HISPA Hosts Youth Conference at Rutgers University!
HISPA Hosts First-Ever Youth Conference at Rutgers University to Affirm the Dreams of Middle Schoolers Aspiring to College
New Brunswick, New Jersey -October 24, 2025 — By Natalia Osorio Quintero
HISPA, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to affirming the college and career aspirations of youth from low-income communities, hosted its first-ever Youth Conference at Rutgers University. Co-hosted by PSEG and co-sponsored by the Rutgers School of Engineering, the event brought together 80 students from Fords Middle School in Woodbridge, NJ, and 26 volunteers for an inspiring day of exploration, mentorship, and discovery.
Themed “Take Action! Achieve Your Dreams,” the conference provided students with an immersive college experience, empowering them to see higher education as part of their own futures. Attendees participated in STEM Exploration Workshops hosted by AT&T, Merck, PSEG, and Verizon, where corporate volunteers introduced students to hands-on activities, like programming robots, and shared insights into their career journeys.
Students also had the opportunity to hear from leaders at Rutgers University and PSEG, who offered powerful messages of perseverance and determination, encouraging students to dream big and work hard toward their goals.
Rutgers School of Engineering Ambassadors student ambassadors, overseen by Arron Rodriguez (Assistant Dean, Outreach & Engagement) and Dr. Michael Brown (Assistant Dean, Student Access & Inclusion; Director, Education Opportunity Fund; Director, Engineering Opportunity Program), supported the event throughout the day, helping to guide and engage students and volunteers alike. A college student panel featuring students from Mercer County Community College, Passaic County Community College and Rutgers University gave students a firsthand glimpse into college life and the transition from high school to higher education—critically important to the many students who would be the first in their families to attend college.
“Our first-ever Youth Conference at Rutgers marked the fulfillment of a long-held dream: to bring HISPA’s Youth Conferences to colleges across New Jersey,” said Dr. Ivonne Díaz-Claisse, founder and CEO of HISPA. “Every student deserves to see that they belong in these spaces—to walk a campus and imagine themselves as future scholars. Rutgers provided the perfect setting for that vision to come to life.”
HISPA’s educational programs are made possible by its 2025-26 Founding Partner Verizon, Co-founding Partners and Supporters Merck, Bloomberg, and PSEG, and Annual Partners Bank of America, Bristol Myers Squibb, Citi, the Delta Dental Foundation, the LSEG Foundation, Prudential Financial, and Visa. HISPA is a UnidosUS affiliate.
For more information about HISPA and its Youth Conferences, please visit www.hispa.org.
