Dear Friends,

h i s y e a r m a r k s t h e 10t h anniversary o f ScholarMatch’s founding. In the last decade, our work has grown, evolved, and deepened tremendously. We have served more than T4,000 students and awarded over $5,000,000 in scholarships. We’ve opened two college centers and built new programs. It has been an amazing journey so far and we are grateful to you for your part in it. Our tenth year also presented challenges we could not have imagined. The Covid-19 pandemic and the murders of Black men and women brought to the forefront the racial injustices and inequity faced daily by Black people and individuals of color—including so many of our students. As our college centers shuttered their doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we increased emergency grant support and made program adjustments to ensure continued and equitable support for students who had to change ABOUT US enrollment plans to provide financial support their families, care for family members who contracted Covid-19, or watch over younger siblings. We immediately pivoted to provide the high school and college students we Vision Mission support with robust virtual services. We loaned students laptops, and held We envision a world where Our mission is to support first-generation virtual office hours, Zoom workshops, and more. As the pandemic makes all students have access to college students to earn a bachelor’s degree college futures more uncertain than ever, we stand committed to supporting higher education and the within five years. We provide individualized the wellbeing and opportunities of our students. opportunity to succeed in advising, targeted financial support, and We also took a hard look internally and examined our organizational a fulfilling career. career mentoring all the way to graduation. practices—from programs, to employment, to fundraising—to make certain we do our part in creating a more racially just and equitable world. Like the work of the nation, our work is ongoing. Some of the immediate Celebrating 10 Years changes include revising our practices to support students whose plans ScholarMatch has been making college possible for 2019 – 2020 are impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, which disproportionately impacts first-generation college students for a decade. In 2010, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and disaggregating our we launched as a crowdfunding website for college data by race to better understand how to increase educational equity for scholarships, serving 39 students. In the ten years 2,000+ BIPOC students. And that is just the start: ScholarMatch is committed to since, we have grown into a college access nonprofit High School & actively deepening our inquiry and action so that our work can be a force that provides first-gen students with seven years College Students for empowerment, equity, and opportunity. of holistic support from junior year of high school In a year like no other, ScholarMatch has held fast to our deep all the way to college graduation. Today, we serve

commitment to support first generation college students. And we could not more than 2,500 students each year with services $966K do this without you —our community. including college access coaching & workshops, college Awarded in College Thank you so much for being a part of ScholarMatch. persistence support, scholarships & loan repayment, and career development support. Scholarships There is no better way to understand ScholarMatch’s impact than through the eyes of our students. We invite Diana Adamson you to learn more about some of our amazing alums, who 500+ Executive Director have shared their stories here. Volunteers

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I have received so much support from ScholarMatch… my college journey wouldn’t have been what it is without the staff’s WHAT WE DO incredible Juan Avila College Access results support Students join ScholarMatch in their junior year of high Once in college, Juan joined ScholarMatch in his junior school and are matched with a volunteer college coach ScholarMatch system. year of high school, and quickly became a who guides them through the college application process. students earn an regular at our workshops and events. We also offer workshops, free test prep, visits with college average GPA of 3.08 With support from ScholarMatch, Juan representatives, and much more. moved all the way to Michigan to attend Alumni go on to Kalamazoo College and graduated in 2019. College Persistence launch careers at Students apply to our Scholars Program to receive robust companies like support and a scholarship to support them through The In his junior year of high school, Juan learned that college. Once accepted into the program, students are Education Fund, someone had nominated him to become a part of matched to a professional college advisor on our staff, and Wells Fargo, ScholarMatch. He applied, and was accepted into the receive up to $25,000 in grants and loan repayment. The New York Times, program. As he attended workshops, orientations, and and Raytheon. applied to colleges, Juan was excited to see the broad Career Launch Students work 1:1 support offered by ScholarMatch. As our Scholars approach graduation, ScholarMatch with trained coaches While at Kalamazoo College he looked forward to provides support for internships and matches students and advisors connecting with his ScholarMatch advisor every month, with volunteer career coaches to support their job search and got to know another ScholarMatch student on campus. and professional development goals. Juan graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2019, and returned to San Francisco for an exciting opportunity: a position at 826 Valencia, the writing and tutoring graduation percentage nonprofit from which ScholarMatch was born! Today, he spends his days giving back to youth in his community by 82% supporting students with writing projects from essays, ScholarMatch (5 year) 60% to fiction, to monologues. We’re thrilled to know that National (6 year) Juan is supporting local students who might even become 21% First-Gen, Low Income (6 year) our scholars!

4 | Annual Report Annual Report | 5 A DECADE of

2014 2011 Advising for 2010 San Francisco College Students ScholarMatch received a grant from 2015 The Beginning Drop-In Center a local foundation to hire our fourth Quickly, students began to share with us Founded by author and storyteller staff member and the vision for our ScholarMatcher that they needed more support as they , ScholarMatch began as services for college students was born. Launches applied to college. In response, we hired a scholarship crowdfunding website After years of supporting students staff and opened a storefront space to that grew out of 826 Valencia. applying to college, we built and launched provide free college access support for ScholarMatcher—an online college any student in the neighborhood. search tool made specifically for first-generation and low-income students.

2016 Significant Growth ScholarMatch arrived at a pivotal growth moment, launching new partnerships with the Ric & Suzanne Kayne Foundation to expand our services to college students in , and with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ CollegePoint Initiative, launching our Virtual Destination College 2020 program. In the years that followed, 2019 Serving Students in ScholarMatch more than doubled in size. an Unprecedented Time ScholarMatch Opened In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, ScholarMatch shifted LA Center all programming online and launched new student supports, With support from the Ric & Suzanne Kayne emergency grants, and more. While this year has been like no Foundation, ScholarMatch opened its Los Angeles other, our service to students has not faltered. 2020 marks ten office and launched Kayne Destination years of serving an incredible community of first-generation College to serve LA-based high school students. students—with your support, we’re ready for ten more.

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Noel had my back. I received a lot of positive encouragement from him. I used to call him my big brother. He wanted me to challenge myself to thrive in a different Rene Garcia place and Rene went through the entire experience ScholarMatch program, from high school something new. to college to a current alum. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan He gave me great University in 2018 with a BS in Kinesiology. advice and encouraged me OUR GRADUATES Rene first learned about ScholarMatch when former to try and Program Director Noel Ramirez came to San Francisco’s This year, ScholarMatch celebrates the Mission High School to share resources with students. go to college out After that, Rene began attending the ScholarMatch of state. graduation of 41 students! Persevering through center regularly, for help researching colleges and as a a senior year like no other, these students space to receive hands-on support from staff and volunteers. Rene continued to receive support from ScholarMatch deserve special recognition and applause for as a scholarship recipient. Working with his appointed ScholarMatch College Advisor, he received guidance and their hard work during such a tremendously support—sharing his struggles and successes on topics challenging time. While they were not able ranging from roommates to final exams. He also received financial support, which helped particularly with expensive to physically “walk the stage” at graduation, science textbooks and flights back home for the summer. Rene shares that it was a relief to him and to his family to we were honored to celebrate them in a know that this support was there. virtual graduation ceremony. Today, Rene is a college graduate, busy applying to a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program. He also still attends ScholarMatch events and has been a guest speaker on student panels for several years! Congratulations Class of 2020!

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When asked what kind of support ScholarMatch provided, Juliana emphatically offered:

Certainty! The feeling of having a thousand questions and not being sure who to ask is such an overwhelming Juliana Pech Majarrez experience. OUR FUTURE Juliana became a part of ScholarMatch in Having her second year of college, through the Kayne ScholarMatch Responding and Adapting Supporting More Students Scholars Program. She graduated from ScholarMatch has always prided itself on being Our Scholars Program provides students with the University of California, Santa Barbara invest in me not nimble and responsive to the needs of our some of the best support available: college in 2019 with a major in Sociology only monetarily students. In 2021, we know this important work advisors, peer learning cohorts, professional and a minor in Education. will continue. ScholarMatch is committed to development, and up to $25,000 in grants and but with the supporting students through the pandemic, loan repayment. With this support, students the ongoing struggle for racial justice, and the graduate at 4x the rate of their peers. This work During her time at UC Santa Barbara, Juliana majored undwindling swiftly changing college landscape. The world is funded entirely by our partners: individuals, in Sociology, and loved riding her bike around the Santa support of my is changing, but our commitment to our students families, foundations, and companies who Barbara community. During her second year, she was won’t be. sponsor a group of students. partnered with her ScholarMatch Advisor, Francisco. advisor assured Their partnership gave her the support and guidance she me that I could needed as a college student. Scaling Virtual College Access You Can Help Today, things for Juliana have come full circle—after be successful.” For the last 4 years, our virtual college coaching None of this is possible without the support graduating, she joined the ScholarMatch team to become program and ScholarMatcher online college of our community. First-generation students a College Advisor herself! search tool have been helping hundreds of today face precarious conditions. As students’ So, what is it like being a student turned ScholarMatch students across the nation apply to college and their families face job loss and economic Advisor? Juliana shares, “Being on the other side has each year. As learning moves online, this work crisis, illness, and the move to online learning, definitely been surreal. Like Dorothy peeking behind the is more important than ever. In the coming students risk losing out on the opportunity of curtain. Advisors are just regular folks who know what years, we hope to expand our virtual college college. Now is the time to lift them up. You can scholars are going through and are ready to help. One coaching program to serve thousands of support our students by volunteering, offering of the things I’m most passionate about is uplifting the students, and create dynamic online tools internships, making a donation, and more. stories and voices of communities like the one I grew up to support students in their college journey. Will you join us and be a part of this movement? in. As an advisor—this is how I am paying it forward and ensuring that happens.”

10 | Annual Report Annual Report | 11 scholar spotlight OUR TEAM Staff Board of Directors They cared Diana Adamson Randie Bencanann Kimberly Arteaga Tom Conrad about my Kate Bueler Sheila Doucet wellbeing and Shannon White Cogen Ian Ferry Leigh Ann Coleman Karen Grace-Baker took the time to Genaro Cruz Julie Huang make sure I was Carmela Escarez Jaime Huling-Delaye Marisela Garcia Miriam Karpilow okay. I visited Shannon Gatewood Jon Keehn ScholarMatch Paola Gonzalez Ben Steinberg Arathi Govind, Ph.D. Mary Williams about twice Kevin Guzman a week before Jonathan Ho Timothy Huynh getting ready to Deborah Kang leave to college Lisa Lopez Our Supporters Samantha Lozano Elexus Hunter because the Louis Mendez ScholarMatch thanks the energy in the Juliana Pech Majarrez many supporters who joined with Elexus became part of ScholarMatch Mary Thuy Pham us and our students to make right as she was getting ready to go to college room was so Veronica Ponce-Navarrete college possible! A complete list and transitioning out of the foster care hearty and Francisco Prado can be found on our website at system. She graduated from Clark Atlanta Paloma Mariz www..org/donors. University in 2016 with a major in joyful. I never Meagan Taylor Business Administration – Marketing. had so many Thamara Torres We would also like to Bianelle Vazquez acknowledge that the buildings people care Kojuan Williams in which we do our work sit on Elexus was encouraged to apply to ScholarMatch by a about my Alma Zaragoza-Petty, Ph.D. unceded Ohlone Ramaytush, mentor when she was in her senior year of high school. Luciano Zuniga Kizh, Tongva, and Chumash land. Transitioning out of the foster care system with very mental health little support, Elexus immediately applied to join ScholarMatch. Once accepted, Elexus became a fixture at and encourage the ScholarMatch offices. me to keep going When she first went off to college in Atlanta, GA, she shared with her ScholarMatch advisor how much anxiety despite my pain she was having, and a day later received a care package and situation at from them with treats and encouragement. “That way I wouldn’t feel alone in a whole new place. It was like I had a the time. Talk piece of home right next to me.” about my Since graduating from college in 2016. Elexus spent a year at Allstate Corporate as a Lead Business Analyst. In cheerleaders! 2017, she decided to take a leap of faith and pursue a writing career in the TV and film industry. Since then, she’s created and produced her first short film calledLove At War and is currently submitting it to film festivals.

12 | Annual Report Annual Report | 13 OUR FINANCIALS

45% UNRESTRICTED DONATIONS Income

Unrestricted Donations $4,083,316 Scholarship Donations $3,162,997 Restricted Donations $1,717,425 Other Income $27,136

Total income $8,990,874

19% RESTRICTED DONATIONS

35% SCHOLARSHIP DONATIONS OUR COMMUNITY

olunteers are at the heart of our work. From supporting a student as they choose colleges and 1% OTHER INCOME write personal statements, to mentoring them as they

Vlaunch their career, our volunteers play a key role in helping our 11% GENERAL OPERATING 57% PROGRAM students achieve their dreams. From all of us at ScholarMatch, thank you so much. We truly couldn’t do this without you.

7% FUNDR AISING

I’ve done a lot of volunteering Expenses and donating over the years with a Program $2,597,408 variety of organizations. Scholarships $966,310 Working with ScholarMatch has Fundraising $422,452 General Operating $601,283 been the most rewarding hands-down, knowing that I have Total expenses $4,587,453 Interested in directly helped two very bright and volunteering? You can visit deserving young people to achieve 25% SCHOLARSHIPS scholarmatch.org/ their dreams of going to college. get-involved to –carolyn s., virtual college coach learn how you can Surplus is comprised of restricted program donations make a direct impact designated for future years and accrued scholarship payments, on our students which will be paid to students during their college journey

14 | Annual Report Annual Report | 15 Get Involved Our community members inspire our students and create life-changing opportunities. Help ScholarMatch expand our impact and reach new heights.

Volunteer Give Check out scholarmatch.org/get-involved Visit scholarmatch.org/donate for a comprehensive list of ways to make your tax-deductible you can directly support our work. donation. college coaching fund a scholarship Applying to college takes just a few hours, but can When you donate to ScholarMatch, you’re change a student’s life forever. Sit shoulder-to-shoulder connecting first-generation students with with students at our college centers in San Francisco the tools, support, and community they or Los Angeles, or volunteer virtually from home. need to get to and through college. career coaching corporate matching Support our college scholars as they prepare to launch Double the impact of your donation their careers! Career Coaches provide invaluable through your company’s philanthropic mentorship on all things career, from resume-building matching gift program. (Volunteers: to interview prep, to give our students the tools, Your company may also match your hours). connections, and resources to enter the workforce. corporate partners Social Corporate volunteering is a great way to give back while Follow ScholarMatch on social media building community within your team. We eagerly @ScholarMatch partner with companies dedicated to supporting @ScholarMatch_HQ local students, and offer a variety of flexible engagement @ScholarMatch opportunities so that volunteers can make a lasting impact. @ScholarMatch

l o c at ions 849 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110

1852 E 1st Street 1 Los Angeles, CA 90033 ScholarMatch is the only major nonprofit that combines innovative online tools with game-changing college access and career mentoring PO Box 29090 support. A virtual and physical hub for the San Francisco, CA 94129 community to support low-income and first-generation youth, we work both online and in-person: through 415 652-2766 our web platform, at our drop-in centers, and in www.scholarmatch.org partnership with local schools and organizations.