NATHAN MATON-PARKINSON
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Bachelor of Arts, May 2010
Concentration: Politics, Communications & Human Rights
Bio and Resume (.pdf)
Nathan Maton-Parkinson is concentrating in Politics, Communications, and Human Rights. His individually-designed curriculum incorporates Marketing, Communication Studies, Political Science, Cultural Studies, Management, and Economics to study citizens' involvement in movements that combat social inequality and create youth political engagement.
Nathan's interest in addressing social inequality led him to volunteer in Panama as a community development volunteer through Amigos de las Americas (AMIGOS) in high school. During his collaboration with community leaders, he observed the dynamic of internal politics thwarting the community's efforts to effectively unify and address local development concerns. Upon returning to the U.S., he continued his work around ethical and human rights violations through Students for Peace and Justice (SFPJ). He became frustrated by how SFPJ protests antagonized their opponents and generated little productive discussion, and he wondered how citizens could mobilize for change in more effective and productive ways.
Nathan took a year off before enrolling in college to explore this question. He moved to San Francisco, and served as a live-in aide for a quadriplegic gunshot victim. During this time, he co-planned an independent media conference for the Independent Press Association that attracted over 2,000 attendees. He also served as the lead community organizer for the Bay Area chapter of Declaration of Peace, a national non-violent anti-Iraq war movement. In this role he formed a coalition among over a dozen Bay Area anti-war organizations to end the war in Iraq through nonviolent demonstrations and civil disobedience.
At Gallatin, Nathan has been examining how advocacy groups create change. He interned for Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP), a nonprofit group that fights for underprivileged communities' financial welfare. With NEDAP, he conducted research on Refund Anticipation Loans that sap individuals of their tax rebates through exorbitant interest rates. His research contributed to better enforcement of amended bank advertising laws that saved America's underprivileged communities over 100 million dollars in 2008.
Realizing advertising's ability to transform the social and cultural environment, Nathan interned for the Village Voice as a new media journalist in the summer of 2008, learning how advocacy efforts either gather the media's attention or fizzle. He also pioneered new methods of journalism for the Voice, such as using Google maps to tell stories and aggregating blog links to increase blog readership.
Based on his experience contributing to both the research and dissemination of information, Nathan co-founded The Ademos Project during the fall of 2008, repurposing the tools of advertising to generate social justice discussions. He won a $1,000 seed grant from the 2008 NYU Reynolds/Youth Venture "Be A Changemaker Challenge" and ran a "Get Sustainable Campaign", which sought to increase awareness around environmental issues through creative methods. The group ran a water-tasting event challenging participants to attempt to discover which cup had tap water in it, reaching over 200 NYU students in one afternoon.
Nathan spent the spring 2009 semester in Berlin working for a German nonprofit using communications to stem the national rise of the NPD/Neo-Nazi political party. He has just finished research on new media's effect on national identity. This summer he is managing the Campaign for America's Future new media strategies as a communications intern. Next fall he plans to apply for funding from the Stern Social Venture Competition for a consulting firm model that expands on the work of his "Get Sustainable" Campaign.