Cade Boiney ’26 and Seraph McKern ’26, designed and workshopped a prototype for the Levitt Center’s Research and Policy Innovation Hub. After researching the city of Utica, interviewing community members, and connecting with local government officials, they’re finalizing a design for the Policy Innovation Hub which will include a comprehensive database geared at streamlining quality information on pressing issues in the Mohawk Valley.
“Housing, criminal justice, and community wellness are the three overarching themes we have categorized,” Boiney said, “and within each of those, we have multiple sub-pages that dive deeper into these issues.” He said that the need is based on the needs of local policymakers who have a need to curate concise reports on big issues in the Mohawk Valley. Boiney added that he wanted the site to be something that just about anybody could use.
To streamline the site for all, Boiney employed a passion of his own. He is an aspiring data science major and knew that he wanted a summer position that would help him develop in the discipline. He worked with cutting edge AI software such as VoiceFlow to create a Chatbot for the site.
“What makes our chatbot special, though,” Boiney explained, “is that the knowledge base it pulls from is created by us. We wanted to ensure that it is more specialized and better than other chatbots. So, unlike ChatGPT, we can determine exactly which sources the responses are pulled from. That ensures we don’t spread any misinformation,” he said. While the site hasn’t gone public yet, Boiney hopes the Levitt Center’s Justice Lab will be able to use it this semester.
Isaiah Franco ’27
Fellowship Location: Oneida County Social Services
While Boiney and McKern left their mark in the digital world, two other interns — Isaiah Franco ’27 and Caroline Goodnow ’26 — impacted local government offices. Franco worked with the Oneida County Social Services Department’s homeless unit where the goal was to create a unified reference for those in need of housing assistance.
“I essentially contacted landlords to see if they’re willing to work with the county to rent out to unhoused people,” Franco said. “Everyone I spoke with seemed super excited to help. There’s a big need for affordable housing in Utica, so it was really great to hear their excitement.”
Franco grew up near Portland, Ore., where he was involved with volunteer work for the unhoused. “I’ve worked a lot with the nonprofit side, so I wanted to see how the government side works.” Franco, who is also a COOP Community Service Intern at 51ÁÔÆæ, said that the fellowship reinforced his career goals: “I want to continue working in social services.”
Caroline Goodnow ’26
Fellowship Location: Department of Family and Community Services; Office for the Aging and Continuing Care
Similar to Franco, Caroline Goodnow ’26 settled into the Department of Family and Community Services where she worked with the Office for the Aging and Continuing Care. The office helps with a variety of needs, from helping elderly people pay for life alert buttons to providing congregate meal sites for those in need. Goodnow’s responsibilities varied from cataloging resource lists and analyzing data on who the office serves to researching and learning from the existing systems in other counties. After a tornado swept through the Mohawk Valley this summer, she shadowed social workers working with those affected in Rome.
“As a social worker, you have to treat everyone the same and talk to people who might not want to speak at all,” she said, admitting that it was difficult but worth it when she was able to help. The most rewarding part? “Feeling like you put a smile on someone’s face. Sometimes that’s the most you can do in a moment; talking to people, cracking a joke with them, seeing them laugh.”
After her experience at the Office for the Aging and Continuing Care, Goodnow hopes to continue her work this year through the 51ÁÔÆæ COOP. “I feel like I volunteer a lot with the COOP, but it's’ mostly with younger kids ... volunteering at senior centers is less common, but I could just imagine 51ÁÔÆæ students really loving that work.”
