Pictured above: Jesus Mantancillas, Karlo Vazquez Melendez, Devin Bacon
When Karlo Vazquez Melendez first talked with a San Diego Foundation staff member about the programs and scholarships that helped him get to college, he described himself as “super lucky.”
“He stopped me and asked why I called it ‘luck,’” Karlo said.
Karlo, a third-year political science major at San Diego State University, shared his experience with nearly 100 education, community and philanthropy leaders at San Diego Foundation’s Education Policy & Leadership Convening: Shaping the Future Together.
“The room got quiet, and I could tell it landed,” he said of the audience’s reaction.
As a Mexican American and first-generation college student, Karlo believes others like him “shouldn’t feel like the lucky ones who made it out. Success shouldn’t depend on luck. It should depend on whether every student has the support I had.”
For Karlo, that support began long before college.
Raised in Barrio Logan by his mother and grandmother, Karlo began receiving support early. His mother enrolled him in the Barrio Logan College Institute in third grade, and he later joined Reality Changers, a nonprofit that helps students prepare for and succeed in college.
Those programs gave him tutoring, mentorship and college guidance. What mattered most, he said, was that the educators and leaders he interacted with never stopped believing in him.
They gave him someone to turn to for help, held him accountable and reminded him that he belonged in places where he had seen few people from his community.
A scholarship from San Diego Foundation has allowed Karlo to focus on his studies while pursuing internships, community involvement and an upcoming study-abroad program in Spain.
It has also helped him keep a promise he made to his mother in elementary school: She wouldn’t have to pay a penny for college.
Sharing responsibility for student success
Karlo’s experience showed what can happen when schools, nonprofits and philanthropy work together to support students. The question at the heart of the convening was how to make that kind of support available to more young people.
Education is one of San Diego Foundation’s four areas of focus. Through scholarships, nonprofit investments and partnerships, SDF works to expand educational opportunities and connect students with support from their earliest years through college and beyond.
Panelists included Dr. Fabiola Bagula, superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District; Dr. Kyra Greene, executive director at the Center on Policy Initiatives; and Rosa Olascoaga Vidal, deputy chief of strategic initiatives for the San Diego City Council District 9 office. They explored what helps school-community partnerships last.
State and regional leaders—including Assemblymember Dr. Darshana Patel, Southwestern College Superintendent and President Dr. Mark Sanchez and San Diego Unified School District Board of Education President Richard Barrera—also discussed how San Diego’s experience can inform state education decisions, while students talked about the educators and community programs that helped them make their way.
Dean Gerdeman, San Diego Foundation’s assistant director of education initiatives, said a central theme was the need for stronger connections among schools, communities and workplaces.
But even when schools, nonprofits and employers want to work together, policies and systems can get in the way.
“Effective collaboration requires relationships, coordination, flexible resources and policies that make it easier for schools and community partners to work together,” Dean said.
Listening to student voices
Kyra said the gathering reinforced the importance of including students in conversations about their future.
She left encouraged by students who described how their educational experiences had helped them see themselves as leaders.
“That gave me a great deal of hope that these young people have or will discover the answers we need to the most pressing challenges of today,” Kyra said.
For Karlo, the real test is what happens next.
“I genuinely hope it leads to action, not just a meaningful conversation, with leaders continuing to bring students into policy discussions and using what we shared to improve programs and funding,” he said.
Learn how San Diego Foundation is expanding educational opportunities through scholarships, community partnerships and investments in student success.
