This time of year can be a stressful one for high school students, who are weighing their future options when it comes to college education. Some are still studying for last-second SAT or ACT exams, some are nervously awaiting scores from those tests, and others are busy with college essays and campus tours.
Those stressors can take quite the toll, and all of them are amplified for students who lag behind in the opportunities provided to most youth their age. Underserved youth, particularly those that come out of the foster care system, need an extra boost of visibility to bring their considerable skills and intelligence to the spotlight. Ready to Succeed, a local group challenged with providing that visibility, continued to transform the lives of underserved youth in 2023.
Started in early 2016 by co-founders Romi Lassally and Patrick McCabe, Ready to Succeed is committed to "bridging the opportunity gap" for foster youth and underserved populations by providing resources and relationship-building opportunities throughout the high school experience. Beginning with youth as rising sophomores, the organization guides students towards graduation, college attendance and career success.
Lassally noted that Ready to Succeed began because her and McCabe saw there "was a real need" to support foster youth up to and throughout college and career beginnings.
"It’s actually a very small percentage that make it that far, [foster youth] overcome tremendous odds," Lassally said. "Foster youth have some of the worst outcomes of any group of young people, so it’s incredible that they make it to college … we thought we could put together a very career-focused program … where we would work with the student as early as possible."
In the first seven years of the program, Ready to Succeed has served almost 500 scholars, including enrolling 130 youths into the three-year program in 2023. Of the students that already experienced the program, 92% graduate college in under six years, and 85% of students transitioned into a career track job within six months of graduation.
While the methodology has evolved since 2016, the group’s three pillars remain the same: Making sure students have career-readiness skills, giving access to people to start building a network, and teaching students how to nurture relationships and build social capital. To achieve this, Ready to Succeed gives each student a career navigation mentor throughout the program, not only to coach but to teach students how to increase their confidence in telling their own story.
"We’ve been able to kind of craft the program so students realize how valuable they are," Lassally said. "So it’s not just telling them what to do, but that they have a story to tell, they have strength and skills to bring, and that they are worthy of [a future]. A lot of the students we work with … have had some level of trauma, and it manifests itself in different ways. It’s trust issues, lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, so many things emotionally, physically, financially, that we’ve learned that we have to kind of convince them that they’re worthy first."
Credit: Jevone Moore
Ready to Succeed has implemented confidence-building activities throughout its first seven years, with its newest facet being "Camp Ready," a two-day summer camp where new scholars can meet their advisors for the first time and start to build a strong foundational relationship. Over the summer, scholars who attended Camp Ready received a visit from Congressman Ted Lieu, who shared that each student would receive a $5,000 scholarship for the next school year to cover their needs.
Financial aid is another piece of bridging the gap, and in 2023 the program gave $704,000 in targeted financial aid to Ready to Succeed scholars. Lassally noted that foster youth have the same talent, drive and motivation as their peers, and that their job is to "connect the dots" when it comes to networking and educational opportunities.
Another success of 2023 for the group was the growth of its alumni network, which was exciting for Lassally because some alumni end up becoming mentors themselves for current Ready to Succeed scholars.
"It was an unexpected benefit to see that the alumni could become the network we start to tap into for our students … the individual success stories are thrilling to see them doing well … it’s thrilling to see them all kind of pursuing dreams, and then realizing they could make them happen, and it’s equally thrilling to see them give back," she said.
For more information on the group, visit readytosucceedla.org.
