In 2024, we are celebrating 20 years of CV. For two decades, we have empowered low-income, first-generation students to pursue and earn a college degree. Today I am proud to say that more than 500 CV Scholars have graduated from college, started careers, and become leaders in our community. Thank you for investing in these extraordinary young people.
Today, we continue to build on this amazing legacy by expanding and deepening our impact and responding to the needs of our students.
- This year, we served more than 500 high school and college students. 100% of our 12th Scholars graduated from high school and are beginning their college career this fall.
- We expanded to Woonsocket High School, bringing our services to a community with one of the lowest college enrollment rates in RI. In addition to our school year program, this summer we ran a 5-week college and career exploration program for WHS students at the Woonsocket Education Center.
- We launched the Black and Latino Male Fellowship, recruiting an inaugural cohort of ten incredible young men from Classical, Mt. Pleasant, Paul Cuffee, Shea, Times 2, and Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts. In April, the students traveled to Washington, D.C. where they had the opportunity to meet with Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Senators Reed and Whitehouse, before heading to Baltimore to present at the annual conference of the National Partnership for Education Access.
- In March, we hosted a First-Gen Career Summit where CV Scholars engaged in skill-building workshops and networked with 20 professionals from 13 companies representing a variety of industries.
- This year, the rollout of the new FAFSA was plagued by multiple problems, causing significant delays and challenges for millions of students who need financial aid to afford college. To ensure that we were ready to support our Scholars in navigating the new application form, CV sent our advisors to get training and we held special financial aid meetings with students and their families. As a result, all of our Scholars successfully completed the FAFSA and received financial aid offers from colleges.
These incredible outcomes are a testament to your generosity and dedication to our mission and our Scholars – we could not do this work without your support. These successes have also generated new excitement for our mission and opportunities to highlight our work:
- In March, CV was featured as the cover story in the Rhode Island Foundation winter magazine: https://rifoundation.org/stories/the-barriers-are-big-the-dreams-are-bigger
- In June, I participated in a discussion about college access programs in RI on the PBS program Generation Rising: https://www.pbs.org/video/boosting-college-access-in-ri-amqstn/
- The Matouk company, which provides CV Scholars with bedding and bath product to help them with their transition to college, is currently featuring CV on its website: https://www.matouk.com/articles/college-visions
Thank you again for believing in CV and our amazing Scholars. With your support, we will continue to empower these young people to achieve their goals and realize their potential. We feel fortunate to have you as a partner in this work.
Sincerely,
Lamont
