Creating Generational Change Through Educational Funding

Income Inequality

San Fernando Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

The Andres y Maria Cardenas Family Foundation understands the issue of income inequality and works to minimize it by providing students with monetary support through scholarships as well as providing resources to help students and their families navigate and manage the educational journey. By providing this support, the Foundation helps to create generational change in our scholar's families. Each year, our board of directors awards scholarships to high school and college students who attend, or have attended, one of our ten partner schools in the San Fernando Valley. It seeks to honor not only high achieving students but also students who embody the qualities of hard work, perseverance, and a commitment to the community.

The greatest gift we can give our high school graduates is the opportunity to pursue higher education. The bulk of this grant will be used to fund scholarships for high school and existing college students who attend, or have attended, one of our ten partner schools in the San Fernando Valley. In addition to providing the much needed seed money to fund educational dreams, the grant will allow us to work more closely with our ten partner schools to educate counselors, parents, and the students about the scholarship opportunities that are available through our Foundation. This in turn will give us more applicants and allow us to provide further resources to our scholarship recipients. One of the resources we provide to our chosen scholarship recipients is a Student & Parent Orientation Day complete with separate track breakout sessions including what to expect your first year in college, a Q&A panel with past scholarship recipients or their parents, and a financial intelligence workshop.

Los Angeles County will be a better place because of the success of the work done by the Foundation. Through education, the Foundation wants to break the cycle of poverty for its Scholars and make Los Angeles a better place because of their contribution. The Foundation has been impacting lives for over 25 years by providing nearly $1.5 million in support to over 1,400 students. Its success has been measured through it scholar's graduation rate of of 95% which is approximately 15% higher than the average graduation rate of the socioeconomically disadvantaged student group as published by the California Department of Education for the 20-21 year. We will strive to make sure our scholars are provided with the necessary resources to continue to succeed at this high graduation rate.

The Foundations provides more than financial assistance. It offers support to help students and their families navigate & manage the educational journey. Each year, we host a Student & Parent Orientation (SPO) day for first time college students and their families. During this orientation, students and parents separate into breakout sessions that include for what to expect your first year in college, a Q&A panel with past scholarship recipients or their parents, and a financial intelligence workshop. After this year's SPO, one scholar said, "I honestly didn't want to go at first because it was the day of prom but it was one of the best experiences with my mom. I've never been able to fully explain to her what the college process is like and this event was the best thing that could happen for my mom to be able to understand. It was inspiring to the both of us and I genuinely had so much fun." This testimonial reaffirms why we include resources for the families alongside the funding.