At Summer Search, we’re all about relationships and opportunities, providing our young people with mentoring, opportunities for growth, and access to professional networks. At the same time, our community of staff and supporters also benefit tremendously from the connections made with Summer Searchers.
As we continue to evolve to better meet the needs of our students, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re launching a brand new tool that will connect our entire community like never before.
It’s called Summer Search CONNECT.
Summer Search CONNECT logo designed by Summer Search alumna, Molly Inglish.
This is a new digital portal for Summer Search students, alumni, staff, board members, and our external partners. CONNECT will be a place for:
- Centralizing student and alumni resources (summer programs information, post-secondary tools, and more),
- Coaching and networking between students, alumni, and corporate partners,
- Sharing professional development opportunities such as job shadow days, internships, and job postings.
Powered by our partners at Graduway, this online hub is easy to use and mobile-friendly. A small group of post-secondary students, alumni, and partners have been part of our Beta Testing group over the summer, and we’re already seeing impactful connections being made.
CONNECT in Action
One of our Beta Testers is Lana Giha, a Summer Search Boston post-secondary student. Lana hopes to be a doctor one day and has always been a go-getter in terms of reaching out to people and figuring things out to prepare for her future.
Lana Giha, Summer Search Boston post-secondary student.
Through Summer Search CONNECT, she was able to schedule an informational interview with Seattle alumna Japjit Veraich, a Plastic Surgery Resident at Ohio State University. They talked about how medical school works and the process to apply. Japjit also offered to continue being a support for Lana as she navigates college!
Lana was super hyped at making that connection and shared with her mentor that she’s excited for more people to join CONNECT (after the public launch) so she can keep reaching out to her network.
Lana also mentioned that she thinks it’s really cool that all the people on CONNECT are part of the Summer Search community, because she already has something in common with them. She’s looking forward to being a system of support for other Summer Searchers in the future, to reciprocate the help she is receiving.
CONNECT Week: October 6 – 11
We’ll be launching Summer Search CONNECT in a few weeks on October 6th! To kick off CONNECT Week, we’ll be offering our community some fun chances to win prizes for engaging with our new platform.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved in developing this digital portal: our staff, partners, students, and alumni!
Stay tuned as we’ll be sharing more about CONNECT in the coming weeks and months. If you or your company/organization would like to learn more about getting involved, please reach out to portal@summersearch.org.