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Rise with Courage, May 14-21

Rise With Courage

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RISE WITH COURAGE

Join us May 14-21 for a week of virtual learning and celebration!

May 14-21

Stream Unlikely, a documentary about equity issues in higher education, from the comfort of your home

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Questions? Check out our FAQ page.

May 19, 4 pm

Attend a panel on higher education equity featuring Unlikely Director/Producer Jaye Fenderson, cast member Kalif, and representatives from the Promise Scholars program, Students Rising Above, and the College of San Mateo

Dr. Jeremiah Sims, College of San Mateo

Moderator: Dr. Jeremiah Sims, College of San Mateo

Panelist: Jaye Fenderson, Unlikely

Panelist: Kalif Robinson, Unlikely

Panelist: Dr. Lauren Ford, Promise Scholars

Panelist: Denisse Velázquez, Students Rising Above

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Questions? Check out our FAQ page.

May 20, 11 am

Celebrate the 2021 Jobs for Youth Al Teglia Scholars!

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While the past year has added an unprecedented level of difficulty, the 2021 Scholars have continued to rise to every single challenge.
Meet our 2021 Scholars

Donor Giving Levels

When you donate to Jobs for Youth, 100% of your donation supports a Jobs for Youth Al Teglia Scholar. We are thrilled to recognize donors at each of the following giving levels!

Growth Sponsors - $50+
Chrysalis Sponsors - $500+
Transformation Sponsors - $750+
Evolution Sponsor - $1500+
Metamorphosis Sponsor - $3,000+

Metamorphosis Donors

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San Mateo Credit Union
The City of Foster City
Town of Colma
Woodlawn Foundation

Evolution Donors

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City of Burlingame RGB Darker color logo-No Background
Community Foundation of San Carlos

Chrysalis Donors

Donna Vaillancourt​

Kaiser Permanente

Mark Olbert

Ron Visconti

Every dollar donated goes directly to a youth scholarship...

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Scholarships

Jobs for Youth

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455 County Center, 5th Floor
Redwood City, CA 94063

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Dr. Jeremiah J. Sims, inaugural Director of Equity for the College of San Mateo, was born in Oakland and raised in Richmond, California. Because of his own life experiences, Jeremiah has devoted his career to the realization of educational equity for hypermarginalized students. Jeremiah is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley where he earned a B.A. in rhetoric, with honors, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in education.

Jeremiah’s work, chronicled in his first book, “Revolutionary STEM Education: Critical-Reality Pedagogy and Social Justice in STEM for Black Males” (Peter Lang, 2018), details his experiences as an educator working toward a revolutionary, paradigm shift in the STEM education of and for Black boys. His second book, “Minding the Obligation Gap in Community Colleges and Beyond” (2020), illuminates the role that community college practitioners must play in order to deconstruct the institutionalized inequities found in higher education. In two forthcoming books, “The White Educators Guide to Social Justice in Community Colleges” (Wallace, Sims, and Hotep, Forthcoming) and “Towards Liberation: Antiracism and The Redesign of College Redesign” (Sims, Forthcoming), Sims works to demystify the pernicious relationship between racialized capitalism and white supremacy and the role that this unholy union plays in pathologizing poor, hypermarginalized BIPOC students, while arguing for committed educators to work towards an antiracist growth mindset. Sims is also the editor of a Peter Lang book series, “Educational Equity in Community Colleges.”

Jaye Fenderson is an award-winning director and producer with credits spanning feature-length documentaries, commercial & branded content, and acclaimed shows for ABC, NBC, FX, Lifetime, and MTV. A former admissions officer at Columbia University and passionate advocate for college access and success, Jaye has presented internationally at conferences, universities, and on Capitol Hill. The author of Seventeen’s Guide to Getting into College and a former college advice columnist for Seventeen.com, her writing has also appeared in Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and The College Access & Opportunity Guide.

Jaye holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and French from Columbia University. Her all-time favorite directing gig is being a mom to her four wonderful children.

After sharing his story as one of the students in Unlikely, Kalif Robinson successfully completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, with a minor in Arabic, at Georgia State University. He then completed a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University before joining the U.S. Department of State as a United States Diplomat. He has work experience ranging from public diplomacy initiatives in South Africa to cultural competency and diversity initiatives in collegiate and professional settings. Kalif has a passion for education activism and youth development and has led various events and discussions linked to educational challenges and barriers in the U.S. Kalif is currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil representing the United States at the U.S. Consulate.

Dr. Lauren Ford currently serves as the Interim Director of Strategic Initiatives and Planning in the San Mateo County Community College District.  Throughout her 10+ years in higher education, Dr. Ford has held positions in both public and private universities in California and Texas and has focused on supporting multi-college completion program implementation, development of college access programs and PK-14 partnerships, and supporting students with post-college employment.  In 2018, Dr. Ford was selected to become a Biden Foundation Higher Education Fellow supporting Community College research on best practices surrounding access, affordability, and student success and completion. 

Dr. Ford holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing from Xavier University (Ohio) and a Master of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from University of Southern California.  She recently earned her doctorate from San Francisco State University’s Educational Leadership program.  Dr. Ford’s dissertation was a multi-case study focused on learning from the educational experiences of college students who are former foster youth to better support equitable systemic redesign within the California Community Colleges.

Denisse Velázquez currently works as the Career Development Program Lead for Students Rising Above (SRA), a 501c3 that lies at the intersection of racial equity, education, and workforce development. In her role, she works closely with graduating college seniors to ensure they have the personalized support they need to confidently and successfully transition into the workforce after graduation. Additionally, she cultivates relationships with a wide range of employer partners for SRA’s internship program, opening up professional development opportunities for students to develop the skills and experience necessary to be career-ready when they graduate.

Originally from the South Bay, Denisse graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies and History. As a first-generation and low-income college student, Denisse served in various leadership roles across numerous student organizations to advocate for historically marginalized student communities on campus and beyond, including FLI students and students of color.