20 Years, 20 Friends: State Street Foundation

Our next honoree in our 20 Years, 20 Friends series – in celebration of our 20th anniversary in 2024 – has partnered with us since 2010 to provide valuable real-world experiences for our adolescents and fun learning opportunities for our elementary youth, even during the pandemic – State Street Foundation.

Congratulations to State Street Foundation for being a part of our 20 Years, 20 Friends countdown!

Beginning in 2010, the State Street Foundation has shown a deep connection and dedication to our mission and work. To date they have made approximately $600,000 in grants and sponsorships that have helped us to expand the support we offer to our Achievers. One example is the Achiever Education and Career Aspirations program. In 2015, the State Street Foundation was the first organization to invest in that program as we prepared for the first class of Achievers to graduate high school. Their investment allowed us to ramp up support for middle and high school Achievers with activities that would help them to not only find success in school but in life beyond those four walls.

In addition to their grant funding, we’ve always had a dedicated group of State Street employees donate their time and talent with our young people. Since the beginning, State Street employees have helped us hold career days with mock interviews that give Achievers valuable experience as they prepare to enter the job market. Though the pandemic took many opportunities away from youth, the mock interviews still continued as State Street employees generously gave time to hold them virtually – ensuring that Achievers didn’t miss out on learning how to navigate the world and getting a job during that trying time.

As we came out of the pandemic, State Street was the first organization selected to return to an in-person volunteer day with Friends-Boston. For that first event, the theme was a Day of Joy – a time to simply come together and celebrate with fun, games, and food. The effort was spearheaded by their Latin American Professionals Group (LAPG), which remains very active in their efforts with Friends-Boston today.

State Street employees continue to be very engaged in our program throughout the year, including not one, but two upcoming activities. The LAPG will be joining our Elementary Achievers for a LEGO STEM challenge and employees from throughout State Street will hosting our Adolescents for Mock Interviews.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with several State Street employees about their experiences with Friends-Boston, including Midori Morikawa, Omaira Alicea, Whitney Kimmel and Jackie Chacon. They were kind enough to share some of their thoughts about our work:

“At State Street, our goal is to make an impact in the communities where we live and work. We look forward to continuing to engage Friends-Boston as our thought partner in how we move the needle in reducing equity gaps in educational achievement.”

“The best quality about their leadership is the empathy and proximity to pain they have – many people have great intentions, but the staff I’ve encountered at Friends-Boston embody the lived experiences of the young people with whom they wish to influence and there’s great value in that.”

“What has stood out to me is how the kids are selected for the program – the consistency of the mentor (Friend) is really critical. Friends-Boston makes it easier for us to help with volunteer projects, which offer fun opportunities for engagement - lets kids be kids, and lets employees be a part of it.”

“At State Street, our Latin American Professionals Group is one big family – our members have connected with the relationship building aspects of Friends-Boston. When I went to the Day of Joy, I saw the connections that the mentors (Friends) have built with the Achievers, no matter the age range.”

We’re grateful for the amazing partnership and support that State Street and its employees have shown to Friends-Boston – financially and through volunteer efforts – throughout our history. We look forward to continuing to partner with the State Street as we make lasting impact on the lives of our youth. Together we are making generational change possible.