Help Us End Poverty One Mentorship at a Time.

Your Partnership Makes a Real Difference

Wow! What a remarkable year of transformation it has been at Step Forward Academy! Because of your generosity, you helped launch our career development program, and people are breaking the cycle of poverty through mentorship and career planning.

Here are a few fun facts about the results that were created as a result of your exceptional partnership

• Free tuition was given to more the 50 individuals who graduated from our program.
• On average, our graduates see 20-30% income growth after a year in our program.
• Two of our graduates purchased their first homes recently!

We are so proud of all our mentees and their mentors who supported them along the way! Two of our favorite stories from this year are highlighted below. 

One of my favorite mentee break-through stories this year has been Kathy. Kathy entered our program unemployed as a single mom raising two boys. After participating in a Step Forward Academy LinkedIn workshop and with the support of her mentor, a recruiter helped Kathy find a new position that started at $30/hour. This year she was promoted at her job and purchased a home in Anaheim, CA! 

Amanda was in our first cohort. Her growth and progress over the past two years have been tremendous. This year she interviewed at a company, but they promoted someone internally for the role. However, she did so well in the interview that they created an executive assistant position. As a result, Amanda went from making $18/hr to $24/hr. She is now upskilling and growing into a more significant role!

As amazing as all this is—this is just the beginning of what we believe Step Forward can do for all our mentees. Kathy and Amanda have become trailblazers, inspiring hope in others—that no matter what challenges they face, the Step Forward team is available to connect and support them on their career journey. 

There are so many others like Kathy and Amanda who we want to help through SFA. That’s why I’m asking for your support for our 2023 initiatives. 

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Sincerely,

Ryan Wong 

Executive Director