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.
In early 2022, I joined the Sasaki Foundation with hopes of working with community experts towards solutions to challenges in their neighborhoods, learning from practitioners about equity in design and planning, and engaging young people in meaningful employment in the design industry. I am thrilled that this hope became reality as we transitioned back to in-person programming, moved downtown with Sasaki, and built new partnerships over the past year.
Shemar Stewart first joined the Sasaki Foundation’s Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) program as an intern in 2018, and has served as a teaching assistant every summer since. The SEED program inspired him to switch his major to architecture, and he has used his experience to guide more students through the program. Shemar just graduated from UMass Amherst and is now starting a year-long internship at Sasaki. Estefany Benitez, Sasaki Foundation Program Manager, recently sat down with him to talk about his SEED experiences and career path so far.
This summer, the Sasaki Foundation hosted our fifth annual Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) program. SEED is a six-week paid internship for high school students from the Boston area. With the help of teaching assistants, Sasaki design mentors, and partner organizations, the students learn about careers in the design field and develop their own projects.
Although 2021 was a year of remote work and staff transitions, the Sasaki Foundation continued our impact through active community-based research, public programming, and design education. We’re proud of the work we and our partners accomplished this past year.
This summer, the Sasaki Foundation hosted our fourth annual Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) program. SEED is a six-week paid internship for high school students from the Boston area. With the help of teaching assistants and Sasaki design mentors, the students learn about careers in the design field and develop their own tactical urbanism project.
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April 2, 2025
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Sasaki Foundation Publishes 2023-2024 Design Grants Research
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April 2, 2025
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Sasaki Foundation Publishes 2023-2024 Design Grants Research
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Anna Scherling
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Check out our newly released 2023-2024 Design Grants Research Report to learn more about our fifth cohort's work, offering innovative solutions to address food resilience, access to childcare, environmental justice, community infrastructure, and gentrification, with an ongoing impact in Greater Boston and beyond.
In June 2023, the Sasaki Foundation awarded $52,500 to five community-based research teams, who spent the next ten months advancing and implementing projects that promote equity in design. The team members also met with Sasaki designers who provided design guidance and a deep breadth of knowledge about solutions to the challenges they faced.
The Sasaki Foundation continued to focus on community, housing, transit, health and wellbeing, and climate, under the theme of Shared Voices: Charting a Course for Community Action. This theme recognizes that multiple futures are at stake, and we can make a difference by acting now. The projects are already having a significant impact in their respective communities and will remain as open source research with links to the project websites, to help communities that may be tackling similar issues. Metrics highlighting the impact of these projects are included in the report.
Through our research grants, the Sasaki Foundation seeks to harness the power of design thinking to promote equity and empower local communities, tackling global challenges through local action. Our 2024-2025 Design Grants cohort is hard at work, and we launched the 2025 Design Grants call for proposals in February, with applications due on April 24 at noon. The program will continue to provide teams with access not only to designers at Sasaki—an award-winning international design firm—but also to the Sasaki Foundation's broad network of startups, designers and planners, community groups, artists, civic leaders, and entrepreneurs.
For more information about the work of the Sasaki Foundation visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming programs and opportunities.
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Mayor Wu announces applications for Boston's youth summer jobs program are now open
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[post_title] => Sasaki Foundation Publishes 2023 Design Grants Research
[post_excerpt] => Check out our newly released 2022-2023 Design Grants Research Report to learn more about our fourth cohort's work, offering innovative solutions to address food resilience, access to childcare, environmental justice, community infrastructure, and gentrification, with an ongoing impact in Greater Boston and beyond.
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Sasaki Foundation Publishes 2023-2024 Design Grants Research
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Sasaki Foundation Publishes 2023-2024 Design Grants Research
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Anna Scherling
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Check out our newly released 2023-2024 Design Grants Research Report to learn more about our fifth cohort's work, offering innovative solutions to address food resilience, access to childcare, environmental justice, community infrastructure, and gentrification, with an ongoing impact in Greater Boston and beyond.
In June 2023, the Sasaki Foundation awarded $52,500 to five community-based research teams, who spent the next ten months advancing and implementing projects that promote equity in design. The team members also met with Sasaki designers who provided design guidance and a deep breadth of knowledge about solutions to the challenges they faced.
The Sasaki Foundation continued to focus on community, housing, transit, health and wellbeing, and climate, under the theme of Shared Voices: Charting a Course for Community Action. This theme recognizes that multiple futures are at stake, and we can make a difference by acting now. The projects are already having a significant impact in their respective communities and will remain as open source research with links to the project websites, to help communities that may be tackling similar issues. Metrics highlighting the impact of these projects are included in the report.
Through our research grants, the Sasaki Foundation seeks to harness the power of design thinking to promote equity and empower local communities, tackling global challenges through local action. Our 2024-2025 Design Grants cohort is hard at work, and we launched the 2025 Design Grants call for proposals in February, with applications due on April 24 at noon. The program will continue to provide teams with access not only to designers at Sasaki—an award-winning international design firm—but also to the Sasaki Foundation's broad network of startups, designers and planners, community groups, artists, civic leaders, and entrepreneurs.
For more information about the work of the Sasaki Foundation visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming programs and opportunities.
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Mayor Wu announces applications for Boston's youth summer jobs program are now open
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[post_title] => Sasaki Foundation Publishes 2023 Design Grants Research
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