Beyond the Degree: Reimagining Economic Mobility at Making Waves
Making Waves has excelled at supporting students from 5th grade through college graduation, but in today’s landscape a degree alone no longer guarantees economic mobility. CEO Patrick O’Donnell shares why he’s excited to reimagine what’s possible in expanding educational opportunity AND expanding career opportunity for our students.
Top Stories That Made Waves in 2024
Our programs provide students of color from low-income backgrounds with the educational opportunities, career skills and experiences, and financial freedom they need to meet their goals and thrive. Here are some of the highlights of what that looked like in 2024 and a preview of what’s to come in 2025.
Making Waves Academy’s Charter Renewal Unanimously Approved
We are excited to share some incredible news – this fall, the Contra Costa County Board of Education unanimously voted to approve Making Waves Academy’s five-year charter renewal. The vote was met with both applause and tears of joy from the over 150 supporters who filled the room (with more joining online), proudly wearing Making Waves shirts and sharing the essential role Making Waves plays in the lives of students and families in the Richmond community.
Sharing our latest impact report
This year marks a significant milestone for Making Waves – 35 years of empowering students of color from low-income backgrounds to break through barriers to educational success and economic mobility.
How to build your team and embed DEIB in how you and your team operate
If you’re an aspiring or new CEO, having an incredible team is one of the most important levers for driving organizational impact and outcomes. This means a top priority will be building your team and embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in how you and your team operate. CEO Patrick O’Donnell shares learnings from his first five years as CEO.
How to define an approach to strong, inclusive decision-making
Decision-making is an Achilles heel and pain point for so many organizations. CEO Patrick O’Donnell shares three approaches to defining a strong and inclusive approach to decision-making as a part of a series on lessons learned during his first five years as a nonprofit CEO.
How to build resilience in uncertainty
The nonprofit CEO job is challenging and a big part of the leadership role is leading through uncertainty. CEO Patrick O’Donnell shares three approaches to building resilience in the face of challenges as a part of a series on lessons learned during his first five years as a nonprofit CEO.
How to think big and find sustainability
CEO Patrick O’Donnell shares three approaches to thinking big and having an impactful vision while also finding work and life balance as a part of a series on lessons learned during his first five years as a nonprofit CEO.
Listening to Gen Z to Reimagine Education and Employment Pathways
CEO Patrick O’Donnell spotlights how Gen Z is ringing the alarm bell, saying current education and workforce systems aren’t working. He shares how Making Waves is listening to learn from Gen Z and testing and learning from some new approaches – from mentorship to AI to internships.
The demand for college graduates is growing. Let’s meet the demand – without all the student debt.
Making Waves CEO shares why we need to build the pipeline of first-gen college grads and how this can be done without all the student loan debt.
Sharing Our 2022-23 Impact Report
Making Waves brings together the impact of two nonprofits: Making Waves Academy and Making Waves Education Foundation. Together, we are creating equitable access to college and career success for first-generation students of color, and a stronger source of diverse talent in the Bay Area that will accelerate our region’s success.
Celebrating Your Impact In Our Latest Impact Report
The latest Making Waves Foundation annual impact report features students and alumni making waves in college and in their careers and celebrates the 93 college graduates of 2022 with 84% of them graduating debt-free. The report covers how our new core values guide our work to expand educational opportunity and provides an inside look into the new Wave-Maker Success Framework. In addition to sharing college success program outcomes, the report provides more information on our plan to reach more Bay Area students and families in the future. The impact report also includes more on our donors, board, and financials.
