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March marks one year since the COVID-19 pandemic shook our worlds. A full year of uncertainty, anxiety, grief, and interruptions to our best laid plans. While we were rattled in the early months of the pandemic, our community quickly rallied to care for one another and to forge ahead with resilience.
We can begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel, but the blowbacks against our communities continue as we see a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. I encourage you to read the statement I recently shared with our community.
We fight for a more equitable future with the same ferocity as we celebrate our brilliance and joy. We most recently celebrated Lunar New Year and we spotlighted contemporary Black excellence and changemakers during Black History Month. In March, we honor International Women's Day. Here at OppNet we are proud to be surrounded by many strong female leaders on our Board of Directors, Associate Board of Directors, Alumni Leadership Council, Student Board of Directors, and Staff.
The need for our work continues. We’re welcoming hundreds of volunteers to workshops where they offer our Fellows the opportunity to apply and practice the skills they build week after week. We’re hosting dynamic and interactive virtual college tours for our 11th grade Fellows so their college plans are not thwarted by the pandemic. We’re partnering with employers to build inclusive workplaces where our young people can thrive because they feel they belong.
We persist with conviction, guided by our community, values, and institutional courage and knowledge.
FELLOWS IN ACTION
In February, our 11th grade Fellows attended our first-ever virtual college trips! Over the course of 3 days, more than 130 Fellows met with representatives from 12 different colleges and universities and engaged in panel discussions with current Fellows and alumni at schools including Skidmore, Tufts, University of Chicago, Trinity, Swarthmore, Columbia, and more!
CAREER FLUENCY® PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
OppNet hosted focus groups and workshops with new and longstanding partners, such as Cowen Institute in New Orleans and College Track National, to build out systems for career exploration, network building, and roll out our open-access learning platform, UninterruptED: Unstoppable Learning.
OPPORTUNITY ON DEMAND GALA
Join us this May for our first-ever Opportunity On Demand Gala to virtually celebrate our incredible students and community!
GIVE: Make a gift to support our work.
RECEIVE: You will receive a curated gift box including meaningful student stories and products.
EXPERIENCE: Access our Gala site and exclusive digital content through the QR code in your gift box.
Click here to learn more, or email us here.
Opportunity Talks Virtual Fireside Chat Series Season 1 clips are now available on YouTube! Check out our playlist full of short clips from previous Opportunity Talks with top executives such as Bozoma Saint John of Netflix and Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code. Watch now!
AiLun elaborates on how trainings can help historically underrepresented employeesthrive in the workplace. Read here.
Also, check out AiLun's third Q&A with CollegeXpress on the "opportunity gap" and how to close it—here.
Watch our Managing Director of Program, Ray Reyes, discuss our work to support underrepresented students on their paths to college and career success in Cappfinity's "Future Strong" LinkedIn live event here.
NextGenScience featured our Summer Science Research Program which exposed high school Fellows to university science! Read here (p. 31-33).
