Dream Tank × Brown University: Building Systems of Care, Clarity, and Agency—Led by Students

Dream Tank is a youth-led, transformational systems-change nonprofit organization. For the past five years, we have partnered with Brown’s Winternship program to help students turn learning into real-world civic solutions.

This year, we were preparing to launch something we have been building toward for a long time: a two-week Systems Change Lab [initial blog post], designed by and with Brown students—focused on regenerating the places we call home—translating lived experience into practical civic tools. Together, we are building caring, safe, and resilient communities of the future.

Dream Tank’s System Change Lab exists because we believe young people are not meant to be passive recipients of broken systems. They are meant to be the civic architects of what comes next.

Why this Moment Matters

Just days before our planned kickoff, the Brown community was shaken by a tragic act that deeply impacted students, families, faculty, alumni, and staff. We paused our plans, and our first gathering with the students selected in mid-November to participate in our upcoming virtual January 5- 17, 2026 program, became a listening session.

Students joined from different time zones—some traveling home, some trying to return to daily life—carrying fear, grief, and exhaustion.

What they shared was not only emotion, but clear systems insight.

In moments of fear and uncertainty, the absence of clear communication becomes its own kind of danger. When updates are delayed or unclear, fear fills the space. Misinformation spreads. Pressure builds to stay constantly online just to feel a sense of control, even as doomscrolling intensifies anxiety.

The Brown Winterns working with us on this year’s System Change Lab described the isolation of being alone behind locked doors with limited guidance. International students shared how unprepared they felt—not because they lacked resilience or intelligence, but because many had never lived through anything like this. Some of the students suffered personal loss.

Across these stories, one need surfaced again and again: agency.

So that is what we are building, together.

Inside the Systems Change Lab

The Systems Change Lab is a student-led, mentor-supported collaborative framework through which Brown students engage in research, design, prototyping, and transformational storytelling—developing practical responses grounded in lived experience.

The goal is not a report.

The goal is durable systems tools that can be carried back into community—now and into the future.

A Brown Community Call to Action

This is a moment for the Brown community—students, alumni, faculty, and supporters—to come together not only in grief, but in coordinated support and responsibility.

With your partnership, we can help students return to campus with greater clarity, care, and confidence—and ensure that what has been learned in this moment does not disappear, but becomes part of a stronger, more resilient system of response.

This is an opportunity to stand with the Brown students of today—and those still to come.

Who is Leading

This work is stewarded by Brown Alum and Dream Tank founder, Heidi Cuppari, alongside an intergenerational mentor team.

We are honored to partner with Mayor Laura Weinberg of Golden, Colorado (Brown Alum), who brings real municipal pathways for implementation, and Rebecca Irby, a key leader in the movement that earned the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. Her nonprofit, the PEAC Institute, specializes in transformational systems change, trauma-informed practices, and community care frameworks. Our media partner, Hubcast International, is dedicated to creating a positive impact through storytelling, media, and regenerative philanthropic support.

Most importantly, this Lab is led by the Brown students themselves—a cohort spanning the U.S. and multiple countries, bringing lived experience, systems thinking, and deep care for their community.

Amplifying Student-Led Transformational Systems Change from Campus to Community

On January 17, we will convene a special culminating gathering of the Systems Change Lab. This moment will be broadcast live by Hubcast International, a global storytelling and civic media platform dedicated to amplifying regenerative leadership, systems intelligence, and community-driven solutions. Hubcast translates local insight into shared understanding—ensuring that what is learned in one place can inform action in many others.

Through this broadcast, student-led research, tools, and proposals will reach thousands across the Brown alumni network and a wider circle of global partners, transforming a campus-based initiative into a meaningful contribution to the broader systems change conversation. Hubcast’s role is essential because systems do not change in isolation—they change when learning travels, when stories connect, and when responsibility is shared across communities and generations.

This is a rare moment of collective witnessing, learning, and stewardship—where lived experience becomes shared knowledge, and where youth leadership helps shape a more compassionate, safer, and more resilient future.

Young people are not waiting for change.

They are rising to build it.

Standing With Students: A Brown Alumni Circle of Support

In this moment, many Brown alumni are asking the same question: How can we show up for students and stand with them?

As part of this campaign, we are forming a Brown Alumni Circle of Support — a growing community of alumni who are standing with students through financial support, mentorship, connection, and care. This circle exists to amplify student leadership, not direct it. Some members contribute funds, others offer time, relationships, or local presence. All are united by a shared commitment to student safety, agency, and possibility at a critical moment.

After donating, you’ll receive an optional follow-up to indicate how you’d like to be involved. There is no obligation — only an open door.

Budget and Use of Funds

We have developed a detailed budget across multiple funding levels, from baseline support to full program funding.

Your contribution directly supports:

Brown student participation and care, ensuring students can engage fully and safely in this work

Systems Change Lab coordination and operations, providing stability, continuity, and integrity

Intergenerational mentor facilitation, grounding student leadership with experienced guidance

Documentation, design, and storytelling, so insights and solutions are captured and transferable

Production and dissemination of the culminating public convening, where students share their findings, tools, and proposed solutions with the Brown community and beyond.

Thank you

Thank you for donating, sharing, mentoring, and amplifying. Your support helps students turn lived reality into practical systems and builds a model that can serve far beyond one moment, one campus, or one city.

Young people are not waiting for change.

They are rising to build it. This is a time-sensitive moment.

Your support now directly enables Brown student leadership, care, and coordination when it matters most.