Nereyda Betances ’25, Erica Estrella ’25 and Zoe Ragland-Haines ’25
Majors: Marketing (Nereyda and Zoe), Mathematical Sciences (Erica)
Minors: Management (Nereyda and Erica); Computer Information Systems (Zoe)
Faculty Advisors: Isa Beltre, senior lecturer, Marketing, and associate director, FirstGen Presidential Fellows Program, and Jane De León Griffin, professor, Modern Languages, and Associate Provost for Student Success
Project: “Shaping Tomorrow, One Community at a Time”
For their Signature Work Project, the trio of FirstGen Presidential Fellows explained how their academic and extracurricular activities at Bentley enhanced their understanding of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — 17 interconnected objectives that guide global development efforts.
For Betances, participating in Bentley’s MOSAIC Experience, a pre-orientation program for first year and transfer students of color and allies, emphasized the importance of SDG #10: Reduced Inequalities. “I was super nervous coming into Bentley,” she shares. “As a student of color at a PWI [Predominantly White Institution], I thought I’d be homesick and wouldn’t make any friends. But MOSAIC creates a space where students like me can forge friendships and receive specialized guidance and support to succeed in our first year of college.” As such, the MOSAIC Experience helps support SDG #10 by helping to foster a more equitable and inclusive campus environment.
Both Estrella and Ragland-Haines highlighted their involvement with Bentley’s Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center (BSCLE). As program manager for the Waltham Family School, “I taught English to Spanish-speaking mothers, helping them build the language skills they need to navigate daily life, support their education and gain greater independence,” Estrella shares. “As the daughter of immigrants, this was particularly meaningful, since my parents enrolled in a similar program when they arrived in the U.S.” In addition to SDG #4: Quality Education, the BSLCE program supports SDG #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, she notes, by “helping moms develop the tools and confidence they need to pursue future job opportunities.”
Ragland-Haines also served as a BSCLE program manager, serving youth in a lower-income Waltham housing community through the Prospect Hill Afterschool Program. She and fellow Falcons provided healthy snacks (supporting SDG #2: Zero Hunger) and helped with homework (SDG #4) — an experience she characterizes as “my absolute favorite thing that I did during my time at Bentley.”
Through the BSCLE’s partnership with the Yawkey Foundation, Ragland-Hines also interned in the Malden, Massachusetts, office of U.S. Congresswoman Katherine Clark. The experience provided “a deep understanding of how our government works and why it’s important for local and federal governments to work together,” she shares. Her work with Rep. Clark’s office led directly to a second internship, facilitated by The Fund for American Studies. Working with the National Association for Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), Ragland-Haines saw firsthand how domestic trade, in particular interstate commerce, plays a vital role in the U.S. economy. These internships, she says, helped illustrate the importance of SDG #9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG #16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
All three FirstGen Presidential Fellows appreciate the hands-on opportunities Bentley provided “to demonstrate our understanding of pressing global challenges and our ability, both individually and collectively, to address them.” And each is committed to advancing the U.N. SDGs in their personal and professional lives. Now that they’ve graduated, Betances is pursuing a full-time marketing position, Estrella is spending six weeks in Spain as a nonprofit consultant and Ragland-Haines is moving to Houston, Texas, to pursue a career in digital marketing.
Pictured left, from top to bottom: Betances, Estrella and Ragland-Haines.
