Fall 2025: Scholar Achievements, Community Engagement, and Future Scholars

Originally sent by Mindy Wright on October 22, 2025. This archived newsletter includes announcements and deadlines from that time.

As we welcome the fall season, I’m filled with gratitude for each of you, our partners, donors, and champions, who make The Upward Project’s mission come alive. This time of year offers both reflection and renewal: a moment to celebrate our Scholars’ incredible summer internship successes, to invite new students into our growing community, and to ask for your help as we plan for the year ahead.

Below, you’ll find highlights from our Scholar Internship Outcomes, details about our Prospective Student Mixer for future applicants, and a link to our Supporter Engagement Survey, your opportunity to share how you’d like to be part of our continued growth.

Thank you for walking alongside us in this work. Your engagement fuels every opportunity we create for our Scholars.

Call to Action: Engagement Survey

As we close out 2025 and plan for the year ahead, your involvement matters. The Upward Project is always evolving, and we want to make sure we’re doing it with you.

We invite you to take a few minutes to complete our short Engagement Survey. Your input will help us better understand your professional background, network, areas of interest, and how you’d like to connect with our Scholars and mission.

In the survey, you’ll have the chance to:

• Share your career expertise by selecting the pathways you have experience or connections in, from STEM and Business to Law, Healthcare, and more.

• Explore opportunities to get involved, such as informational interviews with Scholars, hosting career visits, providing industry insights, or connecting us to your company’s giving initiatives.

• Indicate ways to collaborate directly with our Executive Director, Mindy Wright, on meaningful next steps.

Your insights will help us build stronger bridges between our Scholars and the professional community. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.

Spotlight: Scholar Internship Outcomes

This fall, we analyzed both Scholar self-evaluations and supervisor feedback from summer internships and the results were remarkable.

Across all five core competencies, Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving, Communication, Teamwork & Collaboration, Professionalism & Work Ethic, and Career Management, Scholars’ self-assessments aligned with their supervisors’ evaluations 94% of the time, reflecting strong self-awareness and performance consistency. Supervisors reported Agreeing or Strongly Agreeing that Scholars excelled across all five areas 95% of the time, with an impressive average rating of 4.6 out of 5 on likelihood to rehire.

Recurring themes in supervisor feedback highlighted Scholars’ strong work ethic, professionalism, and leadership. Supervisors also emphasized their resourcefulness, adaptability, curiosity, and ability to build meaningful relationships.

These results affirm that our Scholars are not only ready for opportunity, they’re ready to lead.

Invite: Prospective Student Mixer

We’d love your help connecting eligible high school juniors and seniors with our community of high-achieving, first-generation Scholars to join upcoming TUP cohorts.

We’re thrilled to host our inaugural Prospective Student Mixer, in partnership with Klaviyo, on Monday, November 10, 2025, from 5:30–7:30 PM at 125 Summer St., Boston, MA. Students will enjoy dinner, hear from current Scholars, and learn more about The Upward Project’s programs and application process.

Students eligible to attend the mixer are high-achieving, first-generation juniors or seniors from low-income backgrounds who live in the greater Boston area. Space is limited so please encourage students to RSVP early.

Know a high school junior or senior who would be a great fit for The Upward Project? Please share this newsletter or RSVP link with high school juniors and seniors, or pass it along to educators and counselors who work with them. We can’t wait to welcome the next cohort of Scholars, and we’re so thankful for your partnership in finding them!

If you are interested in connecting with The Upward Project, please fill out our engagement interest form. A member of our team will reach out to you.