July has been a month of learning, exploration, and summer heat.

The newest cohort of BridgeUP STEM Scholars journeyed through the launch of their introductory coding intensive throughout June. BridgeUP STEM works to keep young people engaged in STEM at a critical time, when research shows many students start losing interest between ages 11 and 15. This summer, nearly 50 committed Scholars spent weeks building coding skills in a research university setting at Georgia Tech. This summer work guides and prepares Scholars for the academic year ahead, where they’ll dive into real-world computing research alongside Faculty Mentors and the undergraduate Helen Fellows. Scholars reflected on their intensive experience and shared their favorite moments and memories with the staff they’ve gotten to know all season long.

BridgeUP Environment participants are out and enjoying their summers in their respective crews across NYC. From Van Cortlandt Park to Randall’s Island, they have been busy connecting with nature and each other while making a difference in their broader community!

In our Empowering Women vertical, we have some fun summer updates from our BOLD Scholars at Colby-Sawyer College. hear from Debbie Swiatek, Class of ’27, Graphic Design major, on her experience of traveling to Italy this summer:

“During my experience with the Florence School of Fine Arts, I had the opportunity to create a set of linocut prints in a professional printmaking studio. By being in Florence, I was surrounded by art and used what I saw as a basis for my series of prints. I was able to work and develop my technical skills alongside wonderful mentors and fellow students. Working with Career Services and BOLD has helped me to develop my resume and portfolio for such opportunities, as well as provided the resources to help with study abroad.” 

We are so thrilled that our BOLD Scholars are engaging in experiences that will propel them forward in their various interests and majors. 

In our Empowering Innovation vertical, this summer, our grantee the Youth Journalism Coalition (YJC) launched the Journalism for All Summer Newsroom Internship, a first-of-its-kind citywide program placing high school student journalists directly in local newsrooms across New York City. Students kicked things off in July with an orientation covering both logistics and the realities of newsroom life, including a panel of working journalists who shared advice on early-career professionalism, finding your voice, approaching interviews, and handling editorial feedback. Panelists Fran Reilly, Jere Hester, Jeydah Jenkins, Madeleine Thompson, and Troy Closson gave students a strong foundation heading into their first week on the job.

From there, interns went straight into the field. At Bushwick Daily, student journalists are working under internship coordinator Cameron Leo to build a Grocery Price Index, comparing grocery costs across Bushwick, Ridgewood, and surrounding neighborhoods. Meanwhile, at the Broadway Banner, a pop-up newsroom of the Broadway Education Alliance, students spent the week covering Camp Broadway, interviewing students and staff and attending a production of the off-Broadway show Spelling Bee.

The program also introduced YJC Wednesdays, weekly professional development sessions designed to build newsroom-ready skills. In week one, students learned vertical video production from Chase McLeary (Producer, Fortune), explored audience engagement strategies with Jen Walsh (Head of Audience Development, Morning Brew), and heard firsthand from Christina Carrega and Cayla Bamberger about the process behind their heavily researched published pieces.

“I am incredibly grateful to have gotten the opportunity to be a part of the YJC community and to have the privilege of working in a newsroom, which is beyond my wildest dreams. I can’t wait to showcase my skills, learn from others around me, and further my professional and personal growth as I embark on this wonderful journey!”

• Summer intern, Alyson C. of BRIC TV and Early College Charter School

They kept up the momentum in their second week with the Journalism for All Summer Newsroom Internship, placing NYC high school journalists in newsrooms across the city for hands-on, real-world experience. It’s the kind of mentorship and access our Foundation is proud to invest in. Interns at the historic Amsterdam News began reporting and voted on a name for the youth publication they’re building together: On the Record. At Vamos Forward, interns recorded a podcast episode on bilingual education for the Materia Pendiente podcast, while reporters at the Broadway Banner interviewed the co-founder of the Museum of Broadway and sat down with Ellen Hart of Ellen’s Stardust Diner. Students also toured The New York Times Printing Plant to see how hundreds of thousands of newspapers are printed each day. As Broadway Banner intern Khloe J., a student at Park Slope Collegiate, put it: “This opportunity has shown me that there’s a world outside of my block… my whole life is ahead of me, I just had to start living it.”

Finally, in Empowering Innovation, we have some exciting news from recent Genius Grants recipients, Lindsay Stradley and Judaline Cassidy with FreshLife and Tools & Tiaras,  respectively. First, at FreshLife, Genius Grant recipient Lindsay Stradley and the team at Fresh Life shared a progress update on their HGB supported program which is designed to build capacity and connection among their Fresh Life Operators (FLOs). As part of Fresh Life’s effort to empower women as sanitation changemakers, the organization convened a training for 80 FLOs from the Kwa Ruben, Kamkunji, Mathare, and Makadara informal settlements in Nairobi. Delivered in partnership with Tiko Kenya, the session gave this select group the space to strengthen leadership skills, build confidence, and explore new career and community leadership opportunities.

Through discussions and peer learning, participants reflected on how sanitation work has shaped their livelihoods and confidence, while also naming the barriers—fromstereotypes to safety concerns—that still limit participation in the field. Facilitators encouraged participants to see themselves as advocates and leaders, and many expressed interest in growing beyond toilet operations into roles as mentors, hygiene advocates, and community mobilizers. The training laid the groundwork for future leadership pathways, identifying FLOs with the potential to become Community Sanitation Champions and peer leaders within Fresh Life’s network. We’re proud to support Lindsay and the Fresh Life team as they continue building a stronger foundation of changemakers driving forward this transformative, community-based initiative in Kenya!

Genius Grant recipient Judaline Cassidy created Tools & Tiaras because she knew a program had to exist to show girls ages 6-17 that jobs don’t have genders. Through hands-on training in plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, and more, the program exposes, inspires, and mentors girls to become trailblazers in the vocational trades and beyond.

This summer, that mission came to life at T&T camp. Campers explored architecture with Deborah Rojas and her team at Rojas AP, learning how building façades come together and how architects bring ideas to life. They’ve also stepped into VR welding, explored HVAC systems, and learned about crane operations alongside the team at Vinci, and partnered with Skanska USA for a day of 360° laser scanning, MEP drawing literacy, and hands-on building design using LEGO models. Through each experience, campers aren’t just learning about careers, they’re trying them on. For Judaline and the Tools & Tiaras team, that exposure is the point: every new skill and every new field a camper encounters expands what she believes is possible for her own future, building the confidence to shape the choices she makes down the road.

We’re proud to support Judaline and the Tools & Tiaras team as they continue building a pipeline of young women who see themselves as future builders, engineers, and innovators, one hands-on experience at a time!

This summer has already been so fruitful, we can’t wait to see what the next month will bring.