The McCafferty Career Center Kicks Off Its Third Summer of the Professional Pathways Program
On Monday, June 2nd, the McCafferty Career Center hosted fourteen students for the Professional Pathways Program Kick-Off Event. The Professional Pathways Program, made possible by funding from the Yawkey Foundation, is a summer internship program that encourages students to explore various career pathways within the non-profit industry. The program runs from June 2nd to August 8th and provides students with a $2,000 stipend and access to free, on-campus housing at Emmanuel College. Selected students participate in an independent internship course, while they gain hands-on experience at their sites. This course aims to further develop their professional skills through a specialized, skill-based curriculum.
Now in its third year, the McCafferty Career Center is proud to partner with eight Boston-based organizations this summer. New Professional Pathways partners include Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, The Food Project, 826 Boston, and Boston Debate League. Internship roles vary by site; where example duties include supporting the homeless community, assisting educators and teaching classes, administrative tasks, recruiting, and more.
On Monday, the 2025 cohort was invited to the Kick-Off Event to officially mark the start of this summer’s Professional Pathways Program. Students had the opportunity to network with fellow participants, meet their instructor, Kristen Fraser, have professional headshots taken, and align on goals and expectations for the duration of the program and their internships.
“I was so excited to meet this year’s Professional Pathways participants, both familiar faces and new ones. The energy in the room was a great sign of what’s to come,” Fraser said. “Students came professionally dressed, engaged in thoughtful conversations about their sites and summer goals, and demonstrated real enthusiasm for growing skills like public speaking and multitasking in a professional setting. One student even mentioned how much they appreciated the onboarding and training process at their internship. I’m feeling really hopeful about this cohort and can’t wait to check in to see how far they’ve come.”
View highlights from the Kick-Off Event below and stay tuned for more updates about the Professional Pathways Program! Be sure to check out the Career Center’s Instagram, ECCareer, where they will be posting weekly features on all the participating students in the 2025 cohort.
