1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs

2022 Summer Bulldogs

Now completing our third year of 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs, we are thrilled to share that we placed 99 students in 74 summer internship projects throughout the US and abroad. These placements were funded by over $323,000 in awards through OCS’s Summer Experience Award (SEA) and fellowships from the Office of Fellowships & Funding. See Footnote (1) for the List of 2022 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs Internships.

Yale School of Public Health Professor Sarah Lowe, a 2021 and 2022 sponsor, highlights her experience, “It has been my pleasure to serve as a mentor for the 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs program. My 2021 student, Victoria Chung, revamped my lab’s social media presence and continues to be an integral member of a systematic review project. My current student, Rhayna Poulin, has immersed herself in a range of projects and did an outstanding job co-authoring a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. I have been so impressed by both interns. They are intelligent, hardworking, and kind young people with a commitment to promoting social justice and community wellbeing. I feel very fortunate to have them as members of my research lab.”

In a nutshell, here are the highlights from our 2022 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs internship program:

  • 126 Yale College student applicants
  • 312 applications
  • 96 different internships; 99 student interns
  • Interns represented 63% first-gen; 95% on financial aid
  • Interns class breakdown: 47% Class of ‘25; 39% ‘24; 14% ‘23
  • 86 sponsors participated (97% of those who applied received an intern)
  • Sponsors breakdown: (33%) 27 Yale faculty (33%), 45 alum(54%), 13 other (16%)
  • Of the 86 sponsors, 61 were non-profit organizations offered (excluding Yale); 49 Non-profits (excluding Yale) with interns
  • 46 alumni volunteers
  • Total Yale alumni engaged 81 (45 sponsors and 46 volunteers)
  • 3 virtual workshops with 50+ participants on average each
  • 3 dedicated Gmail accounts – 1stGenYaleSummerBulldogs – 1,966 conversations
  • SB22Volunteers – 224 conversations; SB22AskAlumni – 39 conversations. 

Collaboration with Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance (YANA): To increase our non-profit internships, 1stGenYale reached out to Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance (YANA) in December 2021. By connecting with YANA, we expanded service to our communities, increased alumni engagement, and advanced Yale’s impact among all sectors of society. Specifically, our non-profit placements increased from 2 in 2021 to 61 totaling 69 of 99 interns in 2022 — thanks to YANA and a successful collaboration!

Sponsor Josh Packard, ED of Springtide Research Institute, summed it up best, “The 1stGenYale interns were a vital part in helping to get our Race and Religion Lab started. They dove in head first from day one and got to work. Excellent students. Excellent program.” Read the report recently published: https://religionnews.com/2022/09/20/in-faith-communities-gen-z-minorities-struggle-to-find-belonging/

Impact

Intern Tyler MacBeth ’25, who worked on “Social and Emotional Learning Activity in States” for Social Emotional Learning Alliance for the United States (SEL4US) shares, “Being able to intern after my first year with a company even remotely related to what I think I want to do as a career after college makes me feel as though I’ve made the most of this summer because, by doing this, I’ve taken a real step forward, both in finding what exactly I want to do as well as making myself a more attractive candidate down the line, as opposed to working the same or a similar job as I did in high school which I would consider a lateral step.”

Total 2020-2022 results: Since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, our Yale alumni volunteer-led initiative has placed 150FGLI students in summer internships in research at Yale, arts, education (including other colleges and universities), government, public service, and social justice programs, and funded over $500,000 in awards from the Yale SEA program and Office of Fellowships and Funding.

  • 2022 – Placed 99 Yale College FGLI students (63% first-gen, 95% on financial aid) in 74 summer internship projects (1), funded over $323,000 by Yale awards. 
  •  2021 – Placed 44 Yale College FGLI students, reflecting 70% with 27 faculty from the Yale Schools of Management, Medicine, and Public Health and two non-profits, and funded by $153,000 in awards from SEA and Yale Fellowships and Funding Office. One measure of our success is that YSPH faculty hired 5 of our Summer Bulldogs interns to continue their work and paid throughout the 2021-2022 academic year. 
  •   2020 – Placed 6 Yale College FGLI students funded by $24,000 in SEA awards with Professor Daniel Markovitz at the Yale Law School.
In Conclusion

Now in our 6th year, 1stGenYale’s mission supports first-generation low-income Yale alumni by creating a community to connect, share, and support each other and students through intentional programming creating this internship program. By celebrating cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, and thought diversity, we provide our 5,000 alumni & students with a home of inclusion, opportunity, and lifelong friendships to have a positive impact on the lives of our students and fellow alumni– all in tandem with Yale and the YAA mission.

Yale College student, Sindi Daci ’24, summed it up best when she describes her 2022 summer internship: “I chose an internship through 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs in order to join a community that supports first generation college students as they explore their career interests and passions. I was excited to join the program and gain experience from my internship while also receiving support and guidance from 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs during my journey.”

See additional quotes from student interns and sponsors in the Appendix.

Footnotes

(1) List of 2022 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs Internships – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b5FOV8gyVYJLCe3LoD8YSHt1W-KzN2z1W4C3d7svGy0/edit?usp=sharing

Appendix

2022 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs Photo Album:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/jQYMsnZTgoy7qx9n8

1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs Internship Recordings: