Transforming Generations - PBHA Alumni Impact Report

PBHA’S Approach and Impact

For 120 years, Harvard’s Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) has been working in communities across Greater Boston. Each year, 1,500 student volunteers join with PBHA’s community partners to run more than 70 social service and social action programs, serving more than 8,000 constituents. PBHA advances social justice by running valued programming and services with and for Greater Boston community members and catalyzing the civic engagement and public service trajectory of hundreds of college students every year. Over 30,000 PBHA Alumni continue to have a transformative positive impact on the world well beyond their undergraduate years.

PBHA by the Numbers (Annual)

  • 1500 college volunteers

  • 140 summer college student internships

  • 45 Chan Stride Leadership participants

  • 22 Student Officers

  • 270 Student program directors

  • 350 Shelter guests

  • 600 Adult English Language Learners

  • 100 high school teens employed through PBHA’s award winning Summer Urban Program (SUP)

  • 1500 Children enrolled in programming

  • 80% of enrolled families make less than $50K annually

  • 99% of parents surveyed felt child was safe in the summer at SUP

  • 94% of parents surveyed felt SUP helped their child learn more about their identity and take pride in it

  • 75% of SUP campers increase literacy and math skills

PBHA Alumni Stories: Ongoing Legacy of Service

  • I was really active in PBHA during a time in my life where I was figuring out the person I was going to be. The experiences and opportunities for reflection I had with PBHA made service part of my identity--for the rest of my life, I've asked myself whether what I'm doing makes the world better, and how. This is how I think of who I am.

    ‘03

  • PBHA helped to form my personal and professional life after Radcliffe. The skills I learned at PBHA provided the basis for my nonprofit management career. In addition to volunteer activities I have served as director/manager or trustee/board member in every organization I have been involved with over the past 60+ years.

    ’67

  • I've used my PBHA skills every day I have worked at a non profit since I graduated college and then law school. It helped me see the big picture and contribute to growing my nonprofit and leading a team of public interest lawyers.

    ‘07

  • PBHA provided me with a safe space when I was in college. At PBHA, I found people who shared aspects of my identity (eg being first-gen, growing up low-income) and shared my interests (eg youth work and social justice work). PBHA taught me how to build community with others, how to manage others, and how a non-profit operates. My work in education and non-profits now 100% is a result of the impact PBHA had on me.

    ‘16

  • My time with PBHA was the most powerful learning experience I've ever had. The combination of experiential learning, coaching/mentoring from staff, support and challenge from a community of peers, and leadership development both prepared me for my career as a social worker and educator, and inspired me to continue fighting for social justice in my personal and professional lives.

    ‘11

  • PBHA is what really started the trajectory of my whole adult life! All of my best friends are from PBHA, and I decided to become a teacher in Boston because of my work in PBHA. It also encouraged me to be a more active voter and community member.

    ‘11

As is true of most things at PBHA, this summary was fueled by collective efforts.

Special thanks to Christine Tran and Sammy Lee who conducted primary analysis of the PBHA alumni survey data as part of their Vanderbilt Leadership & Learning in Organizations PhD Capstone Project. Thank you to Leah Robinson who developed the survey as a HGSE student advised by Professors Alexis Redding and Julie Reuben. Thank you to PBHA Alumni Nancy Sato, Class Act ‘75 who guided the overall impact study and Sam Greenberg who analyzed and summarized the final study outcomes, and of course, to the PBHA-Alumni board who envisioned this initiative and supported it through all the stages.

Finally, thank you to the countless PBHA students and staff who reached out to alumni, coded the responses, coordinated meetings, and made everything look pretty.