Making an Impact At Northeastern
Area of Greatest Need
Dear Mary,
Your generosity helps to sustain Northeastern’s unique approach to learning and discovery—an approach that is fueled by experience, driven by innovation, and engaged with the world.
Thanks to your support of the Area of Greatest Need fund, Northeastern continues to create formative opportunities for students, invest in top-tier faculty, fund transformative research, and provide experiences that bring communities together to forge the next generation of global leaders and innovators. We are delighted to share here just a few of the opportunities you make possible.
Thank you.
Student Opportunities
Faculty Excellence
Research
Diverse and Inclusive Communities
Entrepreneurship
Global Exploration
No other university offers students the vast range of experiential learning opportunities that we do. Your generosity empowers students of all backgrounds to embrace these opportunities as they prepare for lives of meaning and impact.
Empowering first-generation students
The university has launched several programs to support students who are the first in their family to attend college. Through career exploration activities, community building, mentorship, and professional skill development, these students are empowered to pursue their academic and professional ambitions. First-Gen, a group for and by first-gen students, was cofounded by Kiera Perryman, who graduated in 2023 with a degree in interaction design, to help create a sense of belonging for first-gen students.
Experiential education around the globe, and in our backyard
Northeastern funds co-op positions with six nonprofit partners working in underserved Boston neighborhoods. Lorenzo Bartoloni, a second-year human services and psychology student with a minor in urban studies, worked with Fenway CDC, an organization that develops affordable housing in the Fenway neighborhood near Northeastern’s Boston campus. He partnered with staff and community members to prepare grant applications, lobby elected officials, and provide residents assistance with issues such as food insecurity.
Transforming the traditional approach to doctoral study
Sade Iriah was pursuing a doctorate in neuroscience when she seized the opportunity to participate in the LEADERs Program, which embeds PhD candidates in an organization in industry or the public sector. The program placed Iriah in Takeda Pharmaceutical, where she explored positron emission tomography and radiolabeling and became comfortable with computerized tomography. The experience, she says, was a game-changer, and facilitated the connections that allowed her to secure a job as a scientist and study director after earning her PhD.
Northeastern’s distinguished faculty are catalysts for innovation and change. Your support bolsters their ability to pursue interdisciplinary research, take on the world’s most pressing issues, and mentor the next generation of leaders and changemakers.
Expertise that
spans disciplines
From Meta to Google to X, leading digital platforms profoundly influence our daily lives—but how do they impact freedom, law, and democracy? And why have regulatory bodies failed to limit the power and reach of digital giants? These are questions posed by Elettra Bietti, who joined the faculty as assistant professor of law and computer science – an interdisciplinary role that highlights Northeastern’s commitment to breaking down silos and fostering collaboration across fields.
Tackling the world's
most pressing problems
Srirupa Chakraborty, assistant professor of chemical engineering, chemistry, and chemical biology, uses high-powered computing to develop proteins with a number of possible uses, ranging from water purification to more effective drug treatments for a host of stubborn diseases. Her laboratory is currently working to solve the problem of how to deliver medicines to treat cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal inflammation, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Mentoring the next generation of leaders and innovators
Northeastern faculty are not only researchers and innovators, they are mentors whose guidance helps to shape the trajectory of their students' academic and professional paths. By involving students in their research, facilitating introductions to help expand students' networks, and offering feedback on students' future plans, our faculty foster the growth of the next generation of leaders and innovators.
Northeastern is an epicenter of discovery, a university where investigators collaborate across disciplines, institutions, and industries, united by a mission to create solutions to address worldwide challenges in health, security, and sustainability. Your generosity amplifies the pace and impact of this vital work.
Pioneering global climate research
Researchers found in 2021 that an estimated 4-10 million tons of plastic carbon enter the ocean each year. Much of it ends up floating in subtropical currents. Now, researchers — led by Northeastern’s Aron Stubbins — have examined what happens next.
“We found that hundreds of chemicals are produced when plastics degrade in sunlight,” says Stubbins, professor of marine and environmental sciences, civil and environmental engineering, and chemistry and chemical biology. “This may have an impact on the ocean’s carbon cycle and marine chemistry as well as potential consequences for human health."
Student-driven, faculty-backed innovation
Jennifer Field, a mathematics and physics major and Spanish and women’s, gender and sexuality studies minor, received a 2023 PEAK Summit Research Award to support her work on a self-powered smart cane. Mentored by Canek Fuentes Hernandez, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, the smart cane project aims to improve the lives of people with visual impairments. Field worked on the design and prototype of the cane and conducted user interviews to create an assistive technology that will be best suited to user needs.
Resources for a transformative PhD experience
Mark Soo is a PhD student in microbiology and molecular biology who studies an antibiotic-resistant “superbug” called Acinetobacter baumannii that has developed resistance to nearly all drugs. By understanding how the bug makes and coordinates its defenses against antibiotics, Soo hopes to uncover new ways to better treat infections. Close faculty mentorships and access to the resources and flexibility needed to make the most of his doctoral education enable Soo to take on this potentially life-saving research.
Northeastern strives to create a better world by cultivating diverse and inclusive communities where everyone can thrive. By engaging communities to provide access to education, driving community-led change, and honoring service and leadership, we are making a meaningful impact on our society, together.
Connecting communities through service and leadership
Susana Kalish’s interest in medicine was sparked at age eight, when her father faced a health scare. Since then, she has worked to become a physician assistant who delivers holistic primary care to underrepresented communities. Now a first-year student in the Master of Science in Physician Assistant/Master of Public Health program, Kalish’s academic journey is supported by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Graduate Fellowship, a full-tuition scholarship administered by the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute based on leadership and community service.
Using data and our global network to create on-the-ground change
A year after their initial meeting, two Northeastern professors from opposite coasts were honored for leveraging Northeastern’s global network to solve problems in local communities. Alicia Sasser Modestino (Boston) and Carrie Maultsby-Lute (Oakland) launched Community to Community. Bridging the gap between knowledge and practice, the venture connects community members, policymakers, and academics to solve problems according to community needs and create change in issue areas, such as housing, workforce development, or opioid abuse.
Building pathways to higher education
Adelia Argueta, a first-year from Charlestown, is attending Northeastern for free thanks to the Northeastern Boston Housing Authority Scholars Program, which provides full-tuition scholarships for BHA public housing residents. For nearly 40 years, the program has opened doors for local students and their families, creating a ripple effect of opportunity for brighter futures. As Argueta explores campus and decides what to major in, she dreams of becoming a lawyer and returning to Charlestown High School to show students like her that anything is possible.
In Northeastern’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, students are empowered to build the skills and experiences they need to transform their ideas into reality. Your investment allows students from all walks of life to participate in student-led venture accelerators, receive expert mentorship, and develop their ventures through paid entrepreneurial co-ops.
Student-led, peer-supported, Northeastern-funded entrepreneurship
Robert Yang grew up in New York City. Matias Belete grew up in Asia and Africa. These two finance students drew from their unique backgrounds to launch a streetwear brand called Foreign Resource. During a 6-month paid co-op at the Sherman Center, they focused on developing their business, utilizing IDEA, the student-led venture accelerator, to build out their customer research and meet mentors. Thanks to the support they received, Yang says Northeastern might be the best school in the country for entrepreneurship.
Read more
Building up skills for underrepresented entrepreneurs
The Founder Residency at Northeastern's Roux Institute is a yearlong program that helps entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups develop the skills they need to grow their ventures. Melissa LaCasse, founder of Tanbark, a Maine-based company that makes packaging with wood fiber rather than plastic, came to Roux with expertise in packaging and used Northeastern’s global network of mentors and investors to learn to build and scale a high-growth company. Since LaCasse began her residency, Tanbark has secured over $3.2 million in pre-seed funding.
Read more
Rewarding creativity and determination
After her experience solo-traveling, Hannah Ung pitched a venture to her marketing class: Boxy, a short-term rental service for luggage—the “Airbnb of storage.” She worked with the Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship (WISE), the Husky Startup Challenge, and IDEA—three of Northeastern’s student-led entrepreneurship programs—to bring Boxy to life. The Women Who Empower Innovator Award gave Ung access to mentorships and funding to help her launch a Boxy pilot.
Students at Northeastern are encouraged to explore the world over the course of their academic careers, and the university offers myriad opportunities for students to do just that. Your generosity enables students to broaden their perspectives through international co-op placements, engage in international research projects, and immerse themselves in academic programs embedded in universities that span the globe.
3,587 Employers
Northeastern students accepted positions at 3,587 co-op employers across the U.S. and worldwide.
149 Countries
Northeastern provided experiential learning opportunities in 149 countries.
3,780 Students
3,780 undergraduate students had a global experience.
Transformative experiences for students and faculty alike
Associate professor for applied psychology Vanessa Johnson has led over a dozen Dialogue of Civilizations trips to Ghana with service learning at the heart of her programs. Students visit orphanages and schools, where they distribute in-kind donations brought from the US, engage with children, and teach hygiene in all-female classes. The experience is transformative, pushing some students to go to medical school, return to teach in Africa, or become Fulbright scholars. “I thrive and grow every time,” Johnson agrees. “I become a better person from each experience.”
New connections and opportunities
International business major Luke Zaller arrived in Singapore as part of a study abroad program and extended his time there when he accepted a co-op with Ernst & Young. After applying worldwide, Zaller learned there are many obstacles to obtaining a co-op abroad, but he was able to secure this position through his new Singapore-based network. Zaller aims to start his own company one day, but for now, this co-op is preparing him well for a corporate career. He hopes to keep this new network of friends and business mentors for the rest of his life.
Global diplomacy up close
The United Nations in Geneva Dialogue of Civilizations has been introducing students to the hub of world politics for 15 years. There’s no such thing as a typical day on this Dialogue: students meet with ambassadors, representatives of international organizations, and Nobel Peace laureates. They see diplomacy in action and can ask global leaders about national issues and working in international affairs. This Dialogue brings together students from every college at Northeastern, allowing them to gain new perspectives from each other and the experts they meet.
THANK YOU
Your partnership is critical as we cultivate a vibrant global community where students thrive, faculty excel, and groundbreaking research flourishes. With your support, we can expand our world-class facilities, enhance our cutting-edge academic programs, and provide transformative experiential learning opportunities that prepare our students for success in an ever-changing world. Your commitment to Northeastern not only impacts our campus community but also extends our reach globally, allowing us to make meaningful contributions to society and shape the leaders of tomorrow.
Charlotte A. Troyanowski
Senior Director of Donor Relations
Northeastern University
617-373-3026
c.troyanowski@northeastern.edu