These Students Benefited From PENCIL’s Partnership Program. Now They Are Starting College and Internships

PENCIL’s school partnership program creates a unique opportunity for businesses to partner with public schools in New York City and supports thousands of students every year.

During this school year, PENCIL conducted 248 partnership program sessions between 27 firms and 33 public schools. More than 530 volunteers supported 1,012 students. These sessions included PENCIL’s signature workshops on networking, interview skills, personal branding, resumes, career panels and sessions led by volunteers to introduce technical skills related to an industry.

We met with four students: Oleg, Md, Jennifer and Leilani, at the start of the semester to understand the impact of our work on a more personal level. They all came from different public schools that PENCIL paired with Houlihan Lokey, Bloomberg LP, JPMorgan Chase or Dotdash.

We knew that students who had participated in PENCIL programs in prior years reported increased confidence and self-efficacy, developed a growth mindset, learned essential skills, and grew a sense of belonging in diverse professional settings.

But to understand student needs and continue telling their stories, we did a mid-year check-in with Oleg, Md, Leilani and Jennifer to document what they had learned so far.

Leilani had already started learning about new career pathways at Bloomberg, and Jennifer was refining her interviewing skills through Chase volunteers’ support.

Oleg was exploring his passion in the finance industry. He even got a chance to have a conversation with PENCIL’s Executive Leadership Council member, Asher Kennedy, Assistant Vice President – Financial Planning Director at Morgan Stanley, after Asher learned about Oleg’s goals. Md was also getting regular feedback on his resume from professionals at Dotdash.

By the time we did our last check-in, some of our students had already gotten their college acceptances and applied to internships.

All of them reported feeling college and career ready. Jennifer said her participation in PENCIL’s program helped solidify her decision to minor in finance. Oleg thought that he was a step ahead of the incoming freshman class because of all PENCIL’s networking sessions. Md said he felt prepared for internship and job interviews, while Leilani said she worked on her confidence issues, resume and elevator pitch.

Thousands of students like Oleg, Md, Jennifer, and Leilani benefit from PENCIL’s school partnership programs. But there are 1.1 million students in NYC’s public school system. PENCIL has launched its #50kFutures campaign to address to support student success by increasing access to internships, mentorships, and life-changing opportunities. By being a part of this campaign or PENCIL’s other initiatives, your company can invest in the future of your company and New York City.