The spark—and the return

Brown University

A student summit turned private experience into public purpose.

2015 · 20241vyG conference archive

1vyG volunteers gathering at Brown for the inaugural conference — Brown University · 2015 · 2024

The conference story

The conference began at Brown—and left a mark on the campus that launched it.

At Brown, students founded 1vyG, hosted its first national summit, and helped build momentum for a dedicated U-FLi Center. The return to College Hill brought the network back to a campus its earliest organizers had helped change.

Inside the gathering

A beginning and a return, nine years apart.

Understanding. Agency. Pride. Action.

In early 2015, 250 first-generation students and 50 administrators came to College Hill for the first 1vyG. Organizers built the weekend around four ideas—understanding, agency, pride, and action—so experiences often carried privately could become a shared agenda for higher education.

The gathering helped build momentum for Brown’s U-FLi Center, which opened the following year. It also carried 1vyG into a national conversation when co-founder Manuel Contreras joined the White House’s Beating the Odds Summit that summer.

Participation: 250 students and 50 administrators
Reach: More than 10 colleges and universities
Framework: Understanding · agency · pride · action

Read Brown Daily Herald Read the history of Brown’s U-FLi Center

First Lady Michelle Obama and 1vyG co-founder Manuel Contreras in conversation at the White House

Watch the exchange

Beyond the summit

Where “network” became community.

Months after the inaugural gathering, 1vyG co-founder Manuel Contreras joined First Lady Michelle Obama, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and artist Wale at the White House’s Beating the Odds Summit.

Contreras reframed networking in language closer to 1vyG: community is where people ask for help, share openly, and trust one another through difficulty. Michelle Obama answered with her own story of finding the friends, mentors, and support that made college feel navigable.

CommunityAccessMobility

Watch the defining exchange Watch the full conversation Read the official transcript

In Motion: the network returns to its roots

More than 150 students and administrators from 29 institutions returned to Brown for its first 1vyG since the inaugural summit. Marking ten years of student-led organizing, the weekend was designed not simply as a reunion, but as a handoff to a new generation.

Its “In Motion” theme reflected a wider understanding of first-generation, low-income, and undocumented+ life. Student-led workshops, poster sessions, professional development, a career fair, and an open mic made that breadth visible.

Participation: More than 150 students and administrators
Reach: 29 colleges and universities
Theme: In Motion · many ways to be first-generation

Read Brown University Read the post-conference report