April 2023 Updates
At the beginning of the month, we had another great site visit to the Cardinal Hayes High School, visiting our BridgeUP+OUT program. The Senior students are in the process of choosing between colleges and beginning the planning process of deciding on a major. After sitting in a focus group with students from 9th-12th grade, the comradery that exists between them is more than apparent. It was so wonderful to see a genuine want from students to see each other succeed. Beyond just the academic support the students receive, students have found community within the BridgeUP+OUT program. We are so proud of the students and their achievements. We wish those who are graduating soon all the best in their remaining few months at Cardinal Hayes and look forward to hearing what colleges and post-high school plans that are pursued!
Later in the month, a group of girls who are a part of our BridgeUP+OUT program got the chance to travel from the Bronx, to Newark, to visit some of our BOLD Scholars at Rutgers University. The two groups of young women from each of our programs had the opportunity to sit down with one another and finally meet face to face! It was a wonderful experience for both parties, and a memorable learning experience for our BridgeUP girls, for many of which it was their first time on a college campus ever. A wonderful crossover from two of signature programs that we hope will happen again in the future!
Within our Empowering Women vertical, we are so excited to welcome Dr. Emily Schwab to the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network and HGB family! Emily is taking on the role as UConn’s next BOLD Women’s Leadership Program Director. Emily is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a PhD in Education, as well as Williams College, where she earned a BA in History with a concentration in Latina/o Studies. Most recently, Emily worked as an Adjunct Professor at Rhode Island College, teaching K-12 teaching methods and English for Speakers of Other Languages to a cohort of urban school educators. Emily comes to UConn and the BOLD program with significant experience in mentorship, action research, participatory methodologies, and community-university partnerships.
Additionally, in the world of BOLD WLN, four BOLD Scholars at Rutgers-Newark had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to attend the HACU Capitol Forum. The Capitol Forum brings together leaders and students of colleges and universities, public policymakers, key federal agency leaders, allied organizations, corporate, community and philanthropic representatives at what has become a powerful national platform for winning public - and private sector support for Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Our Scholars got the chance to interact with policymakers, as well as meet with representatives from NJ Senator Bob Menendez’s office.
Within our Empowering Innovation Vertical, we’ve again had some impressive updates and milestones from Dr. Lucy King and her work with Save the Elephants. She and the organization have managed to distribute it to 239 people/project partners in 50 countries. These countries include Botswana, Ethiopia, Germany, Tanzania, and Japan. Anyone, anywhere, can access the tools and download each education sheet individually, and for free, depending on their interest and internet bandwidth. Check it out here!
Also in Innovation, at the beginning of the month, there was a fantastic lecture given at the Brown Institute of Media Innovation by the US Chief Data Scientist, Denice Ross and Deputy Data Scientist, Dominique Duval-Diop. They introduced and discussed the idea of “equitable data”. Through the Equitable Data Working Group, they have been tasked to “identify inadequacies and areas of improvement within Federal data and outline a strategy for increasing data available for measuring equity and representing the diversity of the American people and their experience” (From their report “A Vision for Equitable Data,” in April 2022). It revolved around questions such as “Who gets counted?” and “Which situations are documented?” It was a huge success and largely informative to students and participants alike. It was followed up by a student lunch with both the Chief and Deputy Data Scientists.
Toward the end of April, there was a very special performance at the Brown Institute, “Water Rhythms: Listening to Climate Change” by Susie Ibarra. Water Rhythms: Listening to Climate Change is a collaboration between Ibarra and glaciologist, geographer, and climate scientist Dr. Michele Koppes, which maps water rhythms from source to sink. Ibarra’s composition is derived from field recordings of five global watersheds, including the Greenland ice sheet and glacier-fed rivers of the Himalayas. Read more about it here!
Check back at the beginning of next month for updates from May!