In February, our First Graduate® students at James Denman Middle School were joined by Rachel Itwaru for our monthly First Gen Speaker Series. Rachel is a business analyst at Salesforce.org, a self-funded social enterprise that provides technology solutions to social-impact organizations. Rachel spoke to our students about her family’s background and challenges, her pathway to
“Without First Graduate, I would have been pretty lost in high school,” says Jacky, a First Graduate® senior at Lowell High School. Jacky was one of our featured speakers at a recent event called the High School Choice Panel. At this event, we invited our 8th grade students to listen to a panel of our
Dear Friends, First Graduate’s mission has always been to help students become the first in their families to graduate from college. This is the best way to move families out of poverty and give them the opportunity to achieve their American dreams – just as our parents and grandparents were able to do. What has
Earlier this year, Mark Hamilton and Lauri Paul started the Hamilton/Paul Giving Circle through which they, their family, friends, and colleagues pledged to raise $60,000 a year for 10 years for First Graduate. The giving circle officially launched with an intimate breakfast event where a panel of First Graduate® students and alumni spoke to invited
We love talking to students about the importance of going to college, but we love it even more when our students talk to us about it. And that’s the idea behind the Sophomore Symposium, an annual event we recently held with our high school sophomores (or FG 13 as we say around here). It all started
How does it work, and how does First Graduate® help? December is an important month for families in San Francisco Unified School District. Unlike other cities where youth simply attend the neighborhood public high school closest to their homes, in San Francisco every family has a choice of where they want their son or daughter
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/10/2016 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – First Graduate, whose mission is to help students become the first in their families to graduate from college, is transitioning its Executive Director of eight years, Thomas Ahn. Ahn, who served as Program Director prior to taking on the organization’s lead role, will become Executive Director of the
Recently, First Graduate® students and staff attended the San Francisco Unified School District Enrollment Fair at City College. The fair empowers San Francisco families to make an informed choice about the right school for their children, from elementary school through high school. Every school in the district, including public, charter and private schools, was in
First Graduate® was proud to recently host the 2nd Annual All Access Admissions Fair, the only college fair (to our knowledge) in San Francisco that focuses specifically on first-generation students. First Graduate® high school students and parents attended and we also invited students from partner organizations Leadership High School, Mission Graduates, SEO Scholars, and the
Siddharth Alexander, a First Graduate® volunteer and donor, recently hosted a breakfast for Wells Fargo colleagues to introduce them to our students and share the impact that donors and volunteers have on students’ lives. Participating on the student panel were: Gaby Gucho-Oliva, Experiential Marketing Manager at Wag Hotels (Tufts University) Osvaldo Marquez, Treasury Management Sales Analyst
