e-Newsletter: February 2006
SMASH Students Are Podcasting!
A group of SMASH students just launched www.smashcast.org, a website where anyone on the web can read the students' stories and listen to their podcasts. Through podcasting, a form of communication growing in popularity, the students create content reflecting their passion for science and technology, explore this new and exciting medium of information dissemination, and hope to connect with other students like themselves.
Podcasts are essentially web feeds of audio files that the students create themselves and to which anyone can subscribe. They're like radio channels of the web, but better because listeners can download episodes and listen to them whenever they want. Podcasting is allowing SMASH students (and anyone else) to produce and publish content without most of the barriers in traditional forms of mass communication like TV, traditional radio, and print. SMASHcasters have most recently talked about getting into top high schools, the iPod Video vs. Zen Vision: M, and Bucky Paper. You can get your weekly dose at www.smashcast.org.
The goals of the SMASH podcasting project are to get the students to explore new technologies and the opportunities they provide, give the students an opportunity to learn how to present their life and passion for science and technology in a compact, clear and engaging format, and down-the-road to facilitate the creation of a larger 'virtual' community of students of color who are passionate about math and science.
The ultimate goal of the SMASH Academy is to encourage high school students from underrepresented communities (Hispanic/Latino, African American and Native American) to pursue studies and excel in math, technology, engineering, or science at top colleges and graduate schools.
IDEAL Needs Your Help to Find Summer Internships
Internships are an invaluable way to give IDEAL scholars a glimpse into real-time workplace situations, allowing them to explore possible career/major options. We need your help to find meaningful opportunities for our talented students to do real work on real projects.
IDEAL scholars are looking for summer internships in:
- community health care/medicine
- investment banking or business management
- architecture or city planning
- theater or film production
- museum or art gallery curating
- advertising
- child and adolescent development (psychology)
- environmental protection
If you have contacts in suitable organizations or are interested in providing a summer internship for an IDEAL Scholar, please call Charles Houston at (415) 946-3036 or [Charles AT LPFI DOT org].
Learn more about IDEAL's internship component here.
Watch highlights of 2005 IDEAL summer internships here.
IDEAL (Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership) provides resources and support to outstanding underrepresented students so they may maximize their academic and leadership opportunities in college and beyond.
Robert Toigo Foundation Collaborates in Corporate Leavers Project
The Robert Toigo Foundation of Oakland, CA joins a growing list of organizations that are collaborating in Level Playing Field Institute's Corporate Leavers Project. The project is examining why talented and driven women, people of color, and LGBT individuals choose to voluntarily leave their corporate positions to pursue new careers in an entirely different sector or the non-profit world, or to become entrepreneurs.
The Robert Toigo Foundation encourages exceptional minority business students to consider working in the field of finance, not only as a rewarding career, but also in order to become "leaders in the global economy." The goal of the foundation is to leverage finance as a "vehicle to promote positive social change." Each year, the foundation selects top minority students in business school to receive Toigo Fellowships. The fellowship is unique, in that it is the only graduate-level program with a focus on leadership development and career services for minority MBAs pursuing careers in finance.
Level Playing Field Institute researchers are conducting interviews with Toigo Fellow alumni who have gone on to join the workforce and then become corporate leavers. The interviews will inform LPFI's study of what companies are doing that prompts people of color and others to voluntarily leave the workplace. The interviews will also assist Toigo in finding new ways to address the challenges that people of color face in finance careers.
The stories of Toigo alumni are filled with examples of unfair corporate practices and how they impede the career advancement of highly skilled, committed professionals. "I loved my job. They gave me a huge amount of responsibility managing a portfolio," said one African American participant. "But I got to a point where I hit a glass ceiling. As I got more and more proficient in my job, there was more pressure to conform. I'm more about spending time getting the job done and going a great job than spending time managing how people think about me."
If you know of other professional organizations whose members have faced barriers to full participation and fulfillment in their chosen careers, prompting them to become corporate leavers, please contact Mary Kate Stimmler at: mkstimmler AT lpfi DOT org. Other organizations participating in the Corporate Leavers Project include: National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Lawyers for One America, Filipina Women's Network, Out and Equal, Human Rights Campaign, and Charles Houston Bar Association.
Additional information about the Robert Toigo Foundation is available at: www.toigofoundation.org.
SMASH Receives $10,000 "Education Impact" Grant from Citigroup Foundation
Level Playing Field Institute's Summer Math and Science Honors ("SMASH") Academy received a $10,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Citigroup. The Foundation's endeavors in the field of education are based on the belief that all children should have access to a high quality education that helps them to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to have a rewarding career, successfully manage their lives, and fully participate in society. The Foundation's grants have worldwide impact, and totaled over $21 million in 2004.
The Citigroup Foundation was drawn to SMASH because it "…has a holistic program which provides low-income students with the opportunity to excel academically, pursue a career in math and science (fields where minorities are traditionally under-represented), and allows individuals the outlet to pursue their dreams," said Jenny C. Flores, Citibank's Community Relations Director for the San Francisco region. "I think SMASH is a great program because it opens the doors to opportunities for many students who may not otherwise have had access to top-quality teachers, mentors, and counselors," she said.
Flores said that the Citigroup Foundation "…is very proud to be associated with Level Playing Field Institute and to be able to underwrite a portion of the SMASH program. The association with LPFI and SMASH helps us reach our long-standing goal to play a key role in the creation of tomorrow's leaders."
Additional information about the SMASH Academy--an intensive, six-week summer residential program of math, science and English classes for high school students from underserved communities--is available at: www.lpfi.org/education/smash.html
To learn more about the philanthropic activities of the Citigroup Foundation, please visit: www.citigroupfoundation.org
Tilt
- a new cartoon series from Level Playing Field Institute
Created by Nate Creekmore- www.creekification.com
