As a young girl growing up in the South, I learned that remarkable conversations with interesting people can happen in the simplest of places – whether it’s a balcony, deck, patio or stoop. For me, it was the front porch, a place where my family, friends and local leaders regularly met to discuss important issues impacting our communities.
 

A recently-released report from the Environmental Protection Agency reveals that the most severe harms from climate change fall disproportionately upon underserved communities. Folks from these communities are typically the least able to prepare for and recover from heat waves, poor air quality, flooding, and food shortages. If the planet warms according to projections, Black and African American people in the U.S.

By: Kenrya Rankin

In her four years as program director for the Verizon Innovative Learning Rural Young Women program at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, June Evans has seen her students blossom. Hailing from both suburban and semi-rural parts of the county, they have shifted from being uncertain about their place in STEM, to finding a home in design thinking and innovation.

Before Mekhi Burgess’ first day at the Young Men of Color program at Clark Atlanta University, he liked STEM, but didn’t see how he could make a career out of it. But after going through a three-week summer immersion experience on the Atlanta, Georgia campus, he knew he wanted to major in computer science.