At the center of today’s technology transformations are human questions about work, access, well-being and opportunity. This summer, 18 Lehigh University Impact Fellows traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area for two weeks to explore those questions through their Silicon Valley Social Impact Fellowship fieldwork.
The five projects, Bay Area Food Connect, The Human Edge, Harmony in the Hustle, Fostering New Futures, and The Ethics of the New AI Workforce, worked with partners across the Bay Area, including community-based organizations, food distribution sites, community colleges, founders, workforce leaders, educators, AI professionals, researchers and youth-serving organizations.
The fieldwork was supported by faculty mentors Bill Whitney, assistant vice provost for experiential learning programs, and Dominic DiFranzo, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, with tremendous support from members of the Lehigh West team, particularly Samantha Dewalt, managing director of Lehigh West, Willy Das, senior research scientist and curriculum innovation manager, and Wendy Fong, director of industry engagement.
During fieldwork, the SVSIF teams reached several key milestones. Bay Area Food Connect met with food policy researchers, community college basic needs centers and food distribution organizations to inform a web-based tool that helps community college students navigate local food resources. The Human Edge explored how high school students can build human skills for an AI-driven workforce, and its research paper has been accepted for presentation at the International Council for Small Business World Congress, where it also received a Best Paper Award nomination. Harmony in the Hustle interviewed more than 20 founders across industries and venture stages to validate a prototype platform focused on entrepreneur well-being.
Fostering New Futures met with organizations serving transitional age youth, including foster youth, and strengthened its approach to restorative justice, trauma-informed community building and job readiness programming. The Ethics of the New AI Workforce, in its first year as an SVSIF project, conducted interviews with tech insiders, workforce advocates, job seekers and academic researchers to better understand how AI is reshaping hiring, upskilling and career pathways in the Bay Area labor market.
These accomplishments represent only part of the progress made during the fieldwork. Visit Creative Inquiry’s LinkedIn feed to read detailed summaries of each project team’s fieldwork highlights and outcomes.
Follow Creative Inquiry on LinkedIn to read more about each team’s achievements and future plans.
The photos below capture moments from SVSIF fieldwork.
