Dear Friends,
I am writing to share some important news with you. I will be transitioning out of my role as Executive Director of College Visions. It has been my privilege to lead this organization. I was once very much like the young people CV serves. As a high school student here in Providence with no one in my family who had attended college and little knowledge of the college-going process, I struggled to find my path. It is deeply meaningful to me to provide information and resources that allow CV students to apply to college with confidence and to persist and earn degrees. This experience also informs my decision to accept the position of Chief of Family and Community Engagement for Providence Public Schools.
CV’s mission is to support low-income and first-generation students to “realize the promise of higher education.” The organization is succeeding in that mission on several fronts. CV is serving more students. In the past year, CV grew to serve 500 students! And we are supporting those students to achieve outstanding outcomes. In our most recent cohort of college graduates, 82% earned degrees within 6 years of initial enrollment. CV students are not only earning degrees at much higher rates than their low-income peers, they are meeting or exceeding the outcomes of wealthy Rhode Island students.
When I talk to CV alums, they tell me about the transformative power that education has had in their lives. With support, CV students live lives of endless possibility and give back to their families and our shared communities. CV alums are educators, lawyers, business owners, accountants, financial analysts, designers, artists, and they are also volunteers, board members, and community leaders. A degree is a powerful credential, but in the hands of CV alums education becomes so much more than the degree, it is a way to help uplift disenfranchised communities.
While I am sad to leave CV, I am proud that this organization is programmatically and fiscally strong and thriving. I would like to thank CV’s talented, dedicated, and diverse staff and Board of Directors. CV has had a longtime commitment to building talent from within, and I feel confident leaving the organization in the capable hands of our staff and Board. I am delighted that the CV Board has voted to appoint Development Director Moira Hinderer and College Access Program Director Tina Meetran to lead CV as Acting Co-Directors. I have every confidence in their abilities to move the organization forward.
As college costs rise and degrees become an ever more important credential, I believe CV’s mission is more important than ever. While I am leaving my position, I will continue to be a supporter of this essential organization. My expectation is that CV will continue to grow and thrive and serve more of the talented young people in our communities who dream of college, but need help to get to and through.
Respectfully,
Nick Figueroa
Executive Director
