Alumni Hiring & Scholarship Opportunities
826 Boston offers paid work opportunities for local teens & program alumni, in addition to scholarships for college-bound seniors. Help mentor a student like you and raise another writer!
With Boston Youth Fund support, 826 Boston employs and trains 10 outstanding, college-bound BPS high school students each year to serve as mentors and tutors to younger students attending the after-school program. Teen employees work 15 hours a week to gain on-the-job training and leadership skills. They also attend supplemental writing workshops and occasional Saturday tutoring sessions. These youth are eligible to apply for 826 Boston college scholarships when they graduate from high school; often they return as paid 826 Fellows once admitted to college. 826 Boston Fellows, representing the most outstanding 826 alumni, receive stipends to work for six months as tutors, workshop leaders, and program interns. To learn more about Boston Youth Fund’s employment opportunities and search for openings at 826 Boston, click here.
Meet Edwin Gonzalez, 826 Boston’s former Development and Program Assistant and a former 826 student. Edwin has logged more time at 826 Boston than almost everyone.
“I’ll never forget the day Daniel (826 Boston’s founding executive director) and two 826 staff members walked into my 11th grade honors English class,” recalls Gonzalez, who was part of 826 Boston’s very first Young Authors’ Book Project, I Wish They Would Have Asked Me. “They expressed such enthusiasm and interest in our stories. When the staff member who was working with me read my essay for the first time, she started crying! That’s when it hit home that my words had real power.”
That initial contact with 826 Boston transformed Gonzalez’s outlook on reading, writing, and mentoring. “I wanted the opportunity to give back to 826 for all the support they had given me,” said Edwin about his role as a teen tutor for 826 Boston’s after-school program. As 826 Boston’s Program Assistant, Gonzalez continued to support the program that spurred his own love for mentoring.
After Gonzalez received a degree in Sociology at Brandeis University, he kept close ties with 826 Boston, returning for a development internship this past summer. “I’m a true success story of how well our programs work,” said Gonzalez of his long-term relationship with 826 Boston. “In my opinion, the only way to truly give back to the organization is to continue to stay involved and share my story.”
