At Making Waves, we’re opening doors to economic mobility. 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.
Students pursuing their purpose, passion, and goals
We partner with students (as early as 5th grade through their first jobs!) to imagine their future, find their purpose, and make intentional decisions toward their goals. This is life changing. Here are some examples from 2024:
Bryana Gastélum (she/they) is shaping a more sustainable world as an engineer and advocate for energy justice. Bryana is earning a master’s degree in engineering from Stanford before starting a full-time role as an air quality consultant.
“With the support of Making Waves, I was able to realize my potential. I found my passion for engineering early on and have devoted my career to helping my communities,” Bryana shared.
Ysabel David (she/her) is combining her passions for science, accessibility, and community as a biology major, dance minor, and DEI intern at Scripps. Ysabel is also a mentor to STEM students from underrepresented backgrounds and is planning to pursue a PhD in biomedicine.
“The biggest impact of being a part of Making Waves is being able to feel validated and not alone,” Ysabel shared.
Achieving college readiness for all
College opens doors to economic mobility for students from low-income backgrounds and leads to a more diverse, educated workforce. It should be accessible and attainable for all. Here are some highlights from 2024:
100% (yes, 100%!) of Making Waves Academy graduates in the Class of 2024 met the A-G requirements for admission eligibility to CSU and UC campuses, which is more than twice the rate across all California students.
Making Waves Academy CEO Alton B. Nelson Jr.’s approach was featured in EdSource with solutions for bridging the inequities between high school to college and career.
95% of this same class are pursuing higher education and 50% are pursuing STEM majors.
“We are lighting the way… because we have the courage and determination to pursue better education and careers,” shared Simren Sandhu (she/her), a neuroscience major at Harvard, during her remarks at the inspiring graduation ceremony last spring.
First-gen grads earning their college degrees, debt-free
College degrees bring long-term value. But they need to be affordable and attainable. Our Making Waves scholarships, college and career coaching, and financial aid support make college graduation a reality. Here’s what that looked like in 2024:
86% of our Class of 2024 college graduates earned their degrees with $0 (yes, $0!) in student loans, more than four times better than their national peers. Among our 100+ newest college grads, Estefan Cervantes (he/him) graduated debt-free and is now an engineer at Bosch.
“I’m looking forward to being financially stable and exploring the world. My degree has opened many doors and I’m excited to see which ones I decide to open next,” Estefan shared.
We welcomed nearly 90 new students going to 30 different colleges across the U.S. into our college and career success program.
Through yearly scholarships and a network of college coaches, financial coordinators, and career specialists, our students have the support to achieve their goals, like increasing racial diversity in healthcare and expanding access to education, mental health services, and technology resources.
Partnerships that build career skills and job readiness
We can’t open doors to economic mobility without career exploration, professional skills development, and work experiences – all combined with industry partnerships.
We’ve seen partnerships be a win for our students and for employers. Here is an example from 2024:
Making Waves is partnering with Allen Matkins to support future lawyers and diversify the field of law. The partnership kicked off with a field trip to the law office – an opportunity that helps students explore careers and helps employers mentor and recruit talent.
“Before going, I was on the fence about pursuing a career in law, but now, I’m 100% sure it’s what I want to do,” shared Yoltzin Wallace (he/him) who is now a student at Columbia.
Listening to learn from Gen Z
To really drive impact and promote equity, we’re listening to learn from Gen Z. Earlier this year, I shared how Gen Z is ringing the alarm bell and how Making Waves is responding by focusing more on student belonging, creating more access to information (any time of day), and encouraging more internship and real-world experiences.
College and career knowledge, wherever you are
If you couldn’t already tell, we’re all about making education and employment resources more accessible. Here are some highlights from 2024:
🌐 The new making-waves.org website is now home to tons of early career and internship resources, templates, tips, and job boards.
📱 Our AI Education and Employment Copilot provides thousands of students free, proactive coaching over text message.
💰 Our Money Conversations podcast series creates awareness about managing finances in college, career, and life.
💼 A new workforce development grant from LinkedIn means we can make these resources more accessible and build partnerships to support more students.
Celebrating wins
The word is getting out about Making Waves and our proven model! Here are highlights of external recognition in 2024:
✅ Contra Costa County Board of Education approves Making Waves Academy’s five-year charter renewal
🏆 U.S. News ranks Making Waves Academy among top high schools
🤖 ASU+GSV Summit’s Education Innovation Showcase grants Making Waves grand prize
📺 KRON4’s LIVE in the Bay features a Making Waves program thanks to a new donation
Reflecting on learnings, growing into the future
The summer of 2024 marked an important personal and professional milestone for me: my 5th anniversary as CEO of Making Waves Education Foundation. It’s been fun to do some learning out loud and share some of my biggest lessons learned.
Making Waves has a proven model – for over three decades, we have expanded educational opportunity and proved that zip codes don’t determine destiny. We’re also constantly paying attention to young people’s needs and the evolving landscape.
Today, we know that a bachelor’s degree on its own is not a guarantee of economic mobility, so in 2025, we’re excited to build career-connected learning into our model – career exploration, work-based learning, and earn-and-learn programs.
We’re evolving our work to prepare every young adult in our community to be on a path to economic mobility, which is both energizing and necessary.
Are you ready to get more involved?
Your support makes this all possible!
Are you interested in hosting field trips or job shadowing opportunities?
Are you from a company, school, college, or university looking to partner?
Are you ready to make a year-end donation to support the next generation of leaders?
Wishing you a happy holiday season and new year,
Patrick
Patrick O’Donnell
Chief Executive Officer
Making Waves Education Foundation
