Taking a Week to Celebrate the First-Generation/Low-Income Experience at Yale SOM

Formally established in 2024, Yale SOM’s First-Generation/Low-Income Club provides a space for students who identify as first-generation and/or low-income to connect with resources and establish a sense of community, belonging, and inclusion. This year, we launched FLI Week, an annual celebration of the ways our identities show up during our time at SOM and beyond.

We kicked off the inaugural FLI Week, which took place in March, with a “lunch and learn” session led by Professor David Munguia Gomez, who talked about his research that studies the people-policy gap and suggests one way to increase the representation of disadvantaged groups in various settings. On Tuesday, several second-year students led a panel where they discussed how their summer internships connected to their first-gen upbringing. We heard about the challenges that come with building a network from scratch and what advice they each had for first-years.

On Wednesday, we heard from SOM professors Tristan Botelho and Barbara Biasi and Yale School of Medicine professor Magna Dias about their journeys through academia as first-generation graduates. Finally, on Thursday, we met with Natalie Eller ’20 and heard her story as the first in her family to pursue graduate education and enter the world of investment banking.

All throughout the week, first-gen students celebrated their accomplishments and connected with those who had made a similar journey. Our peers also had the opportunity to learn more about how being first-gen and/or low-income impacts our experience before, during, and after our time at SOM.

The FLI club is now gearing up to close out an eventful first year as a club and excited to launch new initiatives to support both the incoming class of 2027 and our soon-to-be SOM alumni. Students interested in getting involved can learn more and contact us through our website.