Community
Participants joined a diverse community of students in tech or engineering. They developed friendships close-knit support networks. Cohorts included large numbers of women, Black and Latinx students, first-generation college students, those with disabilities, and students in the LGBTQIA+ community.
Skills
Students developed critical skills—negotiation, effective problem-solving, communication—to help them navigate academics and the workplace. They also learned about the unspoken norms, expectations, and etiquette in the workplace, preparing them for success in internships and early career.
Mentorship & Networking
Students have the opportunity to learn from and network with professionals from a variety of industries and backgrounds who come to class as guest speakers. The summer program is followed by a mentorship program focusing on career exploration, how to negotiate in the workplace, and growing professional networks to access apprenticeship and internship opportunities.
The Leadership Academy was organized by the Institute of Diversity Sciences, with funding from the National Science Foundation, and housed at UMass Amherst. The Institute of Diversity Sciences is directed by Dr. Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta, provost professor in psychological and brain sciences.
The Leadership Academy’s teaching team was led by Dr. Hannah Riley Bowles, chair of the Management, Leadership, and Decision Sciences area at Harvard Kennedy School, and Dr. Rati Thanawala, a 2018 Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow with a 39-year career in the tech industry.
Rati Thanawala | Hannah Riley Bowles | Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta |
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| [email protected] |