Our Approach

A Unique Holistic Model

Making Waves Foundation » Our Work » Our Approach

Our students face considerable systemic obstacles, including generational poverty, lack of access to opportunity, racism, and other societal barriers.

What began in 1989 as an after-school tutoring program has grown into Making Waves Academy, a tuition-free public charter school providing a rigorous and holistic education, and Making Waves Foundation, a non-profit and private operating foundation with a unique approach to advancing educational opportunities and supporting students in attending and graduating from college.

Making Waves Academy and Making Waves Foundation have formed a unique holistic model to ensure that motivated students facing systemic barriers have the support they need to identify and achieve their goals, regardless of their choice of educational or career path.

This commitment to college access and college success includes:

Experience Our Work

Making Waves Academy campus from outside

Learn more about Making Waves Academy

Student standing on UC Berkeley campus

Learn more about Making Waves Foundation’s college success program, known as CAP

Impact Reports

Graphic with text for Making Waves Foundation Impact Report and image of woman graduating from USC

Read more about our work in supporting more first-generation students and students in need from across Contra Costa County in graduating college with minimal debt, and set up for career success in the Making Waves Foundation’s 2020-21 Impact Report.

Light blue graphic with Making Waves Academy Impact Report text and image of heart and books on scale

Read more about Making Waves Academy’s commitment to a holistic and rigorous education for 5th through 12th graders in the Making Waves Academy 2020-21 Impact Report.