Foundation for a College Education

FCE was thrilled to be invited to a Career Day at Salesforce, hosted by our very own board member, Devin Gaines, MBA Gaines. Our students enjoyed a mini tour of Salesforce's dynamic workspace, a visit to the beautiful Salesforce Park, and an insightful career panel with professionals from various fields in tech including engineering, business, environmental sustainability & governance, recruiting, and account management. This experience has truly broadened their horizons. Thank you, Salesforce, and Devin, for this unforgettable opportunity!

We're excited to share that FCE was recently invited to a luncheon with the Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto. Our Program Manager, Whitney La, along with our 2024 Jim Phillips Memorial Award Recipients and College Success students, Leyla Rivera and Betsabe Acosta, provided an excellent overview of our programs. We are deeply grateful to the Kiwanis Club for their continued partnership and support!

Our rising seniors recently completed their well-designed summer orientation. They learned how to craft different components of their college applications, including putting together their activities lists, applying to fly-in programs, and drafting their personal statements in sessions led by our 12th-grade program manager, Deepti. Students had the privilege of meeting with representatives from Boston College and Northwestern University and participated in a meet-and-greet with their assigned volunteer Senior Advisors. We look forward to an exciting year ahead with our seniors.

It was a very auspicious occasion to celebrate the graduates of the 2024 Meta Summer Academy! FCE has partnered with Meta and Mission Bit to provide coding skills, soft skills, and so much more. This competitive program allows students to see themselves in careers and organizations that they may not have previously known existed. It also teaches them to push through challenges to achieve their goals. Congratulations to all of the graduates!

A group of FCE students recently had the opportunity to visit the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Students received a tour of the building, enjoyed unlimited snacks from the micro-kitchens, got to meet CZI employees from the education, science, and legal teams, and even received thoughtful gift bags! Being able to meet, listen to and learn from professionals who represent our students is so important. Thank you to the panelists, Miguel M., Asha Canady, and Mikala C. for taking time out of their day to speak with our students and answer their questions. THANK YOU as well to Jenny Kim, Dakarai I. Aarons and Alma Pulido for helping putting this fantastic day together and for your continued partnership and support of FCE students.

We are so grateful to our friends at Amgen for hosting FCE for a site visit at the South San Francisco campus. We were treated to a tour of their research lab where we learned about life saving research, conducted a DNA experiment, enjoyed a delicious lunch and attended a career panel discussion. Huge thank you to everyone who made our day educational, fun, and inspiring especially Laura Parmer-Lohan, Christopher Lalli, Regina Ryan, Jason DeVoss, and Steve Arvedson. We are looking forward to our next visit!

Our rising first-year college students recently participated in College Transition Week, where they were introduced to the College Success program, attended various workshops, shared meals, and engaged in community-building activities. They learned about college expectations, researched available resources and communities on their campus, academic requirements, and essential topics such as healthy relationships and consent, financial aid, budgeting, time management, and networking. This dynamic experience has equipped them for a strong start in college. We are excited to support them in this new chapter and look forward to all the great experiences ahead!

FCE was pleased to join the Northern California College Promise Coalition's (NCCPC) Convening for Champions of Higher Education Equity, 2024 Joint Convening of Elected Officials and Funders at Santa Clara University. We heard from an array of incredible speakers and met peers from other organizations who are doing amazing work to promote higher education. Thank you to Meredith Curry Nuñez (Executive Director), Heather Miller (Deputy Director), and the entire NCCPC team for coordinating this fantastic event!

Last Thursday, The City of East Palo Alto hosted a group of students from FCE for a well planned shadow day. Students had the opportunity to hear from a panel of different city employees, shadow different departments (finance, law, law enforcement, and city planning/building), participate in a resume workshop, and observe mock interviews. A huge thank you to all of the city employees who made this a meaningful experience for our students and for showing them all that happens behind the scenes to keep the city running smoothly. A special thank you to Maurice Baker (Community Services Manager) and Melvin E. Gaines (City Manager) for planning, organizing, and making this day possible.

FCE College Bound and College Success students recently had the opportunity to go to Cisco to meet and hear from a group of phenomenal employees. They shared their past experiences, how they got to Cisco, and why they love and continue to work at Cisco today. A very big THANK YOU to the employees who took time out of their day to spend with our students, and to Head of Operations, Global Communications, Jennifer Greig and SVP and Chief Communications Officer, Maria Poveromo for making this opportunity happen for our students, and helping them envision their futures beyond college.