Students Award Grants to Local Organizations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts
This semester, Katherine LaDuke ’27, Riley Londraville ’27, Jack Pawlowski ’27, and Meghan Sullivan ’26, had the privilege of participating in a unique independent study led by Dr. Rick Battistoni: Philanthropy Through a Critical Lens. Thanks to the generosity of past donors, the students were allocated $4,250 each to grant to a local nonprofit that reflects on each student’s personal values and commitments to social change.
Katherine chose to support Young Voices RI as a way to act in accordance with the practice of catalytic philanthropy, as Young Voices not only addresses a variety of social issues at hand, but equips young people with the tools and resources to solve them from the inside out.
Philanthropy is more than just giving: it’s about using “giving” as a way to spark lasting change by investing in the leadership and intellect that already exists within communities. Young Voices does exactly that. They work directly with youth, providing a number of extracurricular activities and developing young people’s skills in advocacy, public speaking, community organizing, and civic education so that they can work to influence the policies and systems that affect their lives, all before they even reach voting age.
Katherine
Riley chose to fund New Urban Arts because of their deep commitment to youth empowerment through creative, mentor-guided expression. A conversation with Nicole Simpson, Director of Fine Arts for Providence Public Schools, helped Riley understand how choice-based art can serve as a powerful tool for building identity, voice, and civic engagement.
Jack chose to fund organizations working on housing and homelessness, and after visiting with various nonprofits, chose to fund these two: House of Hope CDC; and the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church.
To the Right, Jack is presenting the award to Mathewson Street Church.
Meghan’s values and priorities were directed to organizations involved in cancer research and those supporting individuals and families affected by cancer. She funded three nonprofits: The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation; The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge; and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
The student reflections and evaluations at the end of this independent study will inform the way the Philanthropy class will be taught next Spring.
