Summer Search

Summer Search finds resilient low‐income high school students and inspires them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life-changing summer experiences, college advising, and a lasting support network.

Summer Search LogoSummer Search's mission is to find resilient low-income high school students and inspire them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life-changing summer experiences, college advising, and a lasting support network.

Total Giving: $140,000

Executive Director: Deidre McCormack Martin
SVP Lead Partner: Christie Snyder (LinkedIn)

Relationship Highlight: "Through leadership training, fundraising guidance, speech coaching, ED transition support, and our work with our Lead Partner, Christie Snyder, we have gained skills and knowledge essential for this next stage of our organization’s growth." -- Deidre McCormack Martin, Executive Director

Strengthening Summer Search: Sample Capacity Building Projects


In partnership with SVP volunteers and paid consultants, Summer Search tackles projects like:

  • Leadership Development: SVP covered the cost of the participation in a peer learning group for key leadership and fund development staff.
  • Leadership Development: Partners Virginia Klamon, Carl Albrecht and Jim McGinley provided coaching for key staff in leadership, management, and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Fund Development: Partners Emily Anthony and Chris Cooper provided major gifts and individual donor coaching to more effectively manage and increase individual donors.
  • Marketing & Communications: Partner Samantha Neukom helped create messaging recommendations to hone Summer Search’s message and visibility in Seattle.
  • Strategic Planning & Program Evaluation: Partners Chris Enslein, Rosanne Jantzi, Ray Makela helped to develop and employ an objective system to evaluate, rate and select schools that Summer Search will serve.


More about Summer Search...

Finding the Right Words

Finding the Right Words

Executive Director, Deidre Martin McCormack is a passionate advocate for Summer Search’s mission, but last year she found herself frustrated by its lack of visibility. Very few people had heard the name Summer Search, and even if they had, they didn’t really know what the organization was about. That’s where SVP volunteer Sam Neukom came in.

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What It Means to Give Back: One High School Senior’s Life Changing Journey

What It Means to Give Back: One High School Senior’s Life Changing Journey

“I used to think of community service as hours that I needed to complete, but now I think of it as people’s lives I get to be a part of,” says Sugarsuren, a Senior at Roosevelt High School. Sugarsuren spent a month with a group of orphans, coaching them in baseball and teaching them basic skills. Learn about Sugarsuren’s journey through Summer Search.

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