Written by: Carlos Puerta
Even though the Dream Summit was virtual this year, there was a lot to learn—both from past and present. Here are the key things we learned:
- Accessibility was key
- Transitioning to online helped our students join in record numbers. Shorter workshops spread out throughout an entire week plus shorter workshops made it easy for our students to adjust their schedule to attend at least one workshop.
- Great for New Scholars
- The Dream Summit was able to showcase new resources and open community avenues that new students were not aware of; they felt understood as part of a community and knew where to find help. This effect was only seen with new scholars, read on to learn why.
- Part of a Bigger Community
- The Dream Summit\’s biggest strength lies in connecting students to the bigger Latinx community. This is particularly exciting because it is one of the bigger goals of the summit. However, this means that we must improve in other areas we want to impact as well.
- Creating Lasting Change
- We are still seeing the 2019 Summit\’s effect in our returning scholars which this implies lasting impact from our last summit, but it also shows us that there is seemingly little benefit for students returning. Lasting impact is amazing and we consider this a great success, but it also flags for us that we should focus on creating a summit that benefits those who return just as much as it does to those new scholars
- More to Learn
- This is the first time we are comparing the effects of one Summit versus the previous one. As such, there is a lot to learn and unpack.
