Whether he’s stepping up in the classroom or making new friends wherever he goes, Maleac, a San Diego eighth grader, has always been comfortable leading with curiosity and care for others.
“Our little guy is a cartoon character,” his dad, Adrian Brown, said. “He’s so animated, so friendly, so loving – he draws people to him.”
That confidence shows up in how he talks about his future, too.
“I want to be an engineer because I like building stuff,” he said. “It all started when I started building Legos.”
Maleac is part of BiGI’s inaugural class – a long-term, cohort-based program at the University of San Diego’s (USD) School of Leadership and Education Sciences that provides sustained academic support, mentorship, STEAM enrichment, and family engagement to prepare students for high school, college and future careers.
Maleac’s BiGI Journey
Maleac and his family learned about BiGI after his fifth-grade teacher recommended the program to his parents, Marissa and Adrian Brown.
To be considered, Maleac had just two days to record, edit and submit a video application – capturing who he was and why he wanted the opportunity to be accepted into the program.
“My parents stayed up extra late to help me edit the video,” Maleac said.
After a couple months of waiting, he received the good news.
“I got in,” Maleac said. “I was so happy.”
His acceptance marked the beginning of something exciting – mentors to guide him, challenges to stretch him, and spaces where he could explore his interests.
“From the first day that we attended BiGI, we were immediately impressed,” Marissa, Maleac’s mom, said. “We’re just so blessed to have this opportunity for him.”
For the Browns, the moment confirmed what they had hoped for all along: that Maleac would be surrounded by people who believed in him, and who would walk alongside him through the years ahead.
Impact Beyond One Student
For Maleac and others like him, BiGI has become a steady presence during a period of rapid change – offering hands-on STEAM learning, leadership opportunities and regular time on a college campus as he prepares for his next chapter.
Through engineering-focused projects, collaborative challenges and time spent in university classrooms, students begin to see how their interests can translate into future careers.
The BiGI program grew out of a partnership announced in 2022, when San Diego Foundation awarded a $1.5 million grant to USD through the Leon Williams Fund. This work is carried out through sustained mentorship, family engagement, culturally responsive learning and consistent academic support over multiple years.
BiGI officially launched in the fall of 2023 with its first sixth-grade cohort – the start of an effort designed to expand access to sustained academic support and college pathways for hundreds of students by 2030.
“There are too many times where there’s just not a lot of support for our youth in the community,” Adrian said. “To have something like this coming from such an esteemed university is just a beautiful thing.”
A few years in, the impact of that investment is already visible.
The support has helped Maleac grow not only academically, but as a leader within his community. “It’s wonderful to watch. We’re just so proud,” Marissa said. “He’s a natural born leader, and he’s already inspired other kids to want to apply for BiGI.”
Marissa has seen Maleac take that role seriously, inspiring his other friends and peers to apply, including his younger sister.
“He knows now that it’s not just about him,” she said. “He knows he has a responsibility, and kind of an ambassador for the program.”
Moving On Up
Soon, the BiGI program will reach a new milestone. As part of BiGI’s first cohort, Maleac and his peers are preparing to soon transition from middle school to high school – a moment that will be marked in the Spring of 2026 with BiGI’s inaugural Rites of Passage Ceremony.
For students like Maleac who complete the full seven-year BiGI program and are accepted to the University of San Diego, the university commits to meeting 100 percent of their federally demonstrated financial need, helping remove barriers as scholars pursue college and career goals.
What started as building Lego creations has shaped how Maleac now thinks about his future – as something he can design, test, and build over time.
“I learned that I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it. That’s the truth,” he said. “And I can’t do without my friends and family supporting me.”
