To Our Wily Pack,
I hardly feel qualified to be a voice in the fight for equity, and yet it is critical at this moment for all of us to step up and become agents for social change. Now is the time for Wily, and for each one of us, to open up our understanding of community and to intentionally expand our own Pack.
At the Wily Network, we recognize that the diversity of our Pack is our greatest strength. One of our primary strategic goals is to infuse best practices around Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging throughout our community. In order to achieve this goal, we must face the crises in front of us and prepare ourselves for the future.
It is with profound gratitude that we thank everyone in our Pack for setting us up to succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wily is fortunate to work with funders who anticipated our needs during this period to say, “How can we help? What do you need? Can we think strategically together?”
The complexity of the Wily Scholars’ lives at this moment might have overwhelmed the agency, yet thanks to the outpouring of support, we have been able to meet the challenges head on. Individuals rallied to raise money for our Scholars’ basic needs during the first 100 days. Foundations that provided funding earlier in the year reached out and offered additional support. This emergency funding is enabling us to ensure safe housing and food security to Scholars during a time when many would otherwise become homeless. With these resources, we are able to prepare to work with new Scholars in the fall. Among them are students who might not have a place to begin school safely as a remote learner, students who may not have anyone to help them settle in for their first semester, and students who would be facing college without an adult who can help them navigate the uncertainties ahead.
Thank you to the 246 individual donors to our Emergency Fund and to the foundations that have helped Wily to meet this unprecedented need:
The Butler Foundation
DCU For Kids
The Ilene Beal Charitable Trust
Life Science Cares
The Daniel E. Offutt Charitable Trust
The Carole C. Remick Foundation
The Wellington Foundation
Wily’s core values have never been more relevant. Together, we continue to
listen and learn
about racism as we remain committed to our Scholars and to inclusion for the
long term
. As always, we hold Wily Scholars at
the heart of our mission
and work to develop
deep and trusting relationships
with them. Because of all of you, we can
rely on the strength of our Pack
.
Be well, and please join us as we use our voices to change our world,
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Judi Alperin King
Founder and Executive Director
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Be sure to add
A Chance in the World
to your summer reading list, and then save the date for Wily’s virtual discussion with author Steve Pemberton, moderated by Carmen Ortiz-McGhee.
If you need to purchase a copy, consider buying one at
Frugal Bookstore
, Boston’s only Black-owned bookstore. For those not local to Boston, you can check out this
list
of Black-owned bookstores across the country.
Steve Pemberton’s story is about defying seemingly insurmountable odds to become a trail-blazing corporate executive, enlightened diversity leader, visionary youth advocate and acclaimed speaker. His best-selling memoir,
A Chance in the World
, recounts his triumphant life journey and drive to become a man of resilience, determination and vision. Now a major motion picture,
A Chance in the World
further amplifies Steve’s highly motivational messages: Believe in your dreams, rise above obstacles, create opportunities for others, and most of all, persevere.
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What Wily Scholars Are Up To
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2020 Wily Scholars enjoying a virtual graduation celebration with staff and commencement speaker Bert Jacobs, co-founder of Life is Good
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Summer is here! Despite the logistical challenges created by COVID-19, many Scholars are beginning virtual jobs and internships. We’re excited to share their successes! Here are some of the places Wily Scholars will be working:
Abuzz
, Apple (a full-time job for one of the 2020 graduates!), BAE Systems, Capital One, Equal Innovation, EverQuote, Facebook, Intern Boston, US Census, Shake Shack, Twitter, and the Women’s Lunch Place.
If you’re interested in helping a Wily Scholar with summer employment or internship opportunities, please fill out our
Networking Survey
.
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Life Science Cares Grant & Partnership
The Wily Network has been awarded a COVID-19 Response Fund grant from
Life Science Cares
(LSC), which is contributing $165,200 to nine nonprofit organizations that provide food, shelter and other critical supplies to people in need. Sarah MacDonald, Amber Black and the staff at LSC have been responsive at every turn. In addition to financial support, LSC has responded with strategic guidance, corporate introductions, in-kind donations and virtual volunteering.
Click here
to read more about the grant.
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Students Rising Above
A group of anonymous donors from
Students Rising Above
(SRA) paid off college debt for 400 Bay Area students, one of whom was a Wily Scholar! SRA is a California-based non-profit that provides financial assistance, college prep, internships, career counseling and more to students.
Click here
to learn more.
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Boston Bullpen Project
Boston BullPen Project is partnering with the Wily Network to provide emergency grants to students in need. The non-profit organization partners with a diverse range of social service professionals to help identify and fill urgent needs by providing financial support, while fostering a spirit that inspires others to pay it forward.
Click here
to learn more about this project.
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The Wily Network is hiring! We are working to expand our Pack over the next few months, with
three open positions
. We’re embracing this time of all things virtual and are hosting an online hiring info session later this month, as a way to meet some early candidates and provide extra information on Wily before the interview process. Thanks to all your support we are able to move forward with our expansion and bring on new team members, even during these difficult circumstances.
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Trivia Night
Thank you to Wily board member Sara Miller and Quizmaster Dave Heaney for hosting a new kind of Wily intro event, a virtual pub trivia competition. Nearly 40 people joined and raised more than $1,400 to benefit the Wily Emergency Fund.
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Care Packages
Even in this challenging time, our generous and resourceful care package chairs were able to gather together essential supplies for Wily Scholars. Thank you to Cindy and Jim Duffy, Deirdre and Darby Leid, Carolyn Ryan, and Trish St. Jean.
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Restaurant Fundraisers
Want to help Wily raise money and awareness? Consider hosting a Restaurant Fundraiser! Local restaurants are partnering with GroupRaise to give back to non-profits. Get a group to participate, and a percentage of the proceeds goes to Wily!
Click here
for more information on how to get involved. Contact
Laura Broffman
, our Operations Coordinator, with any questions.
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Interested in hosting a virtual event for Wily? Reach out to
Ashley Linell
, Wily's Director of Development and Communications.
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Our 2019 Annual Report is in the mail! Click on the photo to view the online version, and see how far Wily has come in just the past year - thanks to the support of our entire Pack!
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We rely on the strength of our Wily Network pack.
Please consider making a gift.
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Help us grow our network - Please SHARE our story!
#theWilyNetwork
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Boston College, Boston University, Bridgewater State University, Harvard University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, Northeastern University, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, and Wellesley College (as of 1/2020)
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