Summer Search CEO, Ursulina Ramirez reflects on our 35th anniversary and taking bold steps toward the year ahead.

---

This year has been one of reflection and action—in the same way we ask thousands of Summer Searchers as they step into new spaces and respond to challenges, our organization has done the same. And just like our Summer Searchers, we’ve spent this last year reflecting first on who we’ve been, how we’ve done, and what it means to become something new.

Summer Search is at a pivotal moment in our organization’s story—looking back on these past 35 years to guide and reimagine who we want to become while still honoring our past. Change is never easy. It brings uncertainty—and that’s especially hard when the world around us feels like it is shifting too.

When Linda started Summer Search in 1990, she simply wanted to give a small number of high school students a summer experience they may not have had otherwise given their circumstances. The world also looked very different than it does today:

• Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years.
• The Berlin Wall had just fallen.
• The World Wide Web had its first server, and by the end of the year, a website was born.
• NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope so we could see farther into space.
• Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and In Living Color premiered.

It’s now 2025 and our participants are living in a radically different and transformed world—one where they are connected 24/7 and where AI is evolving daily. And unfortunately, one where global conflict and instability have remained constant from 1990 to now. The difference is that we are now plugged into it constantly—through an unrelenting stream of updates, alerts, and headlines—our fight, flight, or freeze mode being triggered by the minute.

And yet, what hasn’t changed fast enough are the systems around us that shape opportunity.

• Students are still being taught in outdated models.
• Youth development frameworks haven’t shifted meaningfully.
• Access to higher education remains inequitable and incomplete.

So yes, it’s our time to evolve—but not by letting go of who we are. We are, and have always been, an organization committed to developing purpose-driven leaders. We know our why and that hasn’t changed.

So, while the why remains steady, the who, what, where, and how are what I’m thinking deeply about. And that’s exactly what our current strategic planning process is designed to explore:

• What needs to be true for us to serve more young people?
• What ideas can we explore, and how might our program evolve to deepen impact?

What 2025 Looked Like

This year, we took a clear step into our future while also honoring the community that brought us this far. We celebrated:

• The leaders who paved the way—including Sasha Kovriga (one of our original 14 Summer Searchers!) and Stephanie DiMarco, two incredible volunteers leaders with more than 50+ years of services combined.
• Linda’s powerful storytelling at our Alumni Summit—reminding us of how it all began and the importance of gratitude in everything we do.
• Growing our community to nearly 10,000 Summer Searchers and serving more than 2,700 high school and post-secondary participants this year—remarkable, considering we started with fourteen young people in 1990.

We focused deeply on two core areas: quality and fundraising.

On program quality, we:

• Strengthened our data systems so that we can better share the milestones our Summer Searchers are achieving and the impact of our program.
• Revised job descriptions to better reflect mentor work and strengthen our culture so each and every staff members understands their role in moving our mission forward.
• Reintroduced observations to support real-time feedback and learning—because the cycle of feedback is ongoing in pursuit of growth.
• Improved onboarding for mentors so that every new mentor who joins our organization has the tools to successfully support our young people from day one.

On fundraising and mission advancement, we:

• Raised more than $20 million—fueling both present needs and future vision and ensuring our commitment to long-term supports for every young person who joins Summer Search.
• Evolved our financial modeling to better support sustainable growth.

We also took bold steps forward:

• Launched a new strategic planning process to put into place a plan for our future.
• Introduced a centralized career services program for young alumni after hearing this is a top need for them to feel ready and successful as they step into their careers.
• Developed and delivered external trainings based on our Depth Mentoring model to share our 35+ years of expertise and broaden our reach.

Looking Ahead: The Theme for 2026 is Clarity

There’s a saying I’ve been sitting with lately: “Clear is kind.”

And I believe that. Being clear on who we are, what we do, and how we do it, will help us work better, lead better, and serve better.

Clarity doesn’t mean perfection—we’ll still have starts and stops. But it gives us focus, alignment, and the foundation to think boldly and practically about how we reach more young people. It means evaluating what’s working (and what’s not), making tough decisions about where not to invest, and creating the conditions for meaningful innovation. When we’re clear on our purpose and priorities, bold ideas have room to thrive in the right direction.

Most importantly, we’ll stay anchored in what we’re here to do: Support young people to grow into the leaders our world urgently needs.

2025 was a turning point. 2026 will be a sharpening.

We’re stepping into the future with clarity, care, and the courage to evolve – together.

Let’s keep going.