OUR MISSION
REIMAGINING THE
CAREER TRAJECTORY
FOR FUTURE MAKERS
THE PROBLEM
The absence of Black men working in public education is well known and researched. Only 2% of teachers across the country are Black men. Many well-intentioned organizations are seeking to change this reality, but the work could take generations given the litany of systemic problems that still exist. Of equal importance is the need to help close the opportunity gap and expose young Black men to what is available to them once they leave college.
Too often, students with financial means garner access to summer exposure opportunities that their less affluent classmates cannot afford to pursue. Family situations, the need to work to support oneself, and a variety of other reasons prevent less affluent students from pursuing things like internships (paid or unpaid) and professional development programs.
What rising African American male college juniors and seniors need more than anything else are exposure and opportunity. Given the pipeline and persistence problems that exist in urban education for black men, the need to show young people a path before they enter the workforce is essential. Enter Summer House Institute.
THE SUMMER PROGRAM
A one of its kind fellowship experience, a select cohort of Black men, rising juniors and seniors in college, will participate in an intensive 4-week fellowship designed to expose them to careers in the education sector.
Specifically, we aspire to meet the following outcomes by the end of the first summer fellowship cohort:
80% of CMs will increase their exposure to and knowledge of quality leaders and mentors in the public education space
80% of CMs will increase their knowledge of career opportunities in the education field
80% of CMs will increase their knowledge and awareness of key issues the K-12, higher-education, and non-profit fields
80% of CMs will gain technical skills of creating, recording, and producing their own podcast episodes
PROGRAM PILLARS
LISTEN + LEARN
Participants will hear from top thinkers, practitioners and leaders in the space to better understand the role of leadership and how to approach the work and world of Public Education.
OBSERVE + ACT
Throughout the Observe and Act sessions, SHI CMs will have the opportunity to observe leaders from the Listen and Learn sections in their day-to-day practices.
PD SESSIONS
Participants will be exposed to interactive PD lessons from SHI Leaders so that they can learn and grow in knowledge. Cohort members will then be prompted to reflect upon their learnings from the prior week to demonstrate mastery of new content.
CAPSTONE
The capstone project for the SHI’s cohort will be focused on lifting up and empowering each CM through podcasting. Throughout the summer, CMs will learn the basics of recording, producing, and editing their own podcast episode.
CURRICULUM
Throughout the week, CM’s will learn from SHI leaders culminating in Professional Development on Fridays. This will allow CMs to take time to reflect, question, and engage further with the core themes from each week. Additionally, CMs will be introduced to the process of creating their own podcast and listening to current podcasts that focus on educational issues affecting Black males. After these PD sessions, CMs will have successfully recorded and uploaded their own podcast episodes based on their observations and learnings over the summer.