This semester, I had the incredible opportunity to be a Social Impact Fellow with the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact (ILSI). More specifically, I work as a Software Engineering and Operations Intern with the LEAD Center for Youth, an organization dedicated to empowering Black youth through baseball and tennis, helping them overcome three major curveballs: crime, poverty, and racism. Getting to contribute to this powerful mission made this experience so much more meaningful.
My work focused on building out tools and systems that could improve how student-athletes and their families interact with the LEAD platform. One of the most exciting things I have gotten to work on was developing an AI-powered chatbot that now lives on their website. The goal was to make it users to find answers quickly - whether they are looking for program information, blog posts, or specific ambassador resources. Seeing the chatbot go from a brainstormed idea that I pitched to C.J. and Kelli Stewart (Founders of LEAD Center for Youth) to a fully functional feature was a very proud moment, and it taught me a lot about balancing functionality with user-friendliness.
I also helped organize and redesign the blog and video resources, working to align all of LEAD’s content with their four core program phases: Application, Assessment, Empowerment, and Engagement. This was not only a design upgrade. It was about ensuring that users could easily navigate the site and find content that matched where they were in their respective journeys. I spent time categorizing each blog post and cleaning up metadata, improving the UI, and thinking critically about how structure influences engagement.
One of the more time-consuming (but rewarding!) parts of my internship involved consolidating their YouTube video resources. I migrated over 200+ videos onto a single, optimized channel, updated thumbnails and video descriptions, and embedded them on the website. This effort not only improved their searchability and impressions, but created a more cohesive and professional user experience - something that will continue to pay off in the long run.
Beyond these more technical tasks, I learned so much about what it means to build with intention and purpose. Working at the intersection of software development, operations, UX, and mission-driven development challenged me to think big picture. I came in wanting to write good code and develop a cohesive resource database - but I left with a stronger understanding of how small digital decisions can ripple out in order to create real-world impact.
As I reflect on this semester, I am very grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a dedicated and passionate team. LEAD isn’t just teaching sports - C.J., Kelli, and the rest of their team work to build leaders, challenge systems, and change lives. I am very proud to have played a small part in supporting that mission.
A huge thank-you to ILSI and Amber Slyter at Georgia Tech for making this fellowship possible. Their support gave me the platform and mentorship I needed to grow both professionally and personally. I am walking away from this experience more inspired than ever to keep using tech for good.