By Isaac Kim I was a freshman in my second semester at West Adams Preparatory High School when Robin Kurtzman, a member of the LA Promise Fund board, pulled me out of class. I had never met Robin before. She was not part of the......
Steven Pham was one of the first students to participate in The Intern Project (TIP) 5 years ago, when it launched. He was placed at Fullscreen, and is still remembered fondly by the staff there. Today, Steven is graduating from USC, about to embark on......
The LA Promise Fund works with thousands of students each year through its network of 5 South LA schools and 3 countywide programs. Each student has a unique story and his or her own path. One student at Manual Arts High School, Kenia, a junior,......
This year, for the first time, girls from across the country are participating in our formerly only countywide program, Girls Build. Girls Build is designed to empower teams of girls to identify and address a challenge in their school or community. One team, Bronx Bright,......
The LA Promise Fund is able to serve tens of thousands of students across LA County each year through partnerships with fellow nonprofit and community-based organizations, like-minded individuals, and foundations. Susan Kozlowski is both a like-minded individual and the trustee of the Robert and Susan Kozlowski L.I.F.T.......
“When I was a little kid, I watched a lot of anime. I always wanted to make an animation. Then our teacher showed us this animation software.” -Summit Prep Charter School student For this student, and hundreds more like him, the LA Promise Fund ArtsMatter......
We know the value of internships to young people. Through The Intern Project, we place juniors and seniors from public schools across LA County in paid, high-value internships. One of these students is Elian Guerrero, a West Adams High School graduate. He spent last summer......
We caught up with one of our intern superstars, Whitney Anagu, to see what she’s been up to since her internship with Illumination Entertainment in the summer of 2017. Read on to learn how her experience with The Intern Project has opened doors for her......
The LA Promise Fund is invested in bringing high-impact opportunities to our students. These opportunities take different forms. For Erik Mateo, the opportunity was a connection he made with our Chief Development Officer, Claudia Keller. Their connection changed the course of his life. By Erik......
Joseph is a senior at Manual Arts High School in South LA. He is one of 1500 students navigating academics, social life, and extracurriculars every day. But his story is a little different. He was born in Nigeria and moved with his twin brother to......
Rosa Pastor is a first-time Math teacher at LA Promise Charter Middle School in South LA. Before coming here, she worked at the LA Promise Fund offices, answering phones and running CEO Veronica Melvin’s peripatetic schedule. Now, sitting inside her classroom, plastered with college pennants......
We did it! Thanks to our sponsors’ generous support, the Girls Build Summit was an immense success and an inspiration to everyone who attended. Ten thousand high school girls were moved by keynote speaker Shonda Rhimes, who called on them to use their voices and......
By Peter Horton “I would be lying if I said there haven’t been any challenges.” That’s Davit Antonyan, who spent this summer as an intern at Ares Management, an international asset management company. Davit was one of 85 students selected for a paid internship through......
This year, 91% of Manual Arts High School seniors were accepted to college. Lonnell Shuler is one of those seniors. He is headed to Colorado College, an extremely competitive small liberal arts college with an acceptance rate below 16% and an average SAT score of......
By Peter Horton The ceremonies that mark the end of high school are bittersweet for students and their families. At awards night and graduation, seniors cross a stage to celebrate their accomplishments, only to linger outside the venue to say rushed goodbyes to friends and......
By Peter Horton After a year of working to make a change at their schools and in their communities, dozens of Girls Build LA teams came together at USC’s Ronald Tutor Center to show each other everything they’d accomplished. Part science fair, part political rally,......
“This city is a city where we come from every corner of the earth.” – Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles; California gubernatorial candidate, and keynote speaker, A Celebration of Student Culture and Identity. On the patio at the Getty Center, high above Los......
By Peter Horton For the young women on West Adams Prep’s Girls Build LA team, this year has been an opportunity to learn just how many ways there are to serve the community. In the fall, the team — Panther Gals for Change — decided......
Seventy seven percent of LAUSD students graduate from high school. Of those who graduate, 70% go on to college. But then, something happens. Only 25% of LAUSD graduates who enter college will go on to earn a degree within 6 years. Those numbers are concerning.......
When Aaron Solorzano started at West Adams Preparatory High School in the 9th grade, he knew he was supposed to get good grades, but he didn’t know to what end. Luckily, he found 9th grade easy; he did get good grades, and with those grades,......
The LA Promise Charter Middle School in South LA is full of boisterous 6th and 7th graders. With a 95% attendance rate, these students are coming to school – and benefiting from the wise leadership of individuals like Jade Harvey, an Americorps Vista and our......
Every year, about this time, I like to look back on the prior year and assess – did we, the LA Promise Fund, meet our goals? Did we serve students, families and communities by bringing them vital resources? Did we create exceptional learning opportunities for......
The Compton Early College Change Agents believe that Girls Build is changing their community and their team members. Girls Build is helping them become the next generation of women leaders in the community, the nation, and the world. After winning second place last year at......
On Friday, December 15, 2017, 10,000 girls streamed into the West Hall at the LA Convention Center. The Girls Build Summit was long-anticipated, but nothing could prepare the girls, the speakers, the chaperones, the sponsors, or the LA Promise Fund staff for the energy, the......
By Peter Horton On an afternoon in the middle of October, as temperatures neared the triple digits, a small group of students met at the track at West Adams high school. While the rest of the school was rushing to get into the shade or......
Choosing which college to attend is a big decision – and one that is best made with considerable planning and thought. Students at Manual Arts and West Adams Prep High School got a chance to learn about over 50 universities without leaving their school campus.......
By Peter Horton Step inside Manual Arts High School, turn left, follow the long corridor past the office, past the science building, turn right when you hear the sound of music, and you’ll arrive at Mr. Romeo Vera’s band classroom. Vera is an engaging and......
The Intern Project – Summer pairs deserving high school students with high-value, paid internships in entertainment, finance, media, healthcare, and more. Mary and Raimundo both were placed at Fullscreen Entertainment this past summer through The Intern Project, and they became fast friends. Here, they talk......
By Peter Horton Students at Manual Arts High School got to step outside of the classroom this week and see their college center quad transformed. For one morning, on September 20th, the Getty Foundation and the LA Promise Fund set up an outpost of Pacific......
By Ted Carmichael West Adams Preparatory High, an LA Promise Fund-partner school, is home to 1500 students, 90% of whom are living below the poverty line, and 31% of whom are English learners. Despite these challenges, over 80% of the Class of 2017 was accepted......
LA Promise Charter High School #1 is a TV and film-themed academy, offering dual enrollment at Los Angeles Trade Tech College. It opened this year in South LA with a ribbon cutting attended by local city councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Curren Price. Less than a......
Welcome back to school! Even for those of us who graduated years ago, late August is a time of anticipation. What will this year hold? What will challenge us, develop us, and make us better students of life? This year, the LA Promise Fund supported......
While The Intern Project – Summer has wrapped up, we’re still hearing from the employers who hosted our interns. This note, from Edlio employee Austin Schwartz, illustrates the immense value our interns offer their employers. Hello Managers, I am emailing you all, as I feel......
The TIP program helps local high schoolers gain valuable experiences in the fields they dream about working in. After watching her application video, we knew Whitney Anagu would be a perfect fit for an internship at Illumination Entertainment. Tell us a little bit about yourself......
Luis Berumen was a TIP intern at Bad Robot in 2014, the year of TIP’s inception. We took some time to catch up with Luis to see what he’s up to now, three summers later. My name is Luis, and I was born in Acuña......
Miguel is one of 75 incredible TIP interns this summer. Get inspired and read about Miguel’s journey for this week’s TIP Tuesday! What school do you go to? I’m a rising senior at Manual Arts High School. Where are you interning this summer? I’m interning......
It’s with great pride that I share with you the academic results of the LA Promise Fund partner and charter schools: 91% of Manual Arts High School seniors graduated, 9 percentage points higher than last year. 90% of Manual Arts seniors were accepted to college. West Adams showed......
David Carr is the principal of LA Promise Charter Middle School #1, which opened last year in South LA. The school offers project-based learning, one-to-one technology, free after school, and much more. It’s all part of the LA Promise Fund’s goal to bring essential resources to underserved......
This past Saturday, 500 girls gathered together at our own West Adams Preparatory High for the second annual Girls Build LA Expo, the culmination of Girls Build LA — a year-long effort to identify and then address a challenge in their community or school. The......
On April 5th, hundreds of educators from schools across LA County gathered together at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes to kick off the educational program supporting the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA. PST: LA/LA is a far-reaching and ambitious exploration of Latin American and......
Recently, the LA Promise Fund staff members joined LA Promise Charter Middle School students and teachers to beautify the Western Avenue campus. Together, they painted a mural of the earth, out of the students’ handprints. It serves as a reflection of how well we all come together when guided by......
Jorge Campos has spent the last four years at Manual Arts. In the fall, he’ll travel almost 3,000 miles to move to his new home, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he’ll spend the next four years at Harvard University. During his time at Manual, Jorge has built......
By Fifi Buchanan “Wow, a female engineer! That is impressive.” I hear this often, but I look forward to a day when it isn’t impressive. What I mean is, I look forward to a day when a woman being in a STEM field is no......
Are you an educator with an interest in the arts? Would you like to learn how to incorporate the arts into your curriculum? Join us 4/5 at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes from 4:30-7:30pm for the #PST:LA/LA Teacher Launch, part of the Getty’s Pacific......
What an amazing day. By 8:30 am, thousands of girls were streaming through the USC Galen Center’s gates. The auditorium filled up, and then the magic began. As part of our Girls Build LA program, experts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) joined the......
West Adams is home to 1,500 high school students – young, vibrant kids who study subjects from calculus to American history, practice cheer after school, and play football on the giant field just north of the 10 Highway. One of these students is Melissa, a senior.......
We have launched Girls Build LA – Year 2. Stay tuned for updates! Nadia was one of the young women to win last year’s Girls Build LA Challenge. She and her team from STEAM Legacy High School modified a stationary bicycle to power a generator. The......
This summer, The Intern Project (TIP) connected 52 high school students from public schools across LA County to paid internships at prestigious firms like SpaceX, Participant Media, and Fullscreen. The Intern Project’s mission is to level the playing field for students in Los Angeles. TIP......
Each of the three summer interns (Stephannie, Ian, and Pedro) featured in The Intern Project series has a unique and inspiring story. These kids are demonstrating the best kind of grit – finding resources that will propel them forward academically and professionally. In this installment......
This summer, 52 lucky and very dedicated LA County high school students are embarking on journeys they might never have taken without The Intern Project. What is The Intern Project? It’s a program run by the LA Promise Fund, designed to give young, curious, dedicated......
By Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast As seen in Forbes… Summer is the high season for interns, so corporate environments everywhere often look a little younger. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), estimates of the total number of interns range from......
By Shepard Fairey I was honored and proud to be a part of the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education’s #ArtsMatter public art project last July to inspire creative thinking and learning. Considering my belief that the arts are a crucial part of education, it......
By Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas When former Los Angeles Lakers star Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) visited a local high school in my district, he brought more than 900 students to their feet, cheering and clapping at the sight of him. They were thrilled......
I want to talk about a couple of kids you may know. One is a third-grader, and he’s not the easiest student in the classroom. He misses school more than he should, and when he’s there, he’s quick to overreact to things other kids say......