Everyone has
a role. Everyone
has a stake.

8 juniors who lead companies. Fellows must have lived experience in historically marginalized communities. They pitch to the Expert Panel, develop robust prompts, draft their teams, lead Week 2 company meetings, and own the $10K budget.

Lived experience isn't a checkbox — it's what makes proximate leadership possible. Fellows lead projects that address challenges in their own communities, with real money, real clients, and real stakes.

Fellows are paid on deliverables. The monthly deliverable is how the project moves. If deliverables aren't posted, stipends don't flow.

40 students drafted by Fellows onto company teams. Mostly sophomores, but juniors who don't become Fellows remain in the draft pool as experienced hands who know how things work.

Each Engaged Member takes one of four specialized roles: Budget (financial tracking, expense reports), Program Development (project design, timeline management), External Partners (stakeholder outreach, community liaison), or Marketing (social media, storytelling, brand identity).

The shift from General to Engaged signals something: you're not volunteering anymore. You're working. Someone chose you. Now deliver.

The majority of the NewComm community. Quick application — no GPA requirements, no teacher recommendations. General Members attend monthly Design Studios (50 spots, first come first served), rotate through prototype stations, and give feedback.

General Members have a real job: they're the test users. Their feedback shapes the next iteration of every company's project. This isn't observation — it's participation with impact.

After the draft, General Members can apply for the waitlist. Being on the waitlist is a status marker: "I've been vetted. I'm ready. I'm one step away from getting paid."

2 seniors selected from the previous year's Fellows or Engaged Members. The "Partner" in Managing Partner means partner to NewComm itself. Their governing question: How do we grow a student-led movement?

At Design Studio: They open the morning session, lead the General Member feedback rotation, and serve as the visible senior presence. Then they shift to observation — moving between companies, noting patterns, gathering intelligence.

At Wellness Roundtable: Managing Partners co-facilitate with the Director of Wellness. This isn't just peer support — it's where they gather the insights that fuel their governing question.

Quarterly Senior Leadership Sessions: Four times a year, MPs sit with NewComm's senior leadership for strategic brainstorming — where everything MPs have absorbed gets pulled into structured conversation about recruitment, retention, and expansion.

2 juniors elected by their Fellow peers during the summer. They don't lead a company — they lead the cohort. They float across all four Company Meetings, see patterns, catch friction early, and support Fellows who are stuck.

Because they're not buried in their own project, they have a bird's eye view of the whole studio. They sit at the governance table and bring cross-company intelligence that no one else has.

All seniors who want to stay involved. After three years of being invested in, they flip to the other side — leading Community Roundtables (SAT prep, college essays, financial wellness), guiding younger students at Design Studios, and serving as recruitment ambassadors.

The commitment is bounded — 4–6 hours per month — manageable alongside college applications. They get essay writing support, connection to the NewComm alumni network, Legacy Circle dinners, and they're first in line to return as Social Impact Team members in college.

Any institution that partners with NewComm to become a home base for student-led project work. The institution provides the physical space and local infrastructure. NewComm provides the programming framework, student community, expert support, and project capital.

Community Design Studios can be independent schools (campus facilities, faculty support, student pipeline), museums (exhibition space, public programming, neutral territory), or libraries (community gathering space, technology access, neighborhood presence).

What every Studio shares: students gather monthly for Design Studios, companies meet weekly, Supper Clubs bring professionals to the table, and $10K projects create real community impact. The institution is the home. NewComm is the engine.

College interns who execute deliverables while high school students are in school. They handle logistics, materials, coordination, and production. They make sure student decisions turn into tangible outputs.

The division of labor is precise: students own execution that teaches them something — budgeting, outreach, design. The Social Impact Team handles execution that's just logistics — printing flyers, booking rooms, coordinating vendors. They support without taking over.