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Dear Reader,
This spring has been a season of incredible growth for our youth across the DMV and Baltimore. As our spring school cohorts wrap up and we prepare for a busy summer of civic engagement and internships, we are proud to share our latest milestones. Your ongoing support makes this vital work possible.
Here is what we have been up to lately.
Canvas of Hope: LP's T-Shirt Design Competition!
"Our students didn’t just design a t-shirt; they illustrated their journeys as young immigrants in the DMV."
In a major regional showcase of talent, Liberty’s Promise students from cohorts across the DMV put pencil to paper to design our official annual T-shirt. The competition was fierce, requiring a formal, highly anticipated vote by the individuals who receive our "Friends of Liberty's Promise" letters to select the final designs.
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The Grand Prize: Our champion takes home a $2,500 grand prize, and their artwork will officially represent LP on hundreds of shirts across the region.
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Celebrating Talent: Four incredible runners-up will receive $1,000 each in recognition of their outstanding, creative designs.
The grand winner will be officially announced this 4th of July!
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8 Weeks of Impact: Gearing Up for Opportunities Plus
Behind the scenes, the LP team has been working around the clock to lay the groundwork for our signature Opportunities Plus summer internship program. We are actively engaging with local DMV business leaders and government and nonprofit agencies to secure 8-week internship host sites. Thanks to these dedicated partners, our youth are stepping out of the classroom and straight into life-changing, professional environments this summer.
Northern Virginia
On the Road to Richmond: On April 1st, our Virginia program participants traded their high school hallways for college greens during our exciting field trip to the University of Richmond. Students got an exclusive, firsthand look at campus life and the admissions process, lighting a spark for post-secondary education.
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Building Wealth with Truist Bank: In an exciting local partnership, financial experts from Truist Bank stepped into our classrooms to deliver high-impact financial literacy sessions. From understanding interest rates to mastering the basics of banking, our students walked away with practical tools to secure their future financial freedom.
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DASHing to Success: A huge thank you to DASH in Alexandria! Our ongoing partnership ensures our students have the reliable transportation they need to stay mobile, active, and civically engaged.
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Local Generosity: The community showed up in a massive way! Thanks to your local support, we raised $7,095.89 during Spring2ACTion in Alexandria and $1,622.08 during Give Choose in Loudoun County to keep our local programs thriving.
Middle School Civic Engagement & High School Readiness: Our middle school cohorts have also been actively participating in civic engagement activities and high school preparation sessions designed to help students feel more confident and informed about their future academic journey. As part of these experiences, students from Hammond Middle School visited The People’s House: A White House Experience, where they explored interactive exhibits focused on civic participation, leadership, and the history of the presidency.
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Baltimore
This spring in Baltimore City, Liberty’s Promise students stepped into spaces they once thought were out of reach—and came back seeing themselves differently. At a visit to the University of Maryland, 27 students from Patterson High School explored campus life and academic pathways, with one student reflecting that college “feels like something I could actually have a future in.” That shift—from uncertainty to possibility—carried through the entire season.
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Back at school, five students were recognized as Student Government Assembly Leaders of the Month, reinforcing the leadership already growing within the cohort. Their creativity also took center stage through a civic design project honoring the 250th anniversary of American independence, where students explored powerful ideas like identity, voice, and freedom through original T-shirt designs.
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Real-world learning continued beyond the classroom. At the Wabash District Court, students observed live proceedings alongside judges and gained a deeper understanding of how justice operates in practice. One student shared that seeing court in person made the legal system feel “less like a mystery and more like something I need to understand to help my community.” Meanwhile, a cybersecurity workshop at Port Discovery, hosted by Fortinet, gave 15 students industry-recognized certifications and a first glimpse into high-demand tech careers.
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Partnerships across Baltimore helped make all of this possible—from Councilwoman Phylicia Porter’s office to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, whose visit helped elevate student work and open doors to potential new funding. With expanding summer internships, new corporate partners, and growing regional collaboration, Liberty’s Promise is building clear pathways from Baltimore classrooms to college campuses, courtrooms, and career fields—one student breakthrough at a time.
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Join the Liberty’s Promise Alumni LinkedIn Group to network, share opportunities, exchange insights, and stay engaged with fellow graduates and the broader community.
Denisse, Bolivia 🎓 An alum of our former Fairfax Community Program, Denisse continues to remind us why representation and early exposure matter. Through her journey, she has highlighted the importance of connecting students with professionals across a wide range of fields, helping young people expand their sense of what is possible. Her story reflects the heart of Liberty’s Promise—ensuring that every student, regardless of background, has access to information, opportunity, and choice as they plan their future.
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Melissa Guerrero Gelinas, Director of Northern Virginia & Washington D.C. Programs successfully led and coordinated a strong fundraising effort through the Spring2Action campaign, raising more than $7,000 in support of Liberty’s Promise.
In addition to her fundraising success, she has continued to strengthen regional programming in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., deepen relationships with community partners, and expand opportunities for students through strategic outreach and engagement. Her leadership and commitment have been instrumental in advancing both program impact and organizational sustainability.
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We are excited to share that Melanie Cardenas, who joined Liberty’s Promise in August 2025 as a Program Officer in Baltimore, has been promoted to Senior Program Officer for the Baltimore office as of April 2026. In this role, Melanie has continued to strengthen partnerships across Baltimore City, expand internship and workforce opportunities for students, and support high-impact programming at Patterson High School and beyond.
Over the past months, she has helped grow the Baltimore portfolio through new host site development across education, nonprofit, and civic sectors; supported student access to career exposure opportunities such as court visits, cybersecurity training, and university tours; and deepened relationships with community partners and local leaders to expand Liberty’s Promise's footprint in the city.
We celebrate this well-earned promotion and look forward to the continued impact of her leadership in Baltimore.
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Maryland
Virginia
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Administrative Manager at George Mason University — Apply here. Location: Fairfax, VA. Full-time role focused on administrative coordination and operations support.
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Desk Officer at Leidos — Apply here. Location: Reston, VA
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Questions?
Contact us at info@libertyspromise.org
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