The Hiatt Center

Celebrating 20 years of building leaders for social impact

The Hiatt Center expands the nature of school by leveraging creativity & design for social impact. It isn’t a physical center; it is a mindset, an incubator, a place for belonging, and a collaborative. In other words, it’s a fully integrated program that gives our students the resources to lead and effect change.

The Hiatt Center’s core tenets of leadership, civic engagement, and social justice intersect with the school’s emphasis on technology, creativity, entrepreneurship, and race and equity, giving our community the tools and agency to move from dialogue to action. This unique approach moves us from a traditional community service mindset towards strength-based empowerment. Deeper learning, authentic collaboration, and meaningful action—powered by students, faculty, and community partners—are our collective purpose.

How we do this work

All Beaver students experience the work of the Hiatt Center through curriculum, programming, or partnerships—or a combination of all three!

Curriculum

Hiatt collaborates with faculty in every grade and department to expand the work in the classroom and provide real-world context. Teachers partner with the Hiatt Center to enrich their coursework with examples and experiences.

Programming

Hiatt offers programming for grades 6-12 to allow students to further develop their skills at a variety of entry points. Students view Hiatt as a resource to inspire and discover work they are invested in.

Partnerships

Hiatt has long-standing mutually beneficial external partnerships, which blur the lines of the classroom. Success is measured by the transformation of the student and the community, not the number of hours served.

Students view the Hiatt Center as a resource to inspire, deepen, & discover meaningful work they are invested in; teachers partner with the Hiatt Center to enrich their coursework with real-world examples & experiences.

Liz Latour, Director of the Hiatt Center

Hiatt in the Classroom

Students experience community engagement opportunities through the classroom that lead to deeper learning, authentic connections and projects, and meaningful community change.

Hiatt Student Programming

The Hiatt Center offers intentional, layered 6 to 12 programming designed to meet students where they are and move them forward in their journey as global citizens, leaders, and change-makers. This is in addition to what all students experience through the curriculum.

Middle School Leadership Institute

During the academic year, students are invited to opt-in to a series of monthly workshops. Through these workshops, students will build skills and deepen their understanding of leadership, civic engagement, and social justice. The workshops are flexible so students may sign up for a single workshop that interests them or engage in the entire series. Participation in six or more workshops will award students with a Hiatt Leadership Institute Certificate of Completion.

Workshop dates below are tentative for 2024-25. Students will receive the most up-to-date info via their Beaver email and at weekly MS meetings. Parents/caregivers will be notified via the monthly newsletters and weekly MS Community Meeting email updates. The website will be updated to reflect changes as they come.

24-25 Workshops

Inside Out: Discover, Grow, Lead

Leadership is a lifelong journey. Understanding yourself and your values helps guide your actions and decisions with authenticity and integrity. How you act should reflect what you stand for.

September 23, 8–9 a.m.

Beyond the Surface: Mastering Deep Listening

Attentive, empathetic, and reflective listening are essential skills in times of disagreement or conflict. Join us to learn and practice the art of listening for genuine understanding.

October 21, 8–9 a.m.

Bridging the Rift: Conflict as Opportunity

Conflicts can become opportunities for growth and understanding. Learn how to handle disagreements constructively and cultivate collaboration for mutually-beneficial outcomes.

November 18, 8–9 a.m.

Justice Unfolded: Exploration of Human Rights

Leaders make decisions that affect others’ lives. Exploring human rights can give leaders perspective, knowledge, and tools needed to prioritize dignity, justice, and equality.

December 16, 8–9 a.m.

The Social Justice Retreat

Our Beaver community is committed to the work of social justice. The Hiatt Center is honored to host you for a full day of reflection, learning, and collective imagination.

January 31, 8 a.m.–2 p.m.

Rise Together: Building Collective Strength

An effective leader is collective-minded. They act from a place of care towards others in their team and are comfortable leveraging everyone’s skills, knowledge, and talents to achieve goals.

February 10, 8–9 a.m.

Bounce Back: Build Resilience and Recovery Skills

Develop the ability to overcome challenges and recover from setbacks. Learn strategies to strengthen your resilience and bounce back stronger from difficulties.

March 31, 8–9 a.m.

Take the Reins: Focus on What’s Yours to Impact

Let’s make time to focus on things you can directly impact. Get practical tools, ideas, and strategies for taking the next step in your leadership journey: action and impact!

April 28, 8–9 a.m.

Speak for Impact: Make Your Message Matter

Harness the power of your inner voice to deliver messages that make an impact. Learn techniques for clear communication, verbal or nonverbal, that will help you effectively share your ideas and inspire others.

May 12, 8–9 a.m.
Hiatt Summer Fellowship

More details on the 2025 Hiatt Summer Fellowship program will be shared with students in February 2025.

The Hiatt Summer Fellowship (HSF) provides returning Beaver students (grades 6-11) the financial support to take the initiative to explore and participate in meaningful leadership and civic engagement opportunities with non-profit organizations during the summer. The experience serves as a launching point for deeper learning. Students are encouraged to connect their Summer Fellowship to learning in the classroom and/or by pursuing a Student-Directed Project in the Upper School.

A HSF experience can be a student-designed nonprofit internship or participation in a community-based program. While engaging in this work, students agree to positively represent Beaver, act professionally, and demonstrate growth in communication and leadership skills.

Students will be awarded $7/hour for volunteer work to a maximum amount of $1,000 per summer. Hours will be recorded and logged by students each week and submitted through Google Classroom. Checks in the full amount will be sent home in September. We can reimburse families for certain program costs up to $1,000. [Note: Hiatt cannot provide or reimburse transportation or supply costs; consider this when choosing your experience. Students are eligible for reduced-fare bus/T monthly passes of $26/month]

Hiatt Independent Afternoon Opportunity (US)

The Hiatt Independent Afternoon Opportunity allows for students to volunteer at a nonprofit after school for seven hours per week. Many students choose a nonprofit based on an established relationship they have with an organization. They may also meet with someone in the Hiatt Center to brainstorm ideas. This afternoon program does not take place on campus, and it is up to the student to arrange for transportation to the volunteer site.

During the term, students write a reflection describing their volunteer experience. You can read more about it here.

Students who sign up for this activity must complete this learning agreement by the end of the first week of the term during which they will volunteer. The student will determine their schedule with the nonprofit pending approval from Ms. Latour in the Hiatt Center.

Off-Campus Conferences

Each year, Beaver students attend conferences with financial support from the Hiatt Center including the Harvard Women in Business BOLD Conference, Empower Peace Women2Women International Leadership Program, NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference, City School Social Justice Leadership Institute, McKinsey Youth Leadership Forum, and more. After these experiences, students are often inspired to do a Student Directed Project or lead a social impact project.

Our Partners

We have developed longstanding, mutually-beneficial partnerships with various organizations in the greater Boston area (and beyond). Partners include:

The Hiatt Center is on Instagram!

The Hiatt Center Team

  • Geeta Jain
    Associate Director of the Hiatt Center, Upper School Global History and Social Sciences
  • Liz Latour
    Director of the Hiatt Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement
  • 617-738-2716
  • Read Bio