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An annual EcoPower tradition

The work comes back to the community.

Every year, EcoPower closes its internship by bringing Operators, their work and the neighborhood into one room. The Community Report Back lets people see what students learned, question what they built and help shape what comes next.

For everyone who was there—and everyone who was not—this page keeps the 2026 Report Back open.

The 2026 EcoPower Operators together at the Community Report Back
The EcoPower ’26 cohort: ten students became ten Operators.

2026 at a glance

weeks of paid work
9
student Operators
10
project tracks
4
neighborhoods served
3

Watch the 2026 recap

Step back into the room.

See the Operators, presentations, gallery and community exchange that closed EcoPower ’26.

Watch on YouTube

Video shot and edited by Joshua Bradshaw (@saint.jpegg) @saint.jpegg

In the room

A public ending, not a private graduation.

Operators presented their work in a gallery walk, met neighbors and partners, and invited the room into a two-way conversation about the Community Resilience Hub.

Community Report Back 2026 event recap
Presentations, project displays and community exchange brought nine weeks of work into public view.
Printed program for the 2026 Community Report Back
The 2026 program welcomed neighbors into the gallery, activations and Community Voices conversation.
Opening remarks in front of the Community Report Back 2026 screen
The evening opened with welcome remarks at Women Building Up on September 3, 2026.
Neighbors, families and partners seated in the audience
Families, neighbors and partners filled the room to hear the cohort present.
Operator poster on an easel at the Community Report Back
Every Operator had a poster in the room: bio, track, what they learned, and a QR code to their project.
Feedback Ring activity table with sticky notes
The Feedback Ring let neighbors answer with sticky notes — lived experiences, root causes, solutions.
A neighbor and an Operator playing the Sweet Rot composting game on a laptop
Neighbors tried the Operators' builds hands-on, like the Sweet Rot composting game.
FridgeFind, an Operator-built app for finding free food nearby, on a tablet
FridgeFind helps neighbors in East Flatbush, Flatbush and Flatlands find free food nearby.
Resource table with prints, zines and stickers
A resource table shared the Community Resilience Hub vision, partner prints and stickers to take home.
Tablet showing an Operator-built guide to disposing of garbage in NYC
Operator-built guides ran on tablets, including a step-by-step on disposing of garbage properly in NYC.

Photography by Esston Benjamin (@esstheory) Esston Benjamin (@esstheory) — Every person shown consented to being photographed and to these photos being shared publicly.

What came back

The presentation was one night. The work keeps moving.

01

Neighborhood research

A multilingual Resilience Hub survey and resident conversations made community knowledge part of the record.

02

Tools people can use

Operators shared digital tools, ten portfolio sites and an interactive map with 11 neighborhood stops across three routes.

03

Preparedness and energy

The work connected emergency readiness, heat and air-quality research, and Powering the Block energy clinics.

04

Student leadership

Operators practiced facilitation, public speaking, storytelling, research and technology while presenting their work publicly.

Keep exploring

Follow the people, the proof and the conversation.

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