Following in Ralph Nader's footsteps may be a dubious path to take these days, but that doesn't seem to bother Nick Beilenson '58. He is at the helm of the newly founded alumni association of the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), which is modeled after a program Nader helped start with Princeton alumni called Project 55.

Beilenson and a core group of about a dozen alumni plan to create a network of public service internship and fellowship opportunities for PBHA volunteers and other Harvard students. Their organization, the PBHA Alumni Association (PBHAAA), will host its first event, a panel on careers in non-profits, at the Phillips Brooks House on March 16.

After an inspiring lunch last year with a friend and Princeton alum who mentioned his work with Project 55--an organization that matches undergraduates and recent graduates with work in the public sector--Beilenson decided to follow suit with Harvard alumni.

"Institutionally it's high time PBHA has an alumni association so that students don't do all their good work and then fall off the service wagon," Beilenson says.

To launch his project, Beilenson left a family publishing venture, the Peter Pauper Press, in the hands of his wife and son. Peter Pauper publishes inspirational gift books and guided journals including Notes to Myself, World's Best Limericks and Moment in Time: My Life at the Dawn of a New Millenium.

"They're kind of like expensive greeting cards," Beilenson says.

An example from Peter Pauper's Charming Petites series, Dreams Can Come True, features cheery celestial symbols in primary colors on its front cover. "We do really neat little things," he says.

Before his 18 years in publishing at Peter Pauper, Beilenson--who changed his name a year ago from Roger Nicholas to Nick--worked briefly as a lawyer and then founded Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc., an affordable housing advocacy group in Westchester County, N.Y.