BOSTON – Maintaining its mission of holistically developing student-athletes, the Bloom Family Leadership Initiative continued to deliver world-class programming throughout the 2021 spring semester. 
 
With a focus on advancing the person, performer and professional, Boston University student-athletes engaged in numerous experiences and leadership opportunities through the BFLI.
 
PERSONAL

• Social media was a more prominent and powerful tool than ever this year, and the Bloom Family Leadership Initiative (BFLI) worked closely with the Athlete Ally, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and the Student-Athletes of Color (SAOC) groups to enhance their messaging on social media. Specifically, the campaigns spotlighted four major areas of emphasis for this year: civic engagement, anti-racism/social justice and inclusion, mental health, and community service.
• Examples of these campaigns include promoting voting knowledge and registration, Black History Month, Women's History Month, Pride Week and Mental Health Awareness Month.
• Student-athletes were additionally able to use their voices through three Terrier Town Halls, which were open to all student-athletes, coaches and staff members within the department. The sessions were led by members from the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground as well as the department's Social Justice and Inclusion Committee (SJIC).

 
PERFORMER

• The 2020-2021 academic year saw a redesign of the BFLA's cohorts, with sophomores enrolled in "Leading You", juniors in "Leading Your Peers", and seniors in "Leading in Life".  Each cohort featured six sessions, covered all tenants of Who We Are, and was designed in conjunction with the BFLA's cohesive three-year plan.  
• This year, 122 participants (28 sophomores, 47 juniors, and 47 seniors) across 20 varsity sport programs were participants in the BFLA. Of those, 47 student-athletes graduated this May.
• Additional programming was provided to team captains in navigating difficult conversations, and through regional and national leadership opportunities for student-athletes to represent BU.

 
PROFESSIONAL

• Following a successful fall networking event, a second BU Built x Terrier Network session was offered this spring. This session featured small group discussions between 25 student-athletes and BU alumni from the medical, communications, engineering, government, and education fields.
• This spring also saw the growth of BU Connects, a new digital networking platform exclusively for Boston University alumni, students, faculty and staff.
• The third-annual Dinner with a Terrier was held virtually in April, and saw over 90 student-athletes, coaches, and alumni participate. Emily Pallotta, a 2010 graduate of the women's soccer team, delivered the keynote address examining transferrable skills from athletics to the workplace.