2023 Spring NEWSLETTER
NEWSLETTER
2023 Spring NEWSLETTER
“LEARN,
EARN,
RETURN.”
– Wayne Williams
(Deputy Chief of Staff for the Minority Leader,
U.S. House of Representatives)
Words spoken to SFA Scholars and Alumni
during a Washington D.C. trip this spring.
San Francisco Achievers continues to make strides in closing the access gap! Our mission ensures our scholars make it to and through college, and into employment. We support our participants in every step of their academic journey, setting them on a path towards life-long career success. The young men of our program are able to take advantage of a full range of resources, including academic guidance and support to get them to and through college. We mentor to support their social development and provide exposure to the people and places that will fuel their dreams and ambitions.
DO YOU KNOW
Paying for a college education can be a tremendous barrier for both students and their parents. Today everyone has “access” to financing their education through a variety of grants and loans. However, African Americans are more likely to rely only on federal aid and high interest personal loans. In 2015, 88.3% of Black students took out federal student loans. To address this challenge, last year, we increased our scholarship funding by 150% because we are aware that access to loans do not necessarily translate to affordability for our scholars.
PERCENTAGE
OF STUDENTS
WHO RECEIVED
FEDERAL
STUDENT LOANS
2015-2016
PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS 2015-2016
Scholar’s
Corner
IKENNA (IKE) ANIGBOGU
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,
SANTA CRUZ, BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING
I did not anticipate how much the trip would inspire my career ideals and strengthen my identity. I was moved and honored to go to Capitol Hill and meet with Wayne Williams, Representative Hakeem Jeffries’s Deputy Chief of Staff, and Kwabenah Nsiah. Hearing about their experiences and their journeys to get to where they are now was very motivating. I work in a biotech company where there are only 6 black employees throughout the company. So, hearing their similar experiences and the different ways they approached them was both relieving and uplifting. I left this talk with the idea that I should strive to be as authentic as I can be…
Excerpt of Ike’s experience during the Washington D.C. trip. To read
the full account from all six participants, go to
sfa.org/scholars-WDC23
Addressing the Access Gap through
exposure to African American
role models
Addressing the Access Gap through exposure to African American role models
Each year, we take a group of Scholars and Alumni to Washington, DC . Our aim is to broaden our participants’ horizons by fostering positive relationships between professionals, current scholars and recent graduates.
Our trips are about much more than sightseeing. During the tour of the Capitol, we ran into Cheryl Jonson, Clerk of the US House of Representatives, the second African American to serve in the position! Clerk Johnson took the time to speak with us in the corridor. She learned about the mission of SFA, and lauded our Scholars; praising their pursuit of education and encouraging their commitments.
We visited D.C.’s many monuments and memorials, and toured the National Museum of African American History & Culture—an experience that no one in the group could stop talking about. We came away from the trip awed and inspired, viscerally impacted, reaffirmed, and resolved.
ED’s Corner
What we have learned about serving this population is that getting young black men to college is one thing, but ensuring that they can graduate requires a different and complementary set of efforts.
African American male educational attainment is a serious concern for us. Fifteen years ago, SFA was founded on the recognition that black young men who attend SFUSD high schools should be offered the support and guidance they need to attend and graduate from college.
We aim to promote the postsecondary achievement of young black men, because we understand that a college degree can effectively change their life trajectory. As evidenced by the numbers, people who do not secure a postsecondary degree have higher unemployment- and under-employment rates, higher rates of incarceration, poorer health, and by many objective measures even a lower quality life.
Admittedly, solutions are not easy; the general public and
policymakers still struggle to gain traction on how best to
remove the barriers that depress black male postsecondary
participation
Access is certainly one of the critical barriers, but there
are a host of other issues that further compound what
are already significant challenges. As a consequence, we
are broadening our understanding of “access”—a catchall
phrase that doesn’t quite capture all of the variables
associated with postsecondary participation.
What we have learned about serving this population is
that getting young black men to college is one thing, but
ensuring that they can graduate requires a different and
complementary set of efforts. Our scholarship may help
students pay for college, but those funds will not help
them “access” campus resources; or choose a major that
compliments their talents and abilities, help them choose
which classes they need to enroll, how to satisfy breadth
and major requirements. We are proud that we have
helped so many students, and we look forward to helping
more by ensuring that our concept of “access” means
more than just entry.
SPRING CAMPAIGN
Our Spring campaign has started! We are excited to share
several dedicated members of our community offered a
challenge: every dollar SFA raises in our Spring Appeal
will be matched up to $150,000.00 until June 30. We
need your help to make the most of this stakeholder’s
generosity. Donate today; any amount helps.
Join the Movement
Volunteer
Join our mission by volunteering
your time. For more information
please write an email to
contact@sfachievers.org
Mentor
Help a Scholar personally
throughout their academic and
professional career. For more
information please write an email to
contact@sfachievers.org
2013 AWARDS CEREMONY
OUR PEOPLE
With SFA’s 15th Anniversary around the corner, we want to take the opportunity to
recognize Dr. Henry Safrit’s vision, courage and dedication to addressing the issues we
are still working to minimize. Dr. Safrit, recognized the urgent need to support African
American male students’ postsecondary ambitions, he took initiative to create an
organization aimed at bridging the access and opportunity gaps.
Thanks to his vision and tireless work, SFA has grown into a thriving nonprofit organization
that has touched the lives of countless young African American men.
We are grateful for Dr. Safrit’s vision and contributions to our mission, and we thank him
as a true champion of social justice and equity!
