From My Desk: President & CEO, Dr. Aisha Francis | | |
Hello friends,
As a Father's Day nod this month, I'm ceding space in the President's Letter to one of the fathers on the Franklin Cummings Tech leadership team who I invited to offer reflections on his experience recruiting, encouraging, and interacting with intrepid learners who are also parenting. It's quite a balancing act, as you'll come to appreciate.
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At Franklin Cummings Tech, we continually remind students that they need to be laser focused on their plan to achieve the educational outcomes they want and we know they can attain. But for fathers who are pursuing degrees at FC Tech – a few of whom are spotlighted in this edition of The Spark – that focus is not singular. And while at times things seem out of reach, their persistence towards a better future for themselves and their children is how they anchor the family and make their communities stronger.
Franklin Cummings Tech works every day to help our graduates thrive by securing well-paying jobs and entering meaningful careers that allow them to build generational wealth. We educate and empower students, and by doing so, empower their current or future family.
I am inspired by all our students and, as a father, have special admiration for parenting students who are investing in themselves so their children can have better lives. Their focus on self-improvement through education is one I identify with. Through dedication to family and leading by example they are laying the groundwork for economic advancement and building generational wealth.
Happy Father’s Day,
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Bryan Boppert
Vice President of Enrollment Management
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Lightbulb moment:
Showcasing Practical Electricity Students
| | Dozens of industry partners and employers gathered at Franklin Cummings Tech for our Practical Electricity Showcase, which allows students to demonstrate their hands-on expertise in their technical field. | | |
Students were able to show potential employers how their education equips them to be career-ready even before graduation - exhibiting their expertise in device installation, wiring methods and conductor sizing, electrical and motor circuits, and adaptability in residential, commercial, or industrial applications.
Our showcases demonstrate to employers across the region the practical, industry-aligned education that students receive through our Practical Electricity program. Many of these students will go on to participate in co-ops and apprenticeships that expand their real-world training and connect them to high-paying careers.
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Fatherhood Spotlight:
Steven Thomas (‘27)
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When Steven Thomas became a father at age 23, his definition of success changed. What once centered on personal achievement became focused on building a better future for his family.
Today, as a husband, father of three, Dean’s List student, and Construction Management major at Franklin Cummings Tech, Steven is turning that responsibility into action. His life journey has included entrepreneurship, earning life insurance licenses, building a sales organization, and starting in the construction trades as an ironworker apprentice. Each experience taught valuable lessons. However, fatherhood challenged him to think beyond the present and invest in long-term opportunities.
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That mindset ultimately led him to choose to return to college and to do so at Franklin Cummings Tech.
Returning to college while raising a growing family is not easy. Like many adult learners, Steven faced doubts after an earlier college setback and wondered whether higher education was still part of his future. Instead of allowing that chapter to define him, he chose to start again. Within his first year at Franklin Cummings Tech, he earned a place on the Dean’s List, proving to himself that growth and success are always possible through commitment, discipline, and perseverance.
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Outside the classroom, Steven is gaining real-world experience through Franklin Cummings Tech’s co-op program with TWC Phoenix, a specialty contractor specializing in masonry restoration and waterproofing. He is contributing to projects throughout Greater Boston, including restoration work at Harvard University’s historic Eliot House.
Steven has also embraced opportunities to serve his fellow students and community. As a student leader involved with both the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and NECA student chapters, he is passionate about helping others discover careers in construction and showing young people that rewarding opportunities exist within the skilled trades and construction management profession.
For Steven, education is about more than earning a degree. It is part of a larger vision centered on homeownership, generational wealth, community impact, and creating opportunities for his children. But he believes the impact extends beyond his own family. As a lifelong Boston resident, he sees Franklin Cummings Tech as a catalyst for economic mobility in urban Boston, helping individuals and families build stronger futures through education, workforce development, and access to opportunity. He hopes his journey demonstrates that success is not decided by where you start, but by your willingness to keep moving forward.
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Fatherhood Spotlight:
Andy Perez
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Andy Perez’s (30) Construction Management major story is one of focus, purpose, and choosing to keep moving forward. As a father, student, and working provider, he is building a future to become the kind of person his daughter can look up to and one day inherit a stronger foundation from.
When his baby girl was born in 2024, everything shifted for Andy. Like many new fathers, he found himself learning something new every day. He had first started thinking about a technology degree back in 2022, but the timing never felt right.
In 2024, after finding Franklin Cummings Tech, fatherhood became his top priority. Then in 2025, he made the decision to return to school for good. He wanted more for himself, but even more importantly, he wanted to inspire his daughter and give her a better life.
Balancing school, work, and fatherhood is not easy. Andy is honest about that. Each role takes time, energy, and discipline. But he approaches it with the same mindset: be present, do the work, and stay focused.
Andy’s passion for construction comes from wanting to make things look right, and his bigger dream is to open a construction business on Blue Hill Avenue where he would help redesign, refurbish, and manage homes in the neighborhood.
For Andy, education is the key to generational wealth. Money matters, but knowledge lasts. He wants to pass on a business to his daughter, yes - but also honesty, fairness, and the example of someone who found his purpose, stayed focused, and kept going.
| | President Francis Honored as Boston Tech Leader | | |
As rapidly evolving technology reshapes industries and economies, Massachusetts’ higher education sector continues to serve as the beating heart of the region’s tech and trade workforce.
We are thrilled to see the president & CEO of Franklin Cummings Tech, Dr. Aisha Francis, acknowledged for her steadfast leadership of Boston’s only two-year technical college.
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In her Tech Power Players profile, Dr. Francis spoke with the Globe about how emerging “skills showcases” at Franklin Cummings Tech demonstrate to Boston-area employers that FC Tech graduates are tech-savvy and skill-ready, pairing Career Fairs with opportunities for students to exhibit their skills with high-tech machinery.
Boston Globe business enterprise reporter, Janelle Nanos, sat down for a recorded interview with President Francis to discuss her leadership approach and vision for the future of FC Tech. The conversation covers how and why the college immerses students in career-connected learning, and the joy of doing so in a new campus that brought $75M of economic development to Nubian Square.
| | Dr. Francis is determined to reframe the narrative around technical and trade education to center “the makers” who install, operate, fabricate, and maintain our critical infrastructure and built environment. We are grateful for her steadfast leadership. | | New Building, Architects Win Awards | | |
Our purpose-built campus is being recognized for its innovation, utility of space, and serving as a learning tool for key educational programs. The new home of Franklin Cummings Tech was honored as the Facility of the Month by School Construction News.
Studio G Architects, the designers behind our 21st-century campus building, spoke with School Construction News about the iterative design process that incorporated student needs, programmatic functionality, and space - an approach continually rooted in access, equity, and alignment with our mission.
| | When the City is the Classroom:
C&W Services and One Lincoln Street | | What if you had all of Boston as your classroom to learn the skills needed for your career? | |
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This spring, students from Franklin Cummings Tech stepped into that reality at One Lincoln Street in Boston. One Lincoln is a 36-story, 1.1 million square-foot, Class A office building located in downtown Boston, and the students made the most of it.
With the support of C&W Services and building owner DivcoWest, students moved through spotless mechanical rooms, studied complex piping systems, and asked questions that connected theory to practice.
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Led by Michael Hutchinson, C&W Services Operations Manager, Brian Johnson, C&W Services Chief Engineer, and Michael Deluga, DivcoWest Associate Director of Engineering, students watched how airflow could be adjusted remotely, how waterbased systems regulate temperature, and how the Building Automation System (BAS) ties everything together
One student noted how “you can control everything from the computer to see what’s going on if there’s not enough air somewhere.” Another reflected on the scale of the systems— “HUGE transformers”— and the complexity behind what had once seemed invisible. Complex HVAC, electrical, and pumping systems were no longer separate topics—they were part of a coordinated whole.
They also noticed the details. The cleanliness of the mechanical rooms and the equipment inside these rooms, the responsiveness of the controls, and the way problems could be identified immediately and solved in real time.
| | They weren’t just observing a workplace, they were imagining themselves within it. | | For C&W Services, the visit was a strategic move. The industry is experiencing a wave of retirements in the next several years across all building operations, primarily skilled trades, building engineers, and technicians that are nearing the end of their careers. Rather than waiting for these labor challenges to disrupt operations, C&W Services chose to act early. Partnering with Franklin Cummings Tech, C&W Services set out to create a long-term talent pipeline, aiming to hire many Franklin Cummings Tech students over the next five to seven years. But they understood that recruitment could not rely on job postings alone, students needed to see, touch, and experience the work. | | |
In January, C&W Services hired three Franklin Cummings Tech students in co-op roles, and three more will start in May. One student, Camy, did so well in his co-op role that he received an offer to work full-time as an apprentice in preventative HVAC maintenance. In just two years, he will complete his apprenticeship and be eligible to obtain his MA HVAC/R license. He completed 2000 of the required 6000 hours towards that license through his time at the college.
When he earns his HVAC/R license, doors will open for him to work anywhere in the industry. However, Camy plans to stay at C&W Services. He described his team as the best he’s ever been on.
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They are upbeat, eager to learn, and resilient in the face of challenges. If they don’t know something, they figure it out together. He also highlighted the company’s leadership. On his very first day, he had lunch with the Senior Director, Michael Gill, and that moment set the tone: at C&W Services, employees are treated as individuals, not just workers.
C&W Services’ strategic approach reflects a broader shift in how companies think about talent. Instead of competing for an increasingly reduced skilled trades labor pool, they are investing in growing it. Instead of racing to industry labor shortages, they are preventing them. C&W Services isn’t just preparing for the future, they are helping to create it, one field trip and one new professional at a time.
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