Model and Strategy
Our purpose is to help foster youth get the education and work experience they need to create the life they want for themselves.
Starting as early as the 9th grade, we become a fixture in their lives, helping youth get through the challenges of living in the system, all while keeping them focused on their future. Paired with their own Pivotal coach, foster youth get 1:1 highly individualized support to set their educational and career goals, then develop a plan to achieve them. On weekends, we provide fun learning opportunities like hands-on robotics and web design courses, as well as leadership opportunities. And, we set them up for success through professional development workshops, academic tutoring, college scholarships, and paid summer internships.
By offering life-changing opportunities in the years right before they emancipate, we help build the foundation they need to be self-sufficient when they exit the foster care system. We’ve helped hundreds of foster youth graduate from high school and go on to college. We have a reputation for being relentless and we won’t stop until we’ve helped every foster youth in Silicon Valley create a future they are excited about.
Impact
This project holds the potential to significantly impact the young people in the foster care system today, as well as future generations.
If our project is successful, we will not only serve more young people, but our impact will be demonstrated by consistently high rates of high school graduation, matriculation to post-secondary education or vocational programs, job retention, and career success. Furthermore, our impact will be demonstrated by youth outcomes in positive relationships and sense of belonging, positive mindsets and transferable skills for success in school, work and life.
Based on our Theory of Change, five years from now, we expect that the impact of our direct services will be that 80% of eligible youth will complete school, secure employment, and realize other goals critical to success in school, work and life. At the same time, the impact of our Systems Alignment work will be that educational institutions and employers are coordinated around the needs of foster youth so that those youth can access and succeed in their desired pathways.
Leadership
-
Elise Cutini
Chief Executive Officer
-
Melissa Johns
Executive Vice President