Hive-Draper Fellowship
Our summer fellowship program was back at the Hive this year, but this time with Pomona College’s Draper Center. Building off the work started in HCD class in Fall 2023, fellows had the opportunity to bring class concepts to life by executing designs. Fellows Lena Abed PO ’26, Kai Chen PO ’26, Rebecca Yao SC ’26, and Louisa Calhoon SC ’24 worked with Pomona College Community Engagement Center (PCCEC), local civic leaders, community members, and students to define an identity for the new PCCEC space in the City of Pomona, and develop programming to meet its needs. PCCEC serves as a creative and inclusive space for after-school programming to connect with the community and provide access to resources.
Through their summer work, the fellows developed and managed community service initiatives, conducted needs assessments, designed outreach strategies, and designed and furnished PCCEC’s physical space. Abed stated, “One of the main insights we have right now is that many spaces for personal growth and exploration in Pomona feel highly monitored for middle and high school students, and the spaces where they do have some semblance of independence aren’t designed for them to spend an extended amount of time there after class, and also don’t facilitate meaningful connection.” By improving the design of the PCCEC space and its programming, the fellows strove to better meet the needs of area youth.
The Hive Summer Fellows program empowers Claremont College students to lead a real-world design project and grow their skillset through the process. We were thrilled to have such wonderful partners at the Draper Center to support both community development and our fellows. Check out the images below to see what they were up to, and read more in the story published on Pomona’s news site here.
You can check out the fellows’ final project write up below.