The D'Amore-McKim F1RST Scholars Program began with a student and a vision. In 2019, Fiona Zhao (DMSB '22) brought an idea to program leadership: first-generation college students deserved more intentional support. Five years ago, Fiona's proposal became a pilot program built on the belief that community, not just access, could transform how students moved through college and into their careers.
What began as a pilot grew into a network that extended beyond any single cohort. As one class found its footing, the next arrived on a path that felt more visible. Students who once searched for answers began to offer them. The program did not just support first-generation students. It created a system where they supported one another.
Alumni, students, faculty, staff, and corporate partners recently came together to celebrate the program's five-year milestone and reflect on its success.
From the beginning, F1RST Scholars focused on closing gaps that often go unnamed. Students arrived with talent and drive, but many lacked the context that others took for granted: how to navigate office hours, how to access the network their peers had inherited, how to understand industries they had never seen up close. The program addressed those gaps directly, pairing exposure with mentorship and building a cohort model that made learning collective rather than isolating.
Devaun Bovell, associate director of student engagement, says that purpose shaped the program's evolution. “We wanted students to gain exposure to industries and opportunities,” he says, “but just as importantly, to find a community where they could ask questions, explore different paths, and see what's possible for themselves.”
That exposure often arrived early. For many students, the New York City trek marked a turning point, a moment when abstract career paths became tangible. Malik Diallo, DMSB'27, remembered walking into firms like JPMorganChase, Google, and FTI Consulting and seeing a future he could imagine himself in. “It was the first time I saw what I could be,” Diallo says.
For others, the shift began even sooner. Omar Mohuddin, DMSB'24, recalled recognizing the program's importance during summer orientation, before classes even started. By the time he joined the New York trek, the experience had reshaped how he thought about his future. He now works in investment operations, a role he once had little visibility into.
But the program's impact did not hinge on a single moment. It grew gradually, through consistency and connection. Weekly cohort meetings gave students a space to compare notes and ask questions they might not have raised elsewhere. Conversations extended beyond structured sessions, spilling into group chats and late nights that turned peers into something closer to family.
Heather Hauck, director of student engagement and program's founder, helped shape that environment from the start. Over five years, she watched the program grow into something defined less by structure than by culture. “These students are phenomenal,” Hauck said. “What we've built is grounded in trust, vulnerability, and a fundamental baseline of respect.”
That foundation showed up in ways both visible and subtle. For Rebecca Chen, DMSB'26, the program's $3,000 stipend made an immediate difference, allowing her to step back from juggling multiple jobs and focus on academics. But just as important were the relationships that formed alongside it, friendships that began during the New York trek and extended into shared experiences like studying abroad together.
“I wasn't doing it alone anymore,” Chen says.
If the cohort created a first circle of support, mentorship expanded it. Through a partnership with Liberty Mutual's Corporate Strategy and Research team, students connected with professionals who offered guidance over the course of their sophomore year. Those relationships, built through one-on-one conversations, workshops, and office visits, helped translate ambition into direction. At the five-year celebration event, that partnership came into focus as well, with Liberty Mutual recognized as F1RST Scholars' inaugural Corporate Partner, a reflection of a relationship defined by authentic, sustained, hands-on mentorship rather than transactional support.
Over five years, outcomes became easier to track. 100% of students in the programs are on track to graduate on time and are involved in at least one club, service, or other leadership opportunity. Students secured co-ops and internships at firms such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, TJX and Microsoft. Alumni have gone on to secure full-time roles at some of the most competitive firms in finance, technology, consulting and more. But the program's most consistent impact lay in less tangible shifts. Students and alumni describe gaining the confidence to speak in rooms where they once stayed quiet. They describe coming to understand industries that had once felt opaque. They describe, again and again, the feeling of not being alone.
Kerliyah Andrews (DMSB'26), says the program has helped her explore multiple fields before choosing a path with clarity. More importantly, it gave her a community she could rely on. “It creates a second home,” Andrews said.
Recent alumni shared similar stories. One graduate, arriving in Boston with limited exposure to corporate careers, built a path to a role at MFS Investment Management. Another turned a co-op into a full-time position by leaning on the program's support network during a pivotal interview.
As the first cohorts graduated, a new phase began to take shape. Students who once relied on the program began to return as mentors, offering guidance to those just starting out. What had started as a support system became a cycle. That evolution was not accidental. It reflected the program's core idea: that belonging, once built, could sustain itself.
Five years in, F1RST Scholars has become more than a collection of resources or experiences. It has become a community with momentum, one that continued to grow not just in size, but in depth, scope and impact.
The results appeared in job titles and career paths, but also in quieter ways: in first-year students who approached college with more confidence, and in seniors who left knowing they belonged in spaces they once hesitated to enter.
For many, that shift carried a sense of responsibility. Students who once searched for representation began to embody it. By its fifth year, the program had changed what was possible not only for the students within it but also for those who would follow, each cohort building on the last, making the path forward clearer than before.