Happy New Year from all of us at Pivotal! Last year, we celebrated 35 years of helping young people from foster care build the lives they want for themselves. 

In the 2023-24 school year, we served 532 young people from foster care, providing support in high school and college through individualized coaching, trauma-informed support, resources, and scholarships. We also began serving students in middle school, knowing that the earlier we can start to work with these young people, the more likely they are to graduate on time and succeed. More than 90% of our bachelor’s degree candidates successfully completed their degrees this year, and 74% of our 12th graders graduated from high school. 

Today, Pivotal’s mission is more important than ever as we support young people in and from the foster care system to realize their educational and career goals and ensure their equitable access to opportunity. 

Looking ahead to the next 35 years and beyond, we want to build upon our success with a renewed focus on career development. Too often, foster youth don’t get the opportunity to dream about the future; they’re so busy trying to cope with the past and survive the present. At Pivotal, we know how important it is to dream, to learn, and to grow. While academic success is the first step toward our scholars getting good jobs, they also need the training and preparation to succeed in their careers. By partnering with Silicon Valley companies such as Harmonic, Equinix, and Comerica Bank, we plan to provide even greater access to professional development opportunities, internships, and post-graduation job opportunities. 

As I enter my third year as Pivotal’s CEO, I’m very pleased with our programmatic, operational, and financial progress. But I’m even more proud and excited to see the progress each of our scholars make every day. They are our legacy and I’m grateful for your support and partnership as we continue this critically important work. 

 


 		 Sincerely, 

Matt Bell, CEO