work for Accenture in Philadelphia. a large multi-national consulting firm. While at Accenture, he felt that he wasn't provided with enough of an opportunity to continue to give back to his community. Deciding to bring some of his Robertson experiences and the lessons he learned to bear, Eli became an integral member in the Accenture Philadelphia Corporate Citizenship Strategy Council. This council establishes Skills-Based Volunteering programs in the Philadelphia area, so that fellow consultants can volunteer their time to assist various local non-profits by using their consulting expertise. Projects were established with Big Brothers / Big Sisters, YWCA, and various other organizations, totaling about 12 projects in the group's first year. Eli also currently sits on the board of the Stanley R. Wolfe Foundation, which provides funding to Jewish, social justice, and urban renewal causes.
Eli decided to leave Accenture in April 2009 to spend a "4th Robertson Summer" learning and exploring more about himself and his passions. His tentative plans are to pursue local volunteer opportunities.
