While some students are settling into their routines at Brown after summers across the globe, others didn’t have to travel far to get back to campus — in fact, many spent their summers just blocks away from College Hill.
The Herald spoke to four students who spent their summers working in the Providence community.
Rosie Shultz ’27: Rhode Island Secretary of State
Rosie Shultz ’27 spent her summer at the State House, where she was a Rhode Island Department of State summer fellow working on Secretary of State Gregg Amore’s communications team.
Much of Shultz’s work focused on redesigning the state’s voter portal to make voter registration easier ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. She also revamped the portal used by candidates running for office
Her fellowship deepened her passion for increasing voter access — a mission she hopes to continue by attending law school, she said.
Courtesy of Rosie Shultz ’27
But for Shultz, one of the highlights of the summer was working at the center of Rhode Island policymaking. From being able to hear the general assembly from her office to listening to the protests outside, Shultz could “actually feel the politics happening,” she said.
She also had the opportunity to engage with other sections of the State Department. At one point, she visited the Board of Elections’s warehouse office, where she got to follow the ballot-counting process.
“It was so cool to see how it happens,” Shultz said.
Since the State House is downtown, Shultz had to take the bus to work each day — something she said she really enjoyed.
“I feel like I got to expand the bubble a little more,” Shultz said. “I felt more plugged into the happenings of Rhode Island.”
Ben Underwood ’27: Farm Fresh Rhode Island
This summer, Ben Underwood ’27 worked as a community education intern for Farm Fresh Rhode Island, a nonprofit that connects consumers with local farmers to increase the accessibility of fresh produce while reducing waste.
His internship consisted of leading community outreach events, such as workshops on gardening techniques and seasonal eating. Oftentimes, these sessions would end with a cooking demonstration using recipes that Underwood had revamped. He also helped run farmers’ markets that aimed to promote food accessibility, he said.
But Underwood’s favorite part of the summer, he added, was working with the younger participants of Farm Fresh’s programs. He felt a “palpable increase in engagement with local produce” as the kids grew more interested throughout each workshop.
While manning a community education table at a farmers’ market, a young boy asked to plant one of the seeds Underwood had displayed, Underwood recalled. The two planted the seed together, but they didn’t have much faith that it would grow. Yet when Underwood and the team returned the next week, the young boy was already there, tending to the newly sprouted plant.
“That was awesome,” Underwood said.
He hopes to continue exploring his interests at the intersection of environmental education and food access, in part by continuing to work at Farm Fresh’s upcoming winter market.
Pirecua Duarte ’27.5: Olneyville Neighborhood Association
Pirecua Duarte ’27.5 spent their summer with the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, which hosts community programs ranging from English-reading classes to lessons on how to cut hair. The attendees of the class are mostly Spanish-speaking, and the programs are tailored to support students while improving their English proficiency.
Duarte’s role within the ONA was focused on community outreach surrounding detainments carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They passed out flyers in neighborhoods, helped run “Know Your Rights” workshops and advertised resources on social media.
Courtesy of Pirecua Duarte ’27.5 (third from right)
Following one ICE detainment, which Duarte called a “kidnapping,” the ONA team knocked on every door on the block, providing support resources for those affected and gathering information about the incident, they said.
Duarte also hoped to spread awareness about the prevalence of these incidents by convincing local residents that these detainments “could happen to anybody,” they said.
“In the end, I think we were able to change some people’s minds,” Duarte added.
Duarte is planning on studying law, and they hope that by becoming a lawyer, they can give back to their community by providing legal aid to underserved residents, they said.
Carla De Leon ’27: Coalition for a Multilingual Rhode Island
Carla De Leon ’27 worked with the Coalition for a Multilingual Rhode Island, a group consisting of over 30 different organizations across R.I. aimed at making the state “truly multilingual.”
De Leon’s main project over the summer was creating an interactive map that lists all the bilingual education programs in Providence. She was also personally involved in the ONA’s language exchange program, through which attendees can connect with one another in their preferred language.
De Leon enjoyed forming bonds with recurring attendees. One participant, De Leon recalled, was an electrician who wanted to learn Spanish so that she could better connect with her coworkers. Another participant learned Spanish abroad and brought her parents to the classes to introduce them to the language.
At the sessions, De Leon also met local teachers who attended in hopes of better communicating with their students who spoke limited English.
“I thought that was really beautiful — people going out of their way to learn a language to be able to connect with their community,” De Leon said.
Originally from California, De Leon said her experiences over the summer helped her feel more connected to Providence.
“After talking to the community, it’s really not that different from back home. It just looks different,” De Leon said. “It feels like home now.”
