by Christine Salinas, Manager of Grants and Communications
Wondering what makes Pivotal scholars graduate college at 10X the rate of other foster youth? With 90% of our scholars starting their college journey at a local community college, it’s clear that high-quality partnerships with our community colleges are critical to their success. San Jose City College (SJCC) stands tall as an example of a great community college partner.
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By Melissa Johns, Executive Vice President
It’s not what you know but who you know, right? For youth growing up in foster care, it’s hard to find career mentors and build a professional network. As first-generation college students, they have limited access to professionals who can provide career insights and guidance. To help fill this gap, this summer Pivotal launched a new career development workshop series for its post-secondary scholars. For the...
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by Christine Salinas, Manager of Grants and Communications
Parents everywhere are wondering what school will look like this year and worried about the challenges and pitfalls of distance learning. As Pivotal scholars prepare to start the new school year remotely, we asked how they feel about distance learning. Because of their own unique experiences in the foster system, many prefer it over in-person instruction. Here are five things we learned:
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by Christine Salinas, Manager of Grants and Communications, and Tom Fandre, Senior Business Development Manager
We’re so proud of our graduating college seniors! While the pandemic changed many things in the lives of our Pivotal scholars, not even Covid-19 could stop Naeim, Farhad, Latif, and Diana from achieving their goals. Below we offer some Q&A with these four stellar scholars.
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by Priya Mistry, Director of Community Initiatives
Pivotal is responding to the murder of George Floyd and the protests that are happening around the country and here at home, with conversations about Black Lives Matters and racial justice. This month, we invite all Pivotal high school, college, and alumni scholars to Pivotal Perspectives Social Justice Dialogue. It will be a safe space for scholars to discuss their thoughts and concerns about race relations, talk about ways to cope in difficult times, and think about how to be active change participants.
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by Elise Cutini, CEO, and Rick Williams, Board President
Last week, we watched in horror, the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, which was just the latest in a string of deaths that included the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. As our outrage over these events continues and we sit with heavy hearts, we are taking a moment to speak out because silence is no longer an option. For too long, silence and indifference by too many have allowed systemic racism, violence, and unequal justices to continue unchecked.
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by Peter Phi, High School Coach, and Christine Salinas, Manager of Grants and Communications
Pivotal High School Coach, Peter Phi, reflects on his year as a Pivotal Intern Coach. Peter shares a story about persistence and how working in the service of foster youth scholars has been a game-changer for him.
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By Janelle Blakely, Director of Development
Incredible is how I describe Pivotal scholar, Monserrat. Inspired is how I felt after I sat down and talked with her.
Monserrat is very educational-oriented, a lover of learning and school. A first-generation college student, she will make her dreams a reality when she attends UC Santa Barbara this fall!
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By Melissa Johns, Executive Vice President
As we head full steam into June, Pivotal is on a mission to Save Summer 2020! Normally you’d find us spending the last days in May helping high school and collegiate scholars finalize the details of their summer internships, while calming their nerves as they prepare for their first professional jobs. But 2020 is no typical year.
Coronavirus has upended the tradition of summer internships, and young people across the country are feeling the...
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by Melissa Johns, Executive Vice President, and Christine Salinas, Manager of Grants and Communications
Nicole is a former foster youth who attends San Jose City College and has big dreams for herself. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, she completed her course assignments in the computer lab at her apartment complex. But when shelter-in-place forced her complex to shut down the lab, Nicole ran into a significant problem: How would she do her work without access to a computer? Pivotal stepped in to help.
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by Christine Salinas, Manager of Grants and Communications
Our friends at the Junior League of San Jose have been ardent supporters of both transition-age foster youth and women entrepreneurs for years. When they read our newsletters about Pivotal scholars' Covid-19 emergency needs, they came up with a plan to blend support for both populations.
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