LIVE! in the Bay: Making Waves Providing Scholarships and Coaching for Students
by Making Waves Education Foundation
Kron4 invited Making Waves Education Foundation’s CEO Patrick O’Donnell and VP of Student Success Dr Kristina Wright to appear on LIVE! in the Bay on January 31, 2024.
The Making Waves duo shared more about the latest opportunity for Bay Area students with LIVE! in the Bay host Olivia Horton.
Supporting future leaders in earning their degrees
“We support students from low-income backgrounds and students of color to thrive in college, career, and in life,” O’Donnell shared during the live appearance.
“In our country so many students from low-income backgrounds who are the first in their family to go to college will start college but then not finish. Along the way, they face a range of challenges that hold them back from ultimately earning that degree. And these students are our future leaders, they’re our future innovators, they want to make their mark on the world,” he shared.
Making Waves is working to change that outcome through programming that makes sure students can afford college, obtain their degree, graduate debt-free, and be ready for their first job.
Thanks to a new donation, Making Waves’ college and career success program is open to all nine Bay Area counties and the deadline to apply is February 26, 2024.
More than just a scholarship
“Students are applying to not just the scholarship funds, but they’re applying to our program… to coaching to financial services to career preparation and support,” shared Wright.
“We are looking for high school seniors who are passionate about education, who are fully committed to joining our program, to soaking up all the services we offer, and to partnering with our team. Our amazing coaches, financial services coordinators, and career team are all ready and willing to receive these students,” she shared.
During the live appearance, O’Donnell and Wright also shared their own hopes for students interested in joining Making Waves’ college and career success program.
“I want students to know that they can pursue the goals that they have for life, and they absolutely have the agency and ability to chase after them and achieve them,” shared O’Donnell. “They’ve got a whole bunch of people who are in their court and who are there to support them on that path.”
“For first-gen and low-income students, sometimes we get overlooked. I was one of those students too and I know the drive, the ambition, the real passion that goes behind this,” Dr. Wright shared. “I want those students to really have the full college experience.”
Thank you for supporting Wave-Makers
We wouldn’t be able to advance educational opportunities and support Wave-Makers on their college and career journeys without our committed donors. Thank you for being a part of our Making Waves community!
About Making Waves Education Foundation
At Making Waves, we are committed to educational equity. Making Waves Education Foundation is a Bay Area nonprofit that supports Making Waves Academy – a public charter school with more than 1,100 5th through 12th grade students – and leads college and career programming with more than 430 college students.
Knowing the opportunities that come with a college degree, we partner with historically underrepresented and underserved students to help make college affordable and graduation attainable. Centering the journeys of our students, our personalized approach includes college and career coaching, scholarships, and financial planning.
Our alumni network includes more than 730 college graduates, who earn their degrees and land jobs at more than twice the rate of their first-generation, low-income peers, with 85% graduating debt-free.
