June 28, 2023

Sasaki Foundation kicks off 2023 SEED program on July 10

June 28, 2023

Sasaki Foundation kicks off 2023 SEED program on July 10

Estefany Benitez

The Sasaki Foundation 2023 Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) program kicks off on July 10. SEED is a six-week paid internship introducing high school students to the world of design. This summer our program will employ 44 high school and 8 college interns compared to 11 and 2 interns in 2022. This growth is possible thanks to our partnerships with SuccessLink from the City of Boston’s Office of Youth Employment Opportunity, and with the Metro North Workforce Board through the Commonwealth Corporation. Sasaki has also significantly increased their mentorship capacity to support our interns.

This year’s selection process was rigorous and competitive with an impressive and diverse pool of candidates. Our 2023 high school interns represent 10 Boston neighborhoods as well as Belmont, Cambridge, Everett, Melrose, Somerville, and Watertown. Our students also represent 13 Boston schools and 9 regional schools.

This summer our program continues to offer an introduction to design principles, and adds a second, more advanced curriculum for students with a design background.

Our beginner SEED students will create conceptual designs for a new urban farm for Groundwork Somerville, a local organization facing displacement due to the rapid development of Somerville. Groundwork Somerville is a 2022 Design Grants winner, and through their grant process expressed a need for growth. Their goals include a larger space for farming and harvesting, the creation of indoor and outdoor educational spaces, a marketplace, and the relocation of their offices to the farm site.

Groundwork Somerville’s New Urban Farm perspective
image courtesy Groundwork Somerville and Sasaki
Summer 2023 10 World Trade Youth Design Competition
Image courtesy Isenberg Projects
Our advanced SEED students will participate in the inaugural 10 World Trade Youth Design Competition, organized by Isenberg Projects. Students will compete against teams from YouthBuild Boston and Digital Ready. Each team will design a creative kiosk for arts-based nonprofits and artists to feature their creative work on rotation in the public ground floor space. The winning design for the creative kiosk will be evaluated on design innovation, implementation, and functionality for a range of users interacting with the space. Students will present final proposals on August 16.

Boston Global Investors (BGI) is the lead developer behind 10 World Trade, a 17-story commercial building designed by Sasaki that is currently under construction, and that is built with the goal of implementing an ambitious vision for diversity, accessibility, and culture throughout the future site. The 10 World Trade team has gone through a community-informed design and planning process, hosting public meetings and workshops. The project is now 18 months into construction and approximately 18 months from completion.

We are excited to see what this year’s creative group of aspiring design professionals will create and we extend a warm welcome to our 2023 SEED cohort.

  • Belmont: Merina (2022 SEED alum)
  • Boston
    • Back Bay: Katelyn and Parmis
    • Brighton: Ava and Evie
    • Chinatown: Edwarda
    • Dorchester: Alexis, Avaughn, Eboni, Mackenzi, Mariah, and Violette
    • East Boston: Angela and Anna
    • Hyde Park: Caleb, Cesar Diego, and Sophie
    • Roslindale: Amos and Samuel
    • Roxbury: Divine and Victor
    • South Boston: Naomi and Leana
    • West Roxbury: Michelle, Nathaniel, and Sophia
  • Cambridge: Clinton, Egal, Eyasu, Garabed, Jay, Malena, Michele, Matteo, Mohammed (2022 SEED alum), Robel, Safiwah, Sophia, and Yamanuel
  • Everett: Amelia
  • Melrose: Maryam
  • Somerville: Imani
  • Watertown: Sidney

We also welcome our 2023 SEED senior leadership and teaching assistants, joining us this month as we prepare for SEED to kick off in July.

  • Our 2023 youth manager, Folajimi Bademosi, is a graduate student at Clark University with extensive experience in youth program design, management, and execution, particularly through his work at the Fame Foundation, a youth-run and youth-serving nonprofit in Nigeria.
  • Our 2023 senior teaching assistant, Emily Menard, is a graduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a passion to become an educator in the design field and broad experience in education, environmental science, youth development, design instruction, and professional practice.

Our teaching assistants will mentor and play a crucial role in helping the SEED teams comprehend design concepts they are learning  from their design mentors. Teaching assistants will also teach SEED interns how to use design programs that they need to visualize their designs.

  • Ezekiel Lucas, architecture student at the Boston Architectural College
  • Sabiha Miahjee, landscape architecture student at Northeastern University (2020 SEED alum)
  • Noushin Nawal, architecture student at the Boston Architectural College
  • Nisarga Ramesh, architecture student at Northeastern University
  • Ruth Saenz, architecture student at UMass Amherst
  • Jillian Ziegler, landscape architecture student at the Boston Architectural College

The Sasaki Foundation also extends our thanks to all our current 2023 SEED partnering organizations, who are collectively making SEED possible.

Funders

Partners

Supporting Organizations

Follow us on social media for more frequent updates from our 2023 SEED cohort!

 

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