Parker now has a website (info.parkerdewey.com/fwp) that allows alumni to expand their futures by working on projects that fit their interests immediately after graduating. The Parker Dewey Alumni Initiative, named after philosopher and progressive education advocate John Dewey, is a foundation created by Parker parent Jeff Moss, who graduated high school in 1992, and the Parker Alumni Association. The focus of “The Dewey,” as Moss calls it, is to match alumni with companies that need help working on various projects. The alumni input their interests to find a good fit with a company, and so “pick a path, build their skills, and prove their talent.”

The alumni initiative builds a portfolio for alumni that includes the projects they’ve worked on as well as reviews of their skills, which can later be helpful when finding a career. “The Dewey just launched weeks ago with Parker,” Moss said, “but we believe it will have a lot of success.”

Associate Director of Alumni Engagement Joe Bruno, who works on the Alumni Initiative, believes this is an easy way for the alumni to find work. “Alums will go create a profile with their areas of interest and search micro-internships,” Bruno said. “Micro internships are an internship that lasts only for one project that a company needs help on. So a company like Google—instead of hiring an intern for a six-month job, they would post their project that might last twelve weeks.”

The purpose of this website is to allow Parker graduates to better pick a path in life. After high school, alumni often don’t know where to go. “People are constantly switching careers, switching jobs,” Bruno said, “and you don’t always have that updated info.” One of The Dewey’s features is that it keeps track of all the projects you have worked on and compiles it all into a portfolio for companies to see.

Projects range from fields such as sales, business development, human resources, strategy, marketing, research, operations and support, and finance and accounting. In each of these categories, there are eight different subcategories. For example, within sales, one finds list crunching, meeting preparation, prospect research, etc.

The website also has a section geared towards the companies that are looking to enlist the help of the alumni. There is an area where companies can browse the “talent” and select whom they would like to work on their project. According to the website, “after a project is completed, clients can hire the talent for full-time positions, internships, part-time roles, contract work, or anything else directly and without owing any additional fees.”

The process consists of three stages: First alumni must sign up on the website and fill in their information, such as personal interests and talents. After that, The Dewey filters all the alumni based on this information. Finally, alumni are matched with a company that has posted a project. The alumni initiative handles all payment and administrative matters for the alumni as well.

The Parker Dewey has a document detailing the terms for the companies and alumni. It starts by stating that there is “no formal relationship” between the talent and company. According to the website, it is not a job, internship, or anything like that. The only relationship is between the Parker Dewey and the alumni. The website further states that the companies have to pay only for the work. The service is completely free for both the company to post a project and the alumni to search for work.

Looking towards their future, current Parker students see the benefit of The Dewey. “That’s a great idea,” senior Talia Garg said. “I hope that it’s still there when I’m an alum.”