Roles at WE
Leadership Facilitator and Speaker; various roles with the WE Day Team, Trips and WE schools
Now
Director for Young People, Prince’s Trust Australia
Reflecting on the impact Dean witnessed while working at WE, he said,
I had the privilege of facilitating several WE trips to Kenya between 2008 and 2016. During these years, I witnessed the undeniable positive impact that WE has had on the communities that they have partnered with. With the support of WE, community members are empowered with new opportunities to live, learn and earn.
Thinking back on his experience at WE, Dean said,
WE played a pivotal role in my personal and professional development. Through WE, I was welcomed into a global community of amazing people who are dedicated to creating a better world. I worked hard, was given incredible opportunities, made lifelong connections and, most of all, I was able to contribute to large-scale social impact. What was my experience like at WE? Well, I lived a rock star lifestyle (traveling the world, meeting inspiring people, putting on stadium-sized, star-studded events) while creating positive change—who wouldn’t want that experience?
What is something that you were proud of working on during your time at WE?
I was proud of a lot of things I was involved in at WE, but if I have to pick one, the stand out has to be FAM for Change: a mentorship program that WE created in partnership with Brockton High School and Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts. Friends and Mentors (FAM) For Change is a non-profit organization based out of Bridgewater State University’s Institute for Social Justice.
FAM was founded seven years ago in hopes of decreasing the dropout rate of Brockton High School students. The program began with around 25 mentors. At that time, the dropout rate at Brockton High School was 20 percent. Since then, the FAM staff has grown to over 60 BSU Student mentors and over 70 Brockton High School mentees. As of 2013, the dropout rate decreased to 9.6 percent.