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Foundation for a College Education (FCE) is excited to announce the Yahoo! Employee Foundation (YEF) recently awarded a $50,000 Impact Grant to our organization.
This grant will support FCE STEAM program costs, ensuring that our middle school students, families, personnel, volunteers, and classrooms have the tools necessary for a successful 2015 - 2016 school year.
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Many of the world's most innovative companies call Silicon Valley home. Sadly, Silicon Valley is also home to tremendous gaps in income equality and education parity. Those gaps are particularly prevalent in East Palo Alto, where high school graduation rates are estimated to be as low as thirty percent (30%). Of all students who drop out of high school, more than one-third (1/3) will do so in Grade 9.
In 2013, Foundation for a College Education (FCE) established FCE STEAM, a middle school program focused on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The goal of FCE STEAM is to help middle school students develop the curiosity, persistence, and resilience to become successful learners and successful adolescents and to develop the skills to take college preparatory courses in high school. These competencies proffer greater likelihood for high school success, leading to college admittance and college graduation.
FCE would like to thank Michelle Rodriguez and Arundathi Gururajan, two Yahoo! employees who give generously of their time to serve on the Board of Directors and are also donors to FCE.
This new relationship with YEF demonstrates the change Silicon Valley companies can make in the lives of underserved students of color who live in East Palo Alto and who share the dream of earning a college degree.
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About Yahoo! Employee Foundation
Founded by Yahoo employees in 1999, YEF is a grassroots, philanthropic group that brings together the talents, time, and financial resources of Yahoo employees to serve the needs of communities around the globe. As a separate entity from Yahoo Inc., YEF is employee run, employee driven and employee funded.
Donations to YEF are driven by employee contributions, which can be matched through Yahoo's Matching Gifts program. Since 2000, YEF has donated over $15 million in cash grants to over 700 non-profit organizations locally, nationally and globally through the employee-championed community grant making program.
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About Foundation for a College Education
Founded in 1995 on the belief that education is the most powerful tool to promote individual, family, and community change, the mission of Foundation for a College Education (FCE) is to increase the number of students of color from East Palo Alto and similar communities who graduate from a four-year college or university.
All services are provided free of charge.
FCE seeks to create a community where higher education is expected and attainable. By engaging students and families in our work, FCE aims to create a community of learners armed with the right tools and information. Together, they play a pivotal role in sharing information with other families about how best to maximize resources and navigate the college admissions process, thus catalyzing change in the larger community.
FCE accomplishes its mission through five program components:
FCE STEAM; FCE College Bound, for high school students to ensure they are prepared to apply to college; FCE College Success which ensures that 85% of FCE college students will graduate in five years; FCE Scholarship, which helps offset the increasing costs of higher education; and FCE Parent Engagement and Leadership, which helps FCE parents learn the skills necessary to be effective advocates for their children.
