My exciting -working- summer in Boston with Education Pioneers!

I had a great experience working to the Graduate Summer Fellowship at Education Pioneers, a national non-profit organization that promotes leadership towards the Education Reform. I am passionate about reducing inequality and better understanding of the education issues would allow me to find my niche in this sector. From a social perspective, there isn't anything more important than education as it is the best way to equip people for life!

As a fellow, I worked for the Strategic Planning Office at Boston Public Schools. The district is changing its student assignment policy to prioritize quality and options closer to students’ home. This policy is going to be implemented next year and it will impact the enrollment of the entire district. There, I created a progression model to find out building usage efficiency opportunities and prepared enrollment projections for SPED (special education) students. Both projects are connected to the long-term capital investment plan and the district initiative to increase inclusion opportunities for students with disabilities. I took advantage of this opportunity to learn more about finances, evaluations, development, IT, budgeting from the school and central office view.

On the other hand, I enjoyed a great cohort experience as I talked to people with different backgrounds, professional experience (ie, teachers, policy mindset guys) and schools from all over the country. I got a better understanding of education reform and the opportunity gap we are facing. More importantly, I had the chance to have really open and honest conversations about issues in education in a very casual and open-minded environment. I met entrepreneurs, tech people, school leaders and funds that are supporting innovation at schools – I would not know about all these initiatives otherwise!

Last but not least, the program promoted social interactions and the opportunity to share leadership stories among fellows, and all of which were as cool as inspirational! Personally, I appreciated close contact with teachers and getting to know professionals that are working passionately every day to improve education!

Felipe is a 2nd year MBA in Boston University's Public & Nonprofit Program. He is interested in the social sector and enjoys conversations about how to solve complex social issues. During the first year he collaborated to run the Internship Fund, a student led-initiative that supports financially students that want to pursue social impact and career accelerating internships. Last but not least, he loves spending time with his nephews and playing soccer.