From My Desk: A message from President & CEO, Dr. Aisha Francis
If you were in our building today, you would see for yourself that while summer may be a quieter time of year, our hallways, classrooms, and offices are full of activity and people hard at work teaching and learning.
Hundreds of students are enrolled in summer courses across every major we offer, with some students working to graduate in August and heading off to a job. Other students are participating in accelerator classes that prepare them for the fall semester and keep their minds and skills sharp over the summer months.
At the same time, we are hosting orientations for new, incoming students, registering our returning students, and placing graduates into jobs.
Our team is also working on logistics for moving into our new campus in Nubian Square in January of 2026. As part of our celebration of this new era for FC Tech, we will be holding our Grand Opening Gala on April 8, 2026. To help us advance our mission, we invite you to consider sponsoring our gala fundraising event. Please contact Shane Dunn at sdunn@franklincummings.edu to learn more.
Teaching and learning never stop at FC Tech, no matter the season, and you will see in this newsletter how we are making the most out of our last summer and upcoming fall semester at our century-old 41 Berkeley Street building.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and stay well.
Sincerely,
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Aisha Francis, PhD
President & CEO
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| | | | Time Machinery: 100 Years of Hands-on Trade Education | | Tours of our new Nubian Square campus are inviting supporters, donors, and elected officials to experience the progress of our state-of-the-art campus building. Our frequent Hard Hat Tours have welcomed almost 100 community members to see how the elements of our 21st-century programming will come together in our new home. Tour highlights include how the building itself will serve as a learning tool for key programs like building energy management, electrical engineering, and renewable energy. | | |
Features of the tour include:
- The automotive garage, which will serve as a fully functional automotive service center used for teaching purposes, which is equipped with 10 lifts for gas, hybrid and electric vehicles.
- An opticianry lab, complete with student run opticianry shop, a customer service desk, and private exam booths.
- The rooftop Liberty Level, featuring two outdoor Liberty Learning Labs for project-based education on clean technology such as heat pump installation and the mechanics of solar panels and wind turbines, as well as student reflection spaces, and an outdoor laptop bar with remarkable views of the city.
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Stay tuned for an official ribbon cutting of the new building in January 2026, which will be a wonderful way to ring in the new year!
In the meantime, Franklin Cummings Tech is hosting behind-the-scenes construction tours of our new campus in Nubian Square. The tours have limited capacity, so sign up now for one of the remaining summer dates below.
- Thursday, July 31, 2025 | 9:30am - 10:30am
- Thursday, August 14, 2025 | 9:30am - 10:30am
| | Franklin Cummings Tech Gathers on Martha's Vineyard | | |
Join President & CEO Aisha Francis and Board of Trustees Chair Turahn Dorsey, and a gracious Host Committee on Friday August 8, 3:00pm-5:00pm in Oak Bluffs, MA to learn how Franklin Cummings Tech is creating social and economic impact in the Commonwealth through technical and trade education.
Come to hear the excitement surrounding our move to Roxbury, Boston’s “Education Innovation District,” after 100+ years in our South End campus.
| | Digging into the Archives | | |
As our faculty and staff prepare to move into the new campus, we are digging through our South End building’s old boxes, storage spaces, and filing cabinets to uncover – and preserve – precious moments in our school’s 115-year history.
Franklin Cummings Tech hosted the City of Boston’s Archives Department to better understand the items and their connection to the city. We reviewed documents related to the original Franklin Fund that established our South End building, decades of program descriptions, and many unique pieces of technical and trade education – including an old printing press.
As we look ahead to our new chapter in Nubian Square, it’s important that the college’s unique, century-long role is not lost to history — a point that our Chief of Staff, Jackie Cornog, continues to emphasize.
| |  | | “The important role this college has played can’t be lost. The people can’t be lost. As part of this move, we have an opportunity to reconnect with the people who have a history of themselves or of their family being here. We look at it through the decades. Through the wars. Through the arch of technology. Through the institutional name changes. This college has remained true to our mission.” | | Other ways in which we’ve ensured the community can benefit from our materials is through a partnership with More Than Words, who graciously accepted hundreds of textbooks, almanacs, and reading materials to ensure these resources stay in the community to be utilized by future academics. | | Bryan Boppert joins FC Tech as Vice President of Enrollment | | | | |
Bryan Boppert, Ed.D., has joined the Franklin Cummings Tech leadership team as the college’s new Vice President of Enrollment Services. Bryan brings a proven track record of student success to Franklin Cummings Tech, and we are very pleased to have him join our growing and strong team of education and training experts.
“I am inspired by the work of Franklin Cummings Tech and its dedication to institutional excellence and innovative programming,” said Boppert.
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“I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to support the college’s enrollment growth and continue to prepare students with the skills-based, hands-on learning that employers demand and that puts our graduates on the path to economic advancement.”
Bryan’s passion, data-informed strategies, and student-centered leadership philosophy will greatly increase our student services and grow enrollment as we expand our programs to meet the needs of the region’s rapidly evolving industries.
| | FC Tech welcomes two new board members | | |
We’re excited to welcome two new members to our Board of Trustees: Carmen Boscia, ESG Strategist at Longfellow Investment Management Co., LLC, who has served as a non-board member of the Finance Committee for several years, and alumnus Robert “Robby” Pardo, Jr., Director of Central Fleet at the City of Boston who brings a wonderful alumni perspective in his approach to fiduciary leadership.
Bringing experience in sustainable investment, operations management, and public service, Carmen and Robby will build on our momentum and continue leading our college’s mission to offer transformative technical and trade education that leads to economic advancement.
| | | Employer Spotlight: Elaine Construction | |
Woman-owned Elaine Construction is a leader within our college’s employer community. They took co-op students last summer and became the first company to launch our new apprenticeship program in construction management. Their staff has led multiple lunch and learns and professional training workshops for our construction management students. | | | |
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This May, Arnold began his 15-month journey as a Construction Management Apprentice for Elaine Construction. He completed his first year of coursework and will finish his degree while gaining hands-on experience at Elaine Construction.
For Arnold, the environment feels welcoming: “Everyone here treats you like they already know you. At lunch, they invite me to eat with them. It’s a good feeling. It’s a welcoming feeling.”
Arnold is working with Jessica Vieira on the St. Francis House project. Jessica, originally from Brockton, MA, serves as a construction superintendent at Elaine. In her most recent co-op biweekly check-in, she described Arnold as curious and proactive: “It’s been great to see Arnold learn and grow in this role. He is always asking questions and taking the initiative to do tasks around the jobsite. He is an absolute pleasure to work with!”
Kudos to Elaine Construction and to Arnold for blazing new trails in workforce development.
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“We believe in Arnold and the talent coming out of Franklin Cummings Tech. They are hungry to learn and prove themselves. This has been a great partnership so far.” - Anthony Leonard, COO of Elaine Construction. | | | | Beyond the Bench: Biotech students work hands-on at local biotech labs | | Second-year Biotechnology students spent the summer visiting biotech firms and performing hands-on work through our industry immersion initiative, organized in partnership with Life Science Cares Boston. They toured a ThermoFisher Scientific biomanufacturing facility, conducted labs at Lab Central and Biogen’s CoLab, and learned about the amazing microbiome-based medicines developed at Seres Therapeutics, among many opportunities.
| | “The students we met are very talented and eager to learn. I think any company would be lucky to have them!” - Ted Allen, Associate Director of Bioinformatics at Seres Therapeutics | | |
Student Maria Ruiz Marquez found the visit eye-opening and enjoyed witnessing the types of jobs that are available through the degree she is pursuing.
“I loved the chance to meet professionals from the industry and visit real labs,” said Marquez. “My favorite activities have been running PCR and gel electrophoresis because they make me feel like I’m really applying what I’ve learned.”
| | Cast your vote for Franklin Cummings Tech as Partner of the Year | | |
We’re proud to share that Franklin Cummings Tech, in partnership with Schneider Electric and 10 World Trade, has been nominated for the ACT Partnership of the Year award—an honor recognizing innovative collaborations advancing clean energy across the Northeast who have substantially impacted the Northeast region’s climate economy.
At the core of this recognition is our Building Energy Management (BEM) Lab, powered by state-of-the-art equipment from Schneider Electric and supported through operational and scholarship funding from the 10 World Trade Community Impact Fund.
This partnership helps us deliver hands-on training and real-world learning experiences that prepare students for high-demand careers in energy management. We invite you to support this impactful work by voting for our partnership.
Together, we’re building a smarter, more sustainable future for Boston and beyond.
Cast your vote to support Franklin Cummings Tech!
| | Want to support our students? Make a contribution to our Building Energy Management scholarship fund. Every dollar provides critical support for students pursuing careers in growing the clean energy economy. | | When it comes to mascots, two are better than one! | | | | |
What’s a college without a mascot? Well, we have two! We are pleased to introduce Benji the Bolt, who amplifies the electric spirit around campus and can be found engaging students at our many events.
His lightning bolt figure pays homage to Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment, which proved the not-yet-understood electric nature of lightning in 1752. That same experiment is honored through the kite in the Franklin Cummings Tech logo.
| | We’re also thrilled to introduce "Frank the Robot Dog," who was originally programmed a few years back as the pet project of students in the mechatronics and robotics concentration at Franklin Cummings Tech. Frank has quickly become an unofficial mascot and a popular feature at student-facing events like the Boston Public School STEM fair this past March, and prospective student events held on campus. | | | He is now a regular at our Discovery Day events at local high schools, campus career fairs, and clean tech program demonstrations. Participants are given an opportunity to manipulate Frank’s movements through computer software to understand the coding required in robotics and machine programming that they would learn when enrolled in our programs. | | Alumni Spotlight: Building his alma mater | | |
Upon graduation from FC Tech, Harry Rodriguez (’23, Construction Management) joined Dellbrook | JKS as part of their Construction Immersion Program. Through the program, Harry was able to complement the hands-on technical skills he learned in the classroom with leadership skills that applied his knowledge into all phases of a construction project.
Today, Harry is an assistant project manager and assistant superintendent for Dellbrook. The project? Our new state-of-the-art campus in Nubian Square. A Roxbury native, his career at Dellbrook has brought him full circle from training in the construction industry to building the campus of his fellow alumni.
| “I’m proud to continue my relationship with Franklin Cummings Tech, from walking out its doors as a graduate to framing the doors on the new campus FC Tech will call home.” - Harry Rodriguez ('23) | | |
It is our pleasure to share that alumni giving grew by 150% this past fiscal year. We are inspired to see a growing number of alumni investing in the next generation of Franklin Cummings Tech students. This increase is a clear sign that our alumni believe in the power of the technical and trade education they received.
Now their generosity is helping build a stronger, skilled workforce for tomorrow. Watch and listen as Dominic Glennon ’21 AS shares the personal transformation he experienced after earning his degree in Opticianry.
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