This month marks six months since I began my role as the executive director of College Possible Washington. Reflecting on my time thus far, I wanted to share our top three successes and what I’m looking forward to in the future for this team, our students, and our community.
Top three successes of this year:
- 1,050 students served. This is a marked increase from the last two years. As we continued to navigate the pandemic, we strategized how best to meet student needs. We have taken best practices learned from the virtual setting and implemented those into our service model. Our program team of staff and AmeriCorps members have done a phenomenal job of reintegrating into school buildings and reinstating avenues of collaboration with school leaders. Our increased student numbers show our commitment to student success even as they were experiencing many transitions the last few years. We are ready and excited for more in-person experiences next year and continuing adaptation to the evolving needs of our students.
- We were able to build additional strategic partnerships with College Possible Washington champions this year. We kicked off our first student event sponsorship with the support of the Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation. We were able to allocate funding for staff training and community building through support from the Satterberg Foundation. And we increased the commitment and scope of funding through organizations like the Medina Foundation and foundry10. It has been an affirmation of our service model to see our funders and community partners continue to invest in College Possible Washington. We look forward to sharing with this community the impact of these consistent and increased funds as we enter next year.
- This year we created more opportunities for face-to-face time. As we continue to navigate the pandemic, College Possible Washington will focus on both safety and connection. This year we brought back in-person student celebrations like SOAR, celebrating our CPWA students along their college journey. We spent time together with staff and AmeriCorps members during in-person meetings and celebrations. And we also reinstated in-person board meetings. Led by the board, we were able to host our first in-person, community-centric fundraising event in May. These real-world encounters are the foundation of our site culture moving forward — one of student impact, partnership collaboration, and community connection.
As we look toward next year I am thrilled with the possibilities before us. In anchoring on safety and connection, we hope to continue creating more in-person spaces. The ripple effect of this is more intentional service at our school sites, creating transformational partnerships within King County, and developing new and consistent College Possible Washington champions who invest in our work. The 2022–2023 year looks bright for our site and I am eager to include you all in our journey. Stay tuned for ways you can continue to learn about College Possible Washington, get involved in our work, and give back.
