Iris Kim

3 weeks ago | nbcuacademy.com | Iris Kim

When Katharine Hart’s family was evacuated during the LA fires in January, they didn’t expect to never see their Altadena home again. “We all thought we would be back, so we packed for the next day of school,” said Hart, 18. “We didn’t think our town would be gone.”To help young fire survivors heal, nonprofit Outward Bound Adventures is taking Altadena teens on camping trips in the mountains just north of their hometown.

1 month ago | nbcuacademy.com | Iris Kim

Kyrie Frith, 17, grew up watching digital forensics experts on her favorite shows “Law & Order” and “Bones.” “I was always fascinated by how cybersecurity could help with finding the criminal,” she said. Last year, she was placed in an introductory cybersecurity class at Lincoln High School in Lincoln, Alabama. She learned how to take on encryption challenges and joined an all-girls cybersecurity team at a statewide competition in Huntsville.

1 month ago | nbcuacademy.com | Iris Kim

Before her ancestry test, all Jessica Ewing knew about her father’s lineage was that she came from a family of Mexican migrant workers who moved wherever there was crop-picking work. “It’s hard to pinpoint where your family members come from if you’re poor, moving around a lot and lack education,” Ewing said. “It makes record-keeping impossible.” She had wanted to do DNA testing for years, but kits like 23andMe, with their $100 price tag, were out of her already-stretched budget.

2 months ago | nbcnews.com | Iris Kim

DELANO, Calif. — Carolina Sanchez joined the United Farm Workers union in 2016 after the blueberry farm where she worked changed the daily rate for each pound she picked. “They said if you don’t like what you’re paid, you can go home,” Sanchez said. She organized the 500 workers at the Delano farm to strike with the UFW’s support. Eventually, they won a union contract, and Sanchez was elected as the union representative at her workplace.

2 months ago | nbcnews.com | Iris Kim |Alicia Lozano

ALTADENA, Calif. — Smoke from the ravenous Eaton Fire had barely cleared when signs began popping up on the charred remains of destroyed homes declaring Altadena was not for sale. But one month after the wildfire consumed more than 9,400 residences and 14,000 acres in the foothill community north of downtown Los Angeles, the first vacant lot sold for $550,000 cash, $100,000 above the asking price.