What is community today? In a world that has become increasingly overwhelming, we often feel disconnected and crave human connection. How can we improve our present relationships and ensure the prosperity of future communities? In this panel presentation, we will explore our summer experiences and how we each worked to rediscover the power of community. Through research, education, outreach, and marketing in various fields, our work demonstrates the power of individuals coming together to shape the world they want to live in. Whether you tap into this power through teaching kids how to take care of the environment and feed themselves, creating programs to help support queer and trans youth feel accepted by their families, conducting research to help inform families and elderly people on legal topics relevant to them, or learning how to support transracially adopted youth, there are limitless ways to invest in your communities.

Moderator: Ximena Abello Hurtado, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Critical Race and Political Economy

Helping Others Feel Valued: Youth Outreach Programs and Donner Appreciation in Nonprofits
Kate Seery ’25, Politics & Gender Studies double major

Impact of Hair Care on Well-Being of Transracially Adopted African American Youth: A Literature Review
Tani Ensign Rivera ’26, Psychology major & Critical Race Political Economy minor

Garden Education: Empowering Little Hand
Luca Gorman ’26, Biology major & Educational Policy and Practice Nexus

Investing through Law
Hannah Heierhoff ’25, Mathematics & French double major