January 2022 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
This January, we welcomed the newest cohort of TPZ students to our Discover course, where they explore their communities, passions, and interests to identify a business concept–the first step in starting a new venture! Later this spring, students will progress to our Ideate course, where they will refine and prototype their concepts in TPZ’s new, state-of-the-art Boston Innovation Center and professional makerspace. We’re excited to see the creative ideas and products they develop!
Invitation To Our Corporate Partners!
In our monthly newsletters, you often read about exciting collaborations with corporate partners, such as Converse, Citizens Bank, Boston Medical Center, Sage Therapeutics, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, among others. To all of our corporate and industry friends, we invite you to explore ways to introduce our talented students and alumni to your companies and career paths through internships, project consultancies, and career exploration. Together, we can prepare and inspire the next generation of professionals and leaders! Please reach out to Alisha Collins, our VP of Corporate Relations & Giving to explore opportunities with us.
Below in this month’s newsletter:
- Partnership Profile – TPZ and Converse are collaborating to introduce Boston’s young people to the exciting and growing world of creative and design professions–whether working on their own apparel or uniforms for the NBA!
- Alumni Spotlight – Meet Yaz and hear about his journey from TPZ to a career in the biotech industry.
- TPZ In The News – Our plans for expansion and collaboration in Boston were recently covered by The Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal, and Yahoo Finance!
Enjoy and please stay safe and warm!
Alumni Spotlight
PZ Co-Founder and Executive Director, Becky Levin, recently caught up with alumni Imtiyaz (“Yaz”) Hossain to hear about his path since high school and TPZ. While at TPZ, Yaz started The Greenroom Experience, an event planning business.
“Learning how to draft a business proposal was one of my most meaningful learning moments,” he said. “The tipping point was when my friends and I suddenly realized that understanding and applying the foundations of a pitch were applicable beyond TPZ.”
Yaz’s journey highlights the important role TPZ plays in connecting students and alumni to corporate and industry partners through internships. These internships introduce them to new careers and intentionally build their professional networks. This opens up future opportunities and encourages them to try new things. Hear how this works directly from Yaz:
“Right after TPZ, I went to Tufts University for my undergraduate degree and majored in biology, focusing on immunology. I was very academically focused, but TPZ helped me realize that I should explore opportunities outside of school. That’s when I started acquiring many internships in biotechnology companies, consulting, marketing, clinical and preclinical research, and academic fellowships. After graduating in 2017, I pursued a Master of Public Health degree at the Tufts University School of Medicine, where I was introduced to the study of biostatistics, data science, and AI.
A significant turning point was when my internship with Sage converted into my first full-time job while pursuing my MPH degree. TPZ was gracious enough to introduce me to Sage Therapeutics, and it will be the most fruitful connection of my career. I was given the freedom to learn, exposure to the best mentors, great bosses, and a work environment that encouraged growth and autonomy. Sage Therapeutics gave me funding for my own projects, and I was promoted from intern to Coordinator to Associate to Manager, all within three years. It seemed like I was advancing every eight months. I was then offered a job at Takeda Pharmaceuticals as an Associate Director at 24 years old, and that is where I am now since August 2020.
TPZ gave me that extra push to be excited about risks and go outside my comfort zone. Fear was the only thing stopping me—I got rid of that fear.”
Partnership Profile
TPZ-Converse Collaboration Ignites Student Creativity
Design Deep Dive
This winter, TPZ launched a 14-hour, one-week Apparel Deep Dive course in collaboration with Converse. During this Deep Dive, students learned how to design, prototype, and market a t-shirt and hoodie to a target consumer of their choosing. The course leveraged Converse’s expertise in consumer insights, product concepts, and storytelling, and leveraged students’ creativity to develop a valuable experience and tangible deliverable–all participating students received t-shirt and hoodie designs with their designs.
All participating students reported that they felt the experience was valuable, that it was high-quality, and that they would recommend this Deep Dive to their friends. Students particularly appreciated “[Converse employees] telling their stories on how they got there and what they do,” “learning the process from start to end of how Converse makes their designs,” and “watching our t-shirts and hoodie come to life and sharing our presentation.”
NBA All Star Design Fellowship
If you happen to catch the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game (Friday, February 18, 4pm), you’ll hear the name of TPZ alumni, Abel Teclemarium. For more than a year, with TPZ’s support, Abel has been part of a ‘top secret’ paid fellowship of young designers from across the country charged with creating jerseys and marketing collateral for All-Star Weekend!
Abel created the design for the East Celebrity All Star Team jersey (pictured here). We are so proud of Abel’s accomplishment and appreciative of Converse, Nike, and the NBA for this opportunity. Starting his business as a TPZ student was the catalyst for Abel’s interest in art. And the creativity of TPZ’s students led Converse to invite Abel and other students to apply for this special fellowship and design project.
TPZ In The News!
Over the past few weeks, TPZ’s new Innovation Center in Jackson Square, and plans for expansion and collaboration in Boston were profiled by The Boston Globe, Yahoo News, and the Boston Business Journal.
We are excited to work with our school, community and corporate partners, and with local entrepreneurs to engage and inspire the city’s young people and prepare them for future life and career success!