Lorna Contreras-Townsend
Occupation:Senior Manager, Workforce-Diversity Outreach, Gap, Inc.
10% of youth from low-income families hold a bachelor's degree by age 25 vs. 77% from middle to higher income families.
Those with a bachelor’s degree earn 62% more in income than those with no college degree.
66% of low-income college students do not complete a bachelor’s degree.
If current attainment rates don’t improve, by 2025 there will be a shortage of 16 million college-educated adults in the US workforce.
Rising Stars Students are overcoming tremendous odds.
Low to moderate income
Live below the federal poverty line
First-generation college student
Identify as people of color
Are in foster care, guardianships, or on their own
Have experienced homelessness
Of SRA Rising Stars Students accepted to a four-year college
Complete a bachelor’s degree (34% national ave. for low-income youth)
Are in career-ladder roles or graduate school within 12 months of college graduation
Receive some sort of financial aid
Have medical insurance
Complete college with no debt
SRA has sent more than 835 students to colleges throughout the U.S.
Students Rising Above values character, drive, and potential, accepting candidates outside traditional GPA standards
Students and alumni currently being served
Of SRA students are in career-ladder jobs or graduate school within 12 months of college graduation
Employer partners
Career mentors
Personalized job interview prep sessions annually
On-site career insight events annually
267 student summer internships in 2017 including business, nonprofit/social justice, tech, government/law, youth/education, healthcare, and STEM
Registered Users from more than 60 different high schools, nonprofits and colleges
Live webinars per month
Response time to all student questions from our experts
Resources, articles, lesson plans, and worksheets available to students and teachers
Resumes created
Financial aid budgets created
By the end of 2019, we hope to have
30,000 Registered Hub Users