Mission

Public high schools lack the capacity to cultivate their greatest potential network: alumni. Devoid of alumni support networks rich in social and human capital, many public school students suffer in academic performance, educational attainment, and career development. We want to build the infrastructure that will enable public schools to cultivate these latent networks and utilize the resource potential of alumni.

Vision

Every high school student should have access to excellent college mentoring, regardless of their background or the resources of their school.

Problem

When compared to their peers at private schools, public high school students lack embedded networks of adults and peers who build and support their college and career-going aspirations. Devoid of networks rich in social and human capital, these students suffer in academic performance, educational attainment, and career development. The cycle continues, as public schools lack the capacity to cultivate their greatest potential network: alumni.

“As a high school career counselor, I have experienced firsthand the negative impact of California’s education budget cuts. I used to be available five days a week for my students. Now, it’s only two days a week. This is not sufficient time to prepare my students for college—let alone share much info on college with them. With hundreds of students under my guidance—and thus, hundreds of unique circumstances—I have been forced to stop my open office hours for the year. Now, I will only meet each student one time, for a single hour, over the course of the year. I am doing everything I can to meet the needs of my students. Amidst these major cuts and reductions in resources, creative and low-cost approaches are desperately needed to make up the difference between what the schools can provide and what the students need.”
– Elaina Edwards, Academic Guidance Counselor, Del Valle & Phoenix High Schools