Making Waves is partnering with Studio Bondy to create opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in architecture and design through field trips, internships, externships, job shadowing, and more.
Whether you are at the start of your giving journey with nonprofits or foundations or DAFs or you are looking to make an even greater difference, this event can help you turn your interest into a legacy.
We’re launching a new storytelling series showcasing the real experiences of students and alumni navigating college, career, and personal growth — and would love for Wave-Maker alums and students to be part of it! This is your chance to share what keeps you going, the struggles you’ve faced, and the wins you’ve accomplished to help current students going through similar experiences.
Making Waves Education Foundation and Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences are partnering to launch the Hands-On Health: Paid Career Exploration Fellowship. The pilot program is designed to provide young adults with a paid opportunity to explore, gain skills, and make connections in the healthcare industry.
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.
“Ser parte de Making Waves cambió mi trayectoria”, dice Enrique Romero. “No tendría la formación para poder ir a la universidad”, explica él, graduado de la licenciatura en sociología por Pitzer College en California y de la maestría en políticas educativas por Harvard University en Massachusetts. Gracias al apoyo incondicional de sus padres y al acompañamiento de Making Waves, Enrique pudo tomar decisiones que lo llevaron a un futuro diferente.
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 Education Foundation earned a $100,000 Ad Grant from LinkedIn to support workforce development for young professionals overcoming barriers. Making Waves is using the funding to make career resources more accessible and support college students and recent graduates in reaching their career goals.
“Sometimes lab research can feel very impersonal, but I really enjoy the interpersonal interactions and the community aspect of science,” shared Ysabel David (she/her), a first-gen college student and graduating senior at Scripps who is sharing about her path finding community and pursuing her passions for science, dance, and DEIB.
We implore you to step into diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, or DEIB, work, not back away. Here are some of our key learnings that we hope help your efforts too.
The conversational series spotlights experiences and lessons learned around money topics to make this information more accessible, especially for first-generation college students and graduates.
Giovanna Barragan, a first-gen college student at USC, celebrates first-gen student day. “For me, being first-gen is to be an example for the generations after me. It means showing them that they can go for their dreams and break barriers. It’s like a special title that honors my family’s sacrifices while also planting new seeds.”
