Los Altos resident Kelly Yang, a senior at Castilleja School, spent her summer connecting with the community through a nonprofit organization as a part of the Bank of America Student Leaders program.
She was among the 300 students selected nationwide to work for a nonprofit in her area through the paid internship program.
In her application, Yang said she emphasized her passion for addressing educational inequity and providing underrepresented people with opportunities to be heard. She said she often wrote student opinion pieces for her school newspaper and the Town Crier to shine a light on such voices.
“I like spreading information about what the general population is feeling, especially if it’s a population that maybe hasn’t had the opportunity to share their narrative before,” Yang said. “A lot of minority groups have been silenced in the past, so if I have an opportunity to provide them with a voice, then that is definitely what I love doing.”
The BofA program placed her at Pie Ranch, a nonprofit educational farm in Pescadero. Youth Corps was there as well, and Yang attended one of its food justice workshops.
“I learned so much during (the workshop),” she said. “I don’t usually think about how my food gets to my mouth, quite literally. I know that it gets planted, and (when) it’s in a grocery store I buy it, I cook it and I eat it, but I learned so much about the process it takes from seed to table.”
Yang said she also learned more about the inequality involved in the process.
“There is so much injustice already in the food system before production, processing and distributing,” she added. “A lot of these steps are dominated by minority groups who are not getting paid fair wages. I learned so much about what it takes and the people that are out there every day and getting us our food.”
Aside from learning, Yang helped out on the farm by weeding and harvesting crops. As a Los Altos resident, Yang said this was something she would have otherwise not had an opportunity to do. She described it as an eye-opening experience.
One week, Pie Ranch hosted Panther Camp for middle schoolers to participate in fun activities and learn about food. Once a month, the ranch would host a meadow dance, at which anyone could come and dance, celebrate and eat.
When Yang was not physically at the ranch, she helped with social media management. She also wrote an article for Pie Ranch about technology and farming. In addition, Yang packed produce to be shipped to nonprofit organizations or food distribution services.
Yang encouraged students to apply for the Bank of America Student Leaders program.
“If you feel like there’s something that’s important to you, definitely chase after that,” said Yang, who also spent part of her summer volunteering at the Bullis Boosters Camp for underresourced students. “Definitely try (applying), it never hurts to try. Maybe you’ll get to learn a cool thing or two about nonprofits.”
For more information on the program, visit bankofamerica.com/en/making-an-impact/student-leaders.
