In my summer fellowship, I analyzed NYC youth education data to generate a series of education policy recommendations and reports for South Bronx Rising Together (SBRT), a joint initiative between Children’s Aid and Phipps Neighborhood. SBRT is a community-wide effort with a network of neighborhood residents and program providers to build pathways of success for children and youth from cradle through college and career. My summer project culminated in a landscape analysis of 21 community schools within the Children’s Aid network. 

COVID-19 has had devastating consequences for schools across the nation. For the children, youth, and their families in high-needs NYC neighborhoods that SBRT and Children’s Aid support, it is important to process data and feedback in real time. My landscape analysis synthesized important K-12 education and community health indicators to support school decision-makers and community-based organizations in making data-driven decisions.

My time at CBS prepared me well for the qualitative and quantitative research I conducted this summer for South Bronx Rising Together. First, the social enterprise track in the MBA program prepared me for working at the intersection of business, nonprofit management, and education. Second, the data analytics coursework and database management class in particular equipped me with the skills to aggregate, manage, and query large datasets. Learning to use languages like Python and SQL expanded my data analysis toolkit and elevated my strategic thinking. Finally, courses like Leader’s Voice helped me to powerfully communicate my ideas, presentations, and perspectives to a diverse audience of community stakeholders. Beyond these specific programs, the core curriculum at CBS provided a strong knowledge base to think quickly in a time of great crisis in education and our communities.

The pandemic and new norm of remote working presented several challenges during my summer fellowship. Largely, these challenges were technological in nature and impacted the way I had to conduct research and receive feedback from the research team. First, the pandemic accelerated the pace at which the education community and schools needed to make critical decisions for their students, families, and educators. The summer presented a huge challenge to schools and education leaders who simultaneously completed an unprecedented virtual school year while planning multiple school reopening strategies. Of course, this time and resource constraint made it challenging to schedule time for robust qualitative interviews with many different school  and community stakeholders. Second, working remotely for the whole summer made team communication ever more important. While our whole team was well acquainted with Zoom and creating opportunities to connect in virtual spaces, nothing quite replaces the in-person work experience with a team. I’m sure I am not alone in looking forward to being able to connect with my fellowship team for coffee or a meal when it is safe to do so. 

From this summer, I am even more committed to using my resources and skills to advance educational equity for students and their families across the country. The summer fellowship afforded me an opportunity to deepen my knowledge of education policy and its implementation in real-time. Through the many Bronx community convenings that South Bronx Rising Together hosted, I learned how stakeholder engagement and collective impact could be facilitated thoughtfully in a virtual setting. Beyond this, I’ve also seen the huge need for data literacy and usability in our education systems. While many types of data exist to support school leaders and decision makers, oftentimes it is not readily accessible or actionable. More than ever, we need business and education leaders to build better tools to empower the educators working with students and their families everyday. I will keep this experience in mind as I continue my own work at the nexus of civics, technology, and education.