Career Inspo Coming in Hot this Summer at DreamWakers!

View this email in your browser

A Sensational Summer Awakening Career Dreams

We partnered with 9 summer programs across the country this summer while hosting 70+ flashchats nationwide — from Maryland to Chicago to DC to Kansas to Massachusetts! It's been a blast to connect with more than 1,500 students so far, 86% of whom had never met someone in their flashchat speaker's career path. We are proud that 7 out of 10 of our students felt more confident in their public speaking abilities after participating with DreamWakers!

One of those wonderful summer programs is the Arkansas City USD 470 in Kansas! Through our friends at the Greenbush Education Service Center, DreamWakers had the opportunity to speak at a professional development event that connected us with many wonderful new educators. Ann Headrick at Ark City USD 470 reached out after that event and a summer program partnership was formed. Ms. Headrick and her teaching team have hosted 10 flashchats, including the one pictured above with DreamSpeaker, Dyan DeNapoli, aka The Penguin Lady. Ms. DeNapoli fielded great questions from this curious group of students and showed them some illustrations from her book. As a fun surprise, Ms. DeNapoli sent the students her book as a gift after the chat. Thank you Ms. DeNapoli and the students and educators at Ark City USD 470!

Dream Big with us this Fall!

Mark your calendars! On Wednesday, October 6th at 7:30pm ET, DreamWakers' annual community celebration is back! Join us for an evening of inspiring stories as we look back at the year we've had and dream about all that is yet to come.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we share more details about our #LookingBackDreamingForward fundraising campaign. Your support will help us expand our reach even further as students return to classrooms around the country for the 2021-2022 school year.

As we enjoy our long summer days, we have been taking time to check out some fantastic pieces of advice from our DreamSpeakers who have had the opportunity to speak on the TED stage. Check out 5 amazing TED talks on the blog this month for some unforgettable insights. Check it out here!

Despite the historic trials of the 2020–2021 academic year, our educators and students not only made it through, they even came out on the other side with some unexpected gratitude for the year’s silver linings. Check it out here!

DreamWakers Advisory Council (DWAC) is a diverse group of dynamic professionals who offer their unique talent and skills in support of DreamWakers’ mission. Learn more about these remarkable ambassadors in this Q&A with DWAC 2020-21!

What are you dreaming about doing with your summer days?⁠

🏖️ Hitting the beach? 🥾 Hiking in the mountains? ⁠📚 Reading a book that's been on your shelf for a long time? 📺 Binging a new show? ⁠

We'd love to feature YOU. Share something on your #SummerDreamList with info@dreamwakers.org! Get inspired by following #SummerDreamList on Instagram and dream big with us this summer.
⁠

Educators: Join DreamWakers Today!

DreamWakers continues to connect students to career role models throughout the summer, and we look forward to Fall flashchats with you! We hope this summer is full of rest, relaxation, and plenty of time for dreamin' big.

Believing kids can't be what they can't see, DreamWakers works to close the opportunity gap for students in under-resourced schools by providing them with the unique opportunity to meet professionals from diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives beyond their city limits. Through interactive virtual sessions via video chat, DreamWakers connects classrooms across the U.S. with dynamic role models in a wide array of professional sectors, shedding light on the real-world applicability of course lessons, while inspiring the next generation of leaders to envision and prepare for their own future.