Waterfront Ambassadors returning in summer 2021: What's in store for this season
ABOVE: Photos from the 2019 and 2020 Waterfront Ambassadors program.
This summer the Boston Waterfront Initiative will welcome back its Waterfront Ambassadors, for projects, activities, and learning, at home and around the harbor.
A hiring process for this summer’s Ambassadors is currently underway and seeking local Boston teens with a positive attitude, a passion for community work, and an interest in climate change issues on the waterfront. (To learn more or apply click here).
In the below Q&A Program Manager Sarah Plotkin shares details on what’s ahead for this summer:
What is special about the Waterfront Ambassadors program?
Something that I find really special is how many opportunities there are for the Ambassadors to grow as leaders, and how much their own skills and interests guide the projects we do. When we started at the beginning of the summer last year everyone was nervous, especially when it came to presentations and public speaking. But after six weeks of working together and leading a youth-focused community engagement project, everyone was confidently presenting their findings to a group of adults from organizations all over Boston. They'd become the experts!
Trustees Waterfront Ambassadors Program Manager Sarah Plotkin
Tell us about some of your favorite projects from last summer.
Two of my favorite projects last year were made in collaboration with Gretchen Rabinkin, Executive Director of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, and Carolina Aragon, an artist and Educator at UMass Amherst. Gretchen led an observation and photography project called "Greetings from My Boston" in which the Ambassadors took photos and made postcards of the places in their neighborhoods that they felt best represented them. Carolina worked with the Ambassadors to create and implement a public art project that investigated how each Ambassador's neighborhood felt about climate change. And of course the engagement project I mentioned earlier was a highlight of the summer! The Ambassadors used social media and online surveys to better understand what community members wanted a new waterfront park to look like and offer. They then presented their findings at big virtual event to Trustees staff and community partners.
What are you most looking forward to, this summer?
I'm really looking forward to being able to work outside with the Ambassadors this year. Last year we did a lot of individual outside work in our own neighborhoods, but we were never able to be together in person because of COVID restrictions. This year we're building the program so that we'll spend two days a week working virtually and 3 days in person (dependent on evolving COVID guidelines) doing socially distanced work outside such as stewardship and beautification projects with East Boston organizations.
Who were some of the organizations and people the teens worked with last summer?
Last summer we worked with some amazing partners, who really helped shape the Ambassadors' experience. In addition to working with Gretchen Rabinkin and Carolina Aragon, some other notable experiences included: learning about the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway from Co-Founder of Civic Space Collaborative, Michelle Moon and Landscape Architect, Maria Lobos Martinez; a virtual site-tour of the Vision Chelsea Creek project with Executive Director of The Harborkeepers, Magdalena Ayed; and a public art project where we learned to identify trees in our neighborhoods and then noted their environmental benefits on the sidewalk in chalk for passersby to see, which was led by Michael Slagle, a fellow at Speak For The Trees.
We also had some great workshops with Trustees staff members, including: a virtual tour of a Trustees community garden with Engagement Manager, Michelle de Lima; a discussion about environmental and racial justice with Managing Director of Community Impact, Janelle Woods-McNish; and a training on networking with Hiring and Recruiting Specialist, Ryan McCarthy.
What kinds of things do the Ambassadors learn from this program, what kinds of skills do they develop?
The program is broken into four main components: workforce development; leadership development; Waterfront Initiative, climate change and open space education; and civic engagement.
In terms of workforce development the Ambassadors learn job-readiness skills such as how to build a resume, prepare for an interview or network. They're also introduced to a variety of environmental career paths. The Ambassadors build their leadership skills through practicing public speaking and facilitation, and then using those skills to lead public events. They develop a sense of ownership of the waterfront, and gain knowledge about some the issues affecting the City’s waterfront through workshops with leaders working on climate change, open space and environmental justice. They also learn from and work with Trustees staff to understand the Boston Waterfront Initiative project’s vision, goals, and progress. As leaders the Ambassadors learn to engage with their communities and add their voices, especially around issues of open space access, park development and climate resiliency awareness.
Can you give us a “sneak peek” about some of the upcoming activities the teens will be working on this year?
We'll be doing a lot of really exciting stuff this summer. One of our biggest projects will be leading a youth-focused community design meeting for Piers Park III. The Ambassadors will have the opportunity to design and facilitate a community meeting to understand how young people would like the new park to look, as well as the amenities and activities they'd like it to include. The Ambassadors will then synthesize what they've learned to share with Trustees staff and local community partners at an end-of-summer celebration event.
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To learn more about the Waterfront Ambassadors, including blogs posts from the past two summers, visit onewaterfront.thetrustees.org/ambassadors. To apply to be a Waterfront Ambassador in summer 2021 click here!
The 2021 program is being supported for a second summer by presenting sponsor TD Bank through the TD Ready Commitment.