SPARK Boston 2016 Impact Award finalists

My name is Andrea Macone. I work at UMass Boston in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and I am a graduate student in American Studies and an Emerging Leaders Fellow in the College of Management's Center for Collaborative Leadership. I chair UMB's Recovery Task Force, a collaborative forum that seeks to create a safe and open environment for campus community members in or seeking recovery and their allies. We specifically focus on supporting individuals in their academic, personal and professional growth; advising key stakeholders; and engaging with the community. 

I myself am a person in recovery, and this drives everything I do. I am motivated by the idea that I can only keep my recovery by sharing it with others, and in doing so I can hopefully help even one student or employee get through a difficult day on campus and return the next day instead of giving up.

Big picture, I hope to one day see an end to the stigma associated with addiction because it is a deadly barrier to seeking help. It is also the biggest challenge to the work we do. Talking about addiction makes people uncomfortable, even though every member of society is affected in some way. As a country we have begun to shift from viewing addiction as a criminal issue to a public health crisis, and Massachusetts and Boston in particular have taken leadership roles in this movement. We on the Task Force have participated in Recovery High School Day at UMB, partnered with Mayor Walsh's Office of Recovery Services, and are planning an interdisciplinary colloquium to discuss addiction in an academic context. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we are working steadfastly to humanize the disease and create opportunities for empathy to replace animosity. 

My name is Mario Paredes. I am a lifelong learner and community activist. I am the proud son of two hard-working parents from Guatemala who came to the United States in the 1980's. I moved to Boston in 2011 to obtain my Master's Degree in Higher Education at Harvard. After years of working in various school and non-profit settings, I am now back in school as a law student in Boston University School of Law. I am also serving as a Board Member Centro Presente, a member-led immigrant rights nonprofit organization in East Boston.

I am proud to be part of the movement to keep the immigrant voice at the forefront of the conversation, both in the classroom and in the community at large. I am motivated by the humility and resilience of the immigrant community and other marginalized communities. Despite the struggles faced by many hardworking families, including my own, they have so much potential to do great things in this world. We can help change the narrative by listening to the stories of immigrant families and shedding light on their lives, their values and their contributions to society. 

Last year I was given the opportunity to help lead a civic engagement campaign called Our Voices, Our Vote. I was also able to travel to the US/Mexico Border and the Northern Triangle in Central America in order to learn more about the root causes of immigration and the conditions that immigrants face in route to the United States. I was able to retrace the footsteps of millions of immigrants, including my parents, in order to be a better advocate here in Boston. I am ready to take all the knowledge I have gained and share it with the communities whom I wish to serve. 

Boston is a hub for knowledge, innovation, education, ideas, history and diversity. We have some of the brightest minds, and our city is rapidly attracting new businesses and people from around the world. But will rapid growth mean rapid gentrification, or will it mean inviting marginalized communities to be part of that growth? Will we simply focus on students graduating from the highest ranked schools, or will we also invest in schools that need our attention? Will we welcome immigrants, or blame them for our problems? 

My name is Kevin Lilly. I’m 25 years old, I’m from Dorchester, and I am the the founder and executive director of Samaritans Steps. We are a nonprofit that works to empower and support Boston’s youth, veterans, and other disenfranchised members of the community through advocacy, education, resources, and more. 

I started the organization in 2014 during my senior year in college after convincing my department chair into letting me work on it as my internship. In school I studied entrepreneurship, and for me Samaritans Steps is the perfect marriage of my love of entrepreneurship as well as my love of serving others. The organization seeks to help the forgotten, looked over, and marginalized in the city of Boston, but we do it in a different way than has been done before. We make service fun. 

Whether they’re serving with us or being served by us, everyone has a blast interacting with Samaritan Steps. Serving others should be something people enjoy doing, not something that feels like a chore or an obligation. We hosted a storytime for homeless children a few months ago, and the Attorney General came out to read to the kids. We actually convinced the state trooper on her security detail to join in the fun by reading “Where the Wild Things Are,” to the children. The way he lit up was incredible. He got really into it, you could tell it meant a lot both to him and the families of the children. Moments like that remind me that it’s important to make our events fun and engaging for everyone involved.

I wish I had a budget that matches our big ideas, but until we get there it forces me to be strategic and creative with what we do have. Since founding Samaritan Steps, we have raised and distributed over $13,000 worth of clothing and directly served over 500 homeless individuals. We have created two scholarship programs (and are currently working on a third), launched the Rainbow Bridge Initiative which brings the faith community and LGBTQ community together to end youth homelessness, supported and advocated for important legislation providing funds for housing ad support services to assist homeless youth, and started a campus initiative creating student led clubs to address the immediate needs of homeless students.

My name is Raber Umphenour. I am a filmmaker living and working in Boston, pursuing the development of affordable artist live-work housing for Boston artists; with a community goal of creating 250 affordable studios for artists to live and work in over the next 5 years. 

As a filmmaker living and working in Boston, I know how valuable it is to be able to put down roots and commit to a community; that's hard to do when you keep having to move your studio time and time again. Eventually, I wanted something that would last.

In 2013, the building myself and some of my fellow artists were living and working in was put on the market for sale. We responded by creating a new non-profit company, and in a period of 14 business days, we raised over $1.1 million as a down payment to purchase the building outright. Over the months that followed, we secured an additional $19 million in financing, and purchased the building - securing it as an 89 studio artist live-work building that would be affordable for artists in perpetuity.

My name is Hailey Magee. I'm a musician, a community-builder, and an advocate. I’m the founder and director of Emerging Boston Area Singer-Songwriters (EBASS), a 700-member community-based organization that provides a space for musicians and music-lovers alike to celebrate homegrown local talent, the beauty of unfiltered artistic expression, and the healing power of community. I am also the founder and owner of Talisman Music Group, a local artist consulting business that elevates homegrown artists to their maximum potential. 

Live music has the ability to unify disparate groups of people around a shared passion. Live music provides those who have been silenced the opportunity to experience complete catharsis and share their experiences with listening audiences. Live music brings depth, meaning, community, and critical thought to societies that have been numbed by technology and social isolation. Most importantly, live music bridges our differences and brings us together in pure, unadulterated celebration.

It can be challenging to communicate the value of the arts when we as a society are accustomed to valuing resources based strictly on their productivity. But artists are not expendable, and they provide an incredible service. One of my biggest goals through my work with EBASS and Talisman Music Group is to contribute to a cultural shift that urges businesses, organizations, and individuals to appreciate the value of live music, and demonstrate that value through adequate compensation. I think that we as a city can do more to inspire collaboration between sectors to create opportunities for the people of Boston to gather and celebrate the passions that unify us.

I am “Mistah” Matt Parker. Youth Worker, Poet/Arts Enthusiast, and Community Organizer. I have been an avid fan of poetry since my childhood, and used it as a lifesaver during my own tumultuous adolescence. I began to share my poetry and encourage others to use it as a coping tool in my career field as a youth development professional. I have been called on to serve, to help, to guide, and to create community. 

Each day I try to find a way to impact the youth of our city through art and action. I am the coordinator of the Bowdoin/Geneva V.I.P. (Violence Intervention Prevention) Initiative, which builds healthy community relationships using a public health approach to violence and supports resident responses to acute instances of trauma. I also organize the Critical Breakdown Community Open Mic (open to the entire community at no cost), Boston's Youth Got Talent Showcase, and a monthly "Write & Wine Nite" for adults. I am a founding member of The Society Of Urban Poetry (SOUP) Boston; a performance poetry collective that integrates art and social justice issues in the Boston/Greater Boston community, and current artist in residence at the City Pop Egleston.

Through many capacities and positions of my career, I aim to give our community a healthy outlet for expression. I have taught poetry in classrooms, campuses, and after school programs, giving youth the tools they need to effectively communicate their thoughts, ideas, and feelings. I never tire of seeing those same kids share their art and themselves, and be celebrated by their peers and community. 

I am Shavel’le Olivier. A resident of the Mattapan community and co-chair of Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition. I am the co-founder and co-organizer of Mattapan on Wheels, a major biking event created to address issues of safer infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians in Mattapan. As the Youth Coordinator for the coalition, I work to secure grants, hire young people, and create a curriculum focusing on health and wellness. Lastly, I assist the Mattapan Square Farmers’ Market with the set up/breakdown of the market, help farmers’ with digital payment, and help promote the market through social media networks.

But who am I really? I am a 24-year-old Haitian-American woman. I am sister to three sisters and a brother. I am an aunt. I am the first person on my mother’s side of the family to obtain a college degree (and the second on my dad’s side!). My passion is community organizing, and wanting to bring the community of Mattapan together. I am a networker, trying to pull together the many organizations in Mattapan to work together instead of in silos.

I continue this work because of the real connections I have made with the community leaders and residents of the Mattapan community. The residents and community leaders have become my friends and mentors. I feel I really have the support of the whole community behind me. The MFFC leadership team, comprised of women of colour, have become my role models. The leadership team showed me that you are truly passionate about something when you do it on a volunteer basis and expect nothing in return. They have helped me to develop confidence within myself and the belief that I am capable of being a leader.

My greatest success has been revitalizing the MFFC Vigorous Youth program. The youth wing of the coalition is a major component of MFFC. In the summer of 2016 I worked to bring back the youth energy into the coalition after 3 years. I was able to do this by implementing activities and projects to develop their leadership skills and creating an atmosphere where the youth enjoy themselves and work collaboratively together. The teens accomplished a great deal: leading bikers at the annual Mattapan on Wheels event, volunteering at the Mattapan Square Farmers’ Market, participating in a 5 week intergenerational cooking class, and creating wonderful art reflecting on their experiences with MFFC. I was thrilled that the teens were able to gain skills, experience new things, and feel empowered.

My name is Sherri Snow. I am the Executive Director the North End Music and Performing Arts Center and I inspire community members, especially youth, to experiment with artistic programming in their daily lives. I believe art can make a difference in youth lives, their development and their well-being. Art can also unite diverse communities like the North End, unlike any other discipline or focus in today's society. 

I am proud to see NEMPAC programs lead to more community engagement under my leadership. These programs include musical education as well as performing arts events and special projects. The NEMPAC Children's Music Theatre Program serves between 30 to 55 students per year. The NEMPAC Opera Project, presented at Faneuil Hall, serves over 80 local professional musicians and performing artists each year. Our audience of community members, new partnerships with local schools including BPS Eliot School, St John Catholic School allow us to reach many more people and create new jobs for local musicians, educators, and other residents. 

With these new programs, the organization’s annual operating budget has increased by 54% over four years from $206,000 in 2012 to $449,950 in 2016. Our biggest challenge right now is supporting all that  programmatic growth with adequate staff and facility space. At this time, NEMPAC borrows space from other local community organizations like the Nazzaro Community Center and the ABCD Center. We also use after-school space at our local school partnership sites. We currently operate out of a small building donated to us from the Robert White Foundation, a foundation run by the City of Boston. In this space, we still see over 90 students per week in our private music instruction program. Our goal for 2016-17 is to find a devoted facility space that can better match our programming needs and be a place to continue building the relationships and artistic experiences for our community. 

My name is Sahar Lawrence. I am a woman who cares deeply about the well being of my community. I am someone who leads by example. I developed a passion for community development in low-income areas from working many years in the nonprofit sector and from being a longtime resident of Roxbury. I am the Chair of the Grove Hall Trust (GHT) and a Community Engagement Officer for Urban Edge Housing Corporation. Along with the Trustees of GHT, I direct grant dollars to residents, groups, and/or small organizations that want to enhance the quality of life in Grove Hall.

The Grove Hall Trust was founded on the belief that communities know what they need to improve their outcomes, and sustainable impact comes from shared risk and responsibility. Our foundation is built upon the principles of pooling knowledge and resources, and fostering collaboration between families, the community, and donors. Our goal is to improve community capacity and leadership while increasing the flow of educational opportunities, jobs, capital and social connections that can help end the cycle of poverty in our neighborhood.

As the Chair of the Grove Hall Trust my biggest challenge is keeping my peers involved while finding innovative ways to grow. As the neighborhood dynamics change, I hope to help Grove Hall residents have more access to opportunities that strengthen social connections and equity while also empowering them to have control of their story.

My name is Sarah Case. I'm a program manager at NEVCA and founder of TechGen, focusing on connecting university students and the local innovation ecosystem. I am a California girl who made Boston my home, and I owe it to my friends and network who helped me get connected and launch my career here. I'm also passionate about helping people.

TechGen is the bridge between New England’s best university student and its top healthcare and technology companies. Our mission is to create personal connections between members of these two communities in ways that serve the interests of both, as well as the local innovation economy as a whole. TechGen consists of both an online platform and a social and educational program, highlighting the best of what it means to work and play in Massachusetts to ensure more students stay and build their futures here after graduation. 

Building something from the ground up is daunting, exciting, hard, fun and incredibly rewarding. TechGen was an idea two years ago and it is incredibly gratifying to work so hard and see it come together. Hearing student and company stories about great internships and experiences always remind me that we're making a difference.

On the other hand, building something from the ground up is also challenging. There are so many unknowns for us and for our audience. We have to determine the "ground rules" and then educate students, companies and stakeholders on how we work, why we're here, and why they should engage. And all of that is so dynamic. In our first fall running the platform, we learned that while both students and companies are eager to connect, needs and timelines are much more varied compared to spring. So we’re working to adapt to this different hiring season. We’re also always expanding the TechGen community by going to more campuses and attending events across the community. We're essentially building the car as we drive it!

My name is Ian So. I am the co-founder/owner of Chicken & Rice Guys. I am the CEO and responsible for setting the internal direction, expansion and culture of the company, overseeing operations, finance, fundraising, and building relationships with external partners. My greatest success so far has been starting my own business, and growing what was one food truck we bought online, to now a 5 food truck, 4 restaurant company. As the ultimate leader of my company, I am my own biggest challenge. We have doubled in revenue and in employees every year. And as we have doubled, I have had to keep pace as a leader and double my leadership ability.

Starting my own business has afforded me so many ways to learn about myself and the world, and I would love to have others have that same opportunity. That’s why I founded the Asian Entrepreneurship Foundation, to share the gift of, and support, entrepreneurship in the Asian community. I also love seeing our own employees grow and develop. The food industry is extremely tough, there’s very little financial reward or glamour for most. So it’s pretty awesome to see our people, many of whom come from tough backgrounds and situations, find a home and career at Chicken & Rice Guys.

Chicken & Rice Guys is committed to supporting the community as well as our employees. Through the Chicken & Rice Guys Foundation, the charitable arm of Chicken & Rice Guys, we have donated 4,200 meals to the Women’s Lunch Place. We have also developed a partnership with Triangle Inc., a job training facility for people with mental and physical disabilities. To date, Chicken & Rice Guys has integrated multiple people working on a daily basis and providing 160 hours on a monthly basis. Chicken & Rice Guys also sponsors inner city students to start businesses through the BUILD program, and provides free food to blood donors at Mass General Hospital. We donate gift cards and free food to dozens of nonprofits in the Boston Metro Area, including the Jimmy Fund.

My name is Noah Hicks. I am a lifelong resident of the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood of Boston and the founder-owner of the Bowdoin Bike School, Dorchester’s upcycled community bike shop. I grew up in a house full of boys, my parents always encouraged my two brothers and I to be active. We used to ride our bikes around the neighborhood, but I became less interested in cycling as I got older.

It wasn’t until my early 20’s that I came back to it as an affordable alternative to public transportation or cars. I was always pretty broke so I ended up just experimenting on how to save myself money, eventually buying a run-down ten speed and fixing it up.  I was a man transformed. I started buying used bikes and flipping them, adding my personal touch and reselling them for 3 or 4 times what I had invested. Selling bikes became a huge source of income for me and I wanted to share that success with my community.

I opened a popup bike shop in a small shed right in my own neighborhood. With a few dollars and my own tools, I started working with my neighbors and teaching them how to repair and upgrade their own bicycles. The goal was to allow people to take charge of their transportation and health in one step, building I also wanted to empower the youth of my community by training them in these skills.

My name is Corina Pinto. I am a Community Health Worker at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. I work with families whose child or children have asthma to better manage their symptoms and keep them out of the hospital. Through this work, I have been exposed to the social determinants of health that keep residents of our city from living a happy and healthy life, such as poor housing conditions, food insecurity, immigration status, violence, etc. Part of my work is to conduct home visits; as of today, I have been in over one hundred of our patients homes throughout the Metro Boston area.

As someone who grew up in East Boston consistently living under the poverty line, I can relate to the plight of the under served community in East Boston because some of the problems remain the same. It can be very difficult to focus on one's health when there are so many external conditions that push health to the bottom end of priorities. Through my role, I am able to help families put their child's health first by being able to meet them "where they're at" to conduct health education, systems navigation and, what I think is most important, listen to them and try to understand and address their needs outside of their child's asthma; these needs can range from inadequate housing to immigration issues. Every day I learn more and more the importance of addressing the most essential and basic needs alongside addressing a child’s asthma control.

My greatest success is a compilation of many moments in which a family begins to feel hopeful. Hopeful in the sense that their child’s illness will not control their lives. Many families have faced financial and emotional hardships because their child’s asthma keeps them from going to work and reminds them of the fragility of their child’s life. When I am able to convey to families that they can control their child’s asthma and live a life without fear that their child will be “different” for the rest of their lives or unexpectedly stop breathing, that is the success, that is why I do this work. 

My name is Taylor Curley. I am a Special Education teacher in the City of Boston. I currently teach 3- and 4-year-old students with special needs at the Mattahunt Elementary School in Mattapan. The Mattahunt is a low income, low performing school facing many challenges. The students are often suffering through poverty, hunger, and trauma. My students struggle physically and emotionally as well as academically. They suffer from a range of disabilities, from Autism to Down’s Syndrome and more. 

My job isn’t your typical 9-5. I’m at the school early and I stay late, but I can’t help thinking and worrying about my students at all hours of the day. It’s never-ending. It’s hard to let them go at the end of the day knowing some of the situations they’re dealing with at home. That’s my biggest challenge, feeling that I can’t do more for them when they walk out that door. That’s why I do whatever I can to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment for my kids. Sometimes that plays out in surprising ways.

The school had a pool party last year to mark the end of term. A note was sent home to parents asking that they send their child to school with a bathing suit. My kids had worked hard throughout the year to overcome their unique challenges, they all deserved to celebrate. One of my students arrived without a bathing suit that day, so I went to the store on my lunch break to buy him one. To me, that felt like something I had to do as a teacher. Yes, my job is to teach them to read, write, do math and perform other traditional academic skills, but I know that they won’t learn properly when their basic needs are not being met. That means I have to be creative and intuitive and provide extra support when I can. 

My name is Portsha Franklin. I am an advocate for educational opportunities and access. I am a partner that strives to be the best for my mate. I am a niece, an aunt, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, and a great granddaughter. I work at West End House Boys and Girls Club on the Success Boston initiative, sponsored by The Boston Foundation. I advise students on MassTransfer, stand in long financial aid lines with students, review resumes, and partner with college administrators on how to best serve our students, just to name a few things.

I am an educator outside the classroom, and my goal of increasing the graduation rate for Boston Public School students is only secondary to my life's purpose, which is to empower young people towards strength, courage, and integrity. I am motivated by my faith and the understanding of my life's purpose with young people. It has been the acknowledgement of my own privilege and desire to help college students persist towards graduation that keeps me going when times get tough. 

The critical academic and non-academic issues my students face everyday has often challenged me emotionally. I take on those issues as my own, which has been a positive aspect because it helps me be a stronger, more effective Success Coach for my students. However, it greatly challenges my time and I often work longer hours to accommodate all of my students and give each one 100% of my effort. My biggest challenge has been practicing self-care and understanding that I can't fix everything for my students.

Gary is by far my greatest success. Gary is one of my second year students at Mass Bay. Gary started college unmotivated, unfocused, taking several remedial courses, and not really knowing why he wanted to go to college in the first place. Gary is now in Statistics, focused on getting his business degree, and is greatly motivated by his younger brother who looks to him as a mentor. As a first-generation American and college student, Gary felt so much pressure to succeed. I helped him channel that anxiety and pressure into motivation and confidence that will give him the fuel to keep going.