4. College Graduations

After 12 or more years in partnership with Steppingstone, many Scholars celebrated their college graduations (and, some Alumni celebrated the completion of postgrad programs!).

Victoria Livingston ’12, pictured,  graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Applied Psychology and Human Development. Over the summer, Victoria started her role as Education Program Manager at the United Nations Association of Greater Boston.

Congratulations to the Class of 2022—the newest members of our Alumni Community!!

5. Alumni Giving Back

Alumni stepped up in big ways to make Steppingstone possible for the next generation of Scholars. They served on our boards, pledged monthly recurring gifts, funded an ice cream party for Scholars, and more.

In particular, Alumni made our Day of Giving a success. Alumni raised funds through videos, like this one by Tiffany Xie ’07, pictured. We even celebrated the largest Alumni gift in Steppingstone history!

6. Teamwork Making the Dream Work

Steppingstone’s team is unstoppable! Pictured here, staff celebrated City Wide College Pride Day with excitement for all the places Scholars will go.

Several staff also found themselves in the spotlight this year! Get to know Mary, Elena, Olu, Kelly, Christina, Sean, and Makeda... and more on our team page!

7. Scholars Raising Their Voices

Scholars spoke out about what’s important to them through several channels this year—from round table events to social media.

Berline Thermidor, a Scholar at UMass Boston, shared: “I hope in any aspect of the millions of paths I could choose [in ten years], that I’m giving back to the community in any way possible. That’s always a big thing for me. I just know there’s a lot of people with so much potential and they just need someone to help them there…I hope I can put that spark into someone else.”

8. Supporters Stepping Up

Steppingstone’s community empowers our programming with critical funds, even organizing events to get the word out and expand our reach!

Boston restaurant MIDA, local artist Kasey Kaufman, and our Board of Young Professionals all hosted public events to raise awareness and support for Steppingstone in 2022.

Pictured: Alumni and BYP members hosting a raffle at State Park in Boston!

9. National Conference for Educational Equity

Steppingstone’s National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA) held its 13th annual conference virtually, connecting people, practices, and innovations for all students to thrive.

We are excited to be back in person, in Boston for 2023—save the date!

10. Celebrity Guests

We had some serious work to do to match the excitement of 2021, which closed with a virtual event featuring Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics.

Luckily, we scored a video message from Devin McCourty of the New England Patriots, unlocked by our Day of Giving in March! Then, at our November Gala, we were thrilled to have a guest appearance by Mayor Michelle Wu, commending Steppingstone Alumni who she has personally worked with.

There are also celebrities among our very own Alumni community. This year, we saw Ayo Edebiri ’07 star on the hit TV series, The Bear, and Fedna Jacquet ’00 made her broadway debut, starring in the Lee Daniels-produced play, Ain't No Mo!