|
|
Summer
2011
Vol. 3
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Friends,
I am delighted
to share our 15th annual Meritus College Fund Awards Ceremony program with
you, along with the thoughtful comments of our guest speakers Lt. Governor Gavin
Newsom and 2001 Meritus Scholar Ana Moraga. A
heartfelt thank you goes out to all who enabled us to award 46
scholarships!
In this issue
you will find notes on the progress of our scholars, exciting
partnership updates, the success of our alumni in transitioning into
careers, a bittersweet passing the torch in our mentoring program,
and more.
Weighing very
heavily on our hearts is the tragic loss of
an outstanding young man, 2010 Scholar Stafone Jackson. As an
advocate for youth, it is difficult to find the appropriate words to
express such sadness. As a parent, I cannot fully grasp the sorrow
his death has caused his family.This loss
will be felt strongly in our community.
With
gratitude,
Diana Wolf
Executive
Director
|
|
Big
Dreams
To commemorate our 15th anniversary year, our scholars submitted
their personal stories of accomplishment. 2008 Scholar Barry Au,
graduate of Wallenberg High School, authored the following. Barry
attends CSU Long Beach and plans to graduate with a B.S. degree in
Physics in 2012.
The journey to college was almost unbearable. From the
late night struggles to dreadful, long mornings. We grew up in a
poorly lit, mold growing, cockroach infested studio with six children
and two adults. Three boys slept in the walk-in closet, three girls
in the smaller walk-in closet, and my parents in the living
room.
Read more...
|
|
|
|
In Memoriam:
2010 Scholar
Stafone Jackson 
Tragically,
on August 2, 2011, 2010 Scholar Stafone Jackson lost his life in a
swimming
accident. He was 19 years old.
Stafone graduated from
Mission High School where he was a star athlete. In the fall of 2010
he enrolled at UC Riverside and planned on majoring in business. Stafone was a
determined young man with a promising future.
Family and friends gathered
for a service on Friday, August 12, to celebrate his life. He will be
sorely missed and his memory will live in all of those whose lives he
touched.
|
|
|
|
|
In
the News
*WCC Scholarship
Foundation, a successor to the National League of Women's Service Foundation
whose roots in shaping the social and cultural activities in San
Francisco run deep, generously awarded Meritus with an endowment to
secure four scholarships annually. Foundation officers, Molly Starr and
Lutrell Huddelston,
announced the gift at our 2011 Awards Ceremony.This
is a tremendous endorsement of our efforts to provide college access to
low-income youth in our community.We are
deeply grateful for this wonderful gift.
*The Taproot
Foundation, whose mission it is to lead, mobilize and engage
professionals in pro-bono service that drives social change, recently
recognized Meritus with a branding and messaging grant. This grant will
enable us to more effectively share our mission with the community. As
a growing organization whose resources are heavily invested in
improving the circumstances of its scholars, we appreciate the pro-bono
expertise made available to us. Thank you, Taproot!
*Thank
you to the event sponsors of our 2011 Awards Ceremony: First Republic
Bank, Zephyr Real Estate and Union Bank of California. Over 300 guests
helped us welcome and recognize our 46 new Scholars.This
event would not have been as successful without the long-standing
support of our underwriters and their belief in our mission.
|
|
Program
Update
|
 
|
|
Mentor
Mentees Goal Setting
|
*Mentors and mentees
joined forces at our June training session to kick-off the one-on-one
mentoring program. They worked together to draft goals for the
following academic year and develop a communications plan. Both groups
gleaned advice from Christian Rummell who led a conversation on
effective mentoring.
|
|
|
2011 New Scholar
Orientation
|
|
|
|
2011 Alumni and Scholars
|
|
*2011 Meritus Scholars
joined staff, alumni and financial trainer and donor Deidre Hockett at
our 2011 New Scholar Orientation in July. Scholars learned
about campus resources, time management, self-advocacy, networking, transitioning
to college, financial aid and budgeting. Older Meritus students joined
the conversation and shared how they approached their first year, what
strategies they used to be successful, and how important it is to
reach out and ask for help. Tacos were had by all!
*Mentors and Mentees
contributed a day of service and met at the Food Bank in July.
Participants got to know each other while packing 3,000 pounds of pinto
beans for distribution to area food pantries. This bi-annual event allows
mentors and mentees to spend time getting to know each other, deepen
their relationships, and give back to the community.
|
|
|
Meritus
Alumni Panel at 2011 Orientation
|
*Meritus Alumni Council
hosted its first Career Exploration and Networking seminar. Facilitated
by Robin Holt of the Bay Area Career Center, fifty guests - both
current and alumni scholars - participated in an evening of
conversation on how to begin targeting career options, developing
resumes, and networking actively and often to land that important first
job. An impressive panel of presenters, including attorney Carol
Treasure (mentor), R.N. Katie Christiansen (mentor), accountant Jessica
Serrano (class of 2001), tax associate Brian Cheng (Ernst & Young),
and software engineer Alex Movsesyan (class of 2006) shared their
career paths and encouraged students never to say "no" to an
opportunity.
|
|
Alumni Stepping into Careers
As our scholars complete their education, many are moving
into careers and pursuing graduate work. Our most recent graduates are
majoring in Business (7%), Liberal Arts (40%), Math/Science (40%), other disciplines (13%). Meet some of our
scholars:
*Meet Paulina Wong: 2010 B.A. in corporate
finance, SFSU; Portfolio Associate for San Francisco Sentry Investment
Group
 *Meet Jose Molina: 2010 B.A. in geography,
UCLA; entering a graduate program in Geographic Information Science at
San Francisco State University
*Meet Almaz Nigusse: 2009 B.S. psychology,
CSU Sonoma; 2011 M.S.W. graduate in social work University of
Pennsylvania
Help our
scholars explore careers!
- Join us as a Career
Connection providing informational interviews to our scholars.
- Let us know if
you have an internship or job posting we can share.
- Get to know our scholars on LinkedIn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mentoring: Passing the Torch
|
Christian Rummell and Ana Moraga
|
|
|
As we expand our commitment to one-on-one, career and
peer mentoring for our students, we have been extremely fortunate to
have 2001 Scholar Ana Moraga take the helm of this important program.
Ana, who has had an impressive career leading and developing programs
for underserved populations, will pursue a career in law at
Northeastern University this fall with a focus on human rights. Her
vision, drive, creativity and spunk will be deeply missed. We all wish
her well in achieving this next goal in life.
The Mentoring Program at Meritus now passes the
torch to Christian Rummell as its new mentoring program manager. He
comes to Meritus with 15 years of experience working with mentoring
programs. Prior to joining Meritus, Christian was Director of Mentoring
Support Services with MENTOR and a Training and Technical Assistant
Associate with the National Mentoring Center at Education Northwest.
Christian also coordinated the AmeriCorps Program with the "I Have
a Dream" Foundation. Christian holds a Master of Public
Administration from Portland State University and a B.A. in
Psychology from Washington College. He is currently writing his
dissertation on mentoring for a Doctorate in Educational
Leadership at Portland State University. He has written extensively on
mentoring immigrant and gay youth.
Christian lives in the Upper Haight,
enjoys traveling, biking through Golden Gate Park, and exploring
restaurants in the Bay Area.
Christian can be reached at Christian@Meritusfund.org
or 415.400.8643.
Welcome to the
Meritus Community, Christian!
|
|
|
|
Board and
Staff
Chris
Boyd, President ·
Tom
Chavez, Vice President ·
Anthony
Swei,Treasurer · Lisa Rose, Secretary
Bill Drypolcher · Tonia Karr· Isabel Moore
Carol
McLaughlin · Frank Morrow·
Mauree
Jane Perry · Jacqueline Young
Executive
Director:
Diana
Wolf
Program Staff:
Cedrick
Andrews, Student Relations
Danielle
Pizzi, Student Relations
Christian
Rummell, Mentoring
Editor:
Donald
Andreini
|
|
|
|
Mentors and
Mentees at our
Summer Service Day, July
2011
Meritus
Mentors and Mentees worked with the Food Bank packaging over 3,000
pounds of pinto beans to stop hunger in our City.
|
|
|
|
|
About Us
Meritus
College Fund invests in socio-economically disadvantaged, yet
high-potential, San Francisco public high school students by providing
four-year scholarships and individualized support to help them realize their
potential through a college degree.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
