Committed to our Community
In the wake of the unrest that took place in the summer of 2020, our employees asked us: What was Soucie Horner doing to make the world a better place? To help answer that question, we created our We Care initiative: A company-wide philanthropic endeavor that seeks to deepen our commitment to social action across our entire organization – beyond Shea and Martin’s individual, decades-long efforts.
We have always been deliberate about the people and organizations we choose to align ourselves with, gravitating toward those equally interested in helping improve the lives of others. One of the earliest partnerships we formed was with the Noble Network, an innovative group of 17 Chicago charter schools that serves more than 12,000 minority (and mostly low-income) students from every neighborhood in the city. The Noble Network’s Summer of a Lifetime (SOL) pre-college program, in particular, was a perfect fit.
Since its inception, Shea and her husband have been actively involved in the SOL program, which supports high-achieving, low-income high school sophomores by sending them to summer academic enrichment programs at colleges and universities across the country. “This program has been proven time and again to change the course of these kids’ lives,” Shea says. “For many, it’s their first exposure not only to a college or university, but also to the idea of college.”
The students live on campus, take courses, immerse themselves in college life, and pair up with a coordinator who takes them through the college application process—all at the age of 15. For some of them, it’s their first time away from home or their first time on an airplane. In the past 20 years, nearly 7,500 children have benefited from the program, partnering with 174 colleges from Stanford to Yale and all points in between.
The results have been stunning. Student after student finishes their high school career with a new confidence, and with a crystal-clear conviction that attending college is a tangible, reachable goal rather than a pipe dream.
“Summer of a Lifetime has prepared students so that when they go [to college] in the fall of their freshman year it’s not a scary experience,” says Nikki Desgrossellier, a program coordinator. “It is something that is familiar and something they’ve been successful at before.” The program has proven itself. Summer of a Lifetime alumni learn the tools to successfully navigate the college experience and graduate at a 60 percent higher rate than other students nationally—and at five times the rate of low-income students in America. Many of them are the first in their family to attend college, let alone graduate.
While Shea herself has been a passionate supporter of the Summer of a Lifetime program for more than two decades, because of We Care, our office is now joining the cause. We’re hosting internships, externships, and mentoring programs, all thanks to the talents and the passions of our team. “Sharing what we do at the office exposes students to work environments in general, and the fields of architecture and design in particular,” Shea says. “It opens their eyes to the many possibilities for their future.”
But the Summer of a Lifetime program is only the beginning. It’s become a springboard for growing the We Care initiative, all with an eye toward locking arms with the wider world around us and moving forward, together, to make it a better, fairer, more inclusive place to live.
Senior Designer
Though inspired by both well-designed cars and clean-lined, modernist furnishings, Joshua is influenced (and energized!) most of all by travel. “Exploring new places, experiencing different cultures, and meeting new people are among the biggest joys in my life,” he says.