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35
Y EAR S
17,000
DREA ME R S
YOUR
S UPPORT
THE
DREAMER
DECEMBER 2015
www.ihaveadreamfoundation.org
Announcing our
Involvement in the
“CBS Cares” Campaign
We are excited to announce that the “I Have
A Dream” Foundation has been selected
as the organization to be featured in this
year’s CBS Cares campaign. CBS Cares is a
national public service campaign that runs
from Thanksgiving through early January.
As part of the campaign, CBS has produced
PSAs about the “I Have A Dream” Foundation
that will be aired during prime time in every
CBS market across the country, to an
estimated audience of 100 million viewers.
The campaign features celebrities from CBS
programs, including Mayim Bialik (The Big
Bang Theory), LL Cool J (NCIS: LA), Luis
Guzmán (Code Black), Téa Leoni (Madam
Secretary), Chi McBride (Hawaii Five-0),
Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds), Jeff Probst
(Survivor), Tom Selleck (Blue Bloods) and
more.
“The ‘I Have A Dream’ Foundation impacts diversity and
education, two top priorities for the CBS Corporation,” said
Josie Thomas, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity
Officer. Ms. Thomas explains,
“This collaboration is an opportunity
that will help increase awareness and
further the Foundation’s crucial
mission of providing long-term
support programs aimed at increasing
high school graduation and college
completion for students in underresourced public schools.”
A major goal of this campaign is to triple our social reach
in the next 3 months. Please join our movement. You can
like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram,
and LinkedIn. We will be heavily posting on these platforms
in the coming months, and we encourage you to share.
We look forward to using this tremendous opportunity to
provide our Dreamers with more visibility, resources, and
access to success and we are honored to be partnering with
the entire CBS Cares team.
Learn how you can help share the campaign!
View our press release, sample social media posts,
and talking points in our digital action kit. Visit
www.ihaveadreamfoundation.org/cbs-digitalaction-kit.
FROM
OUR PRESIDENT
Welcome to the first edition of the “I Have A Dream” Foundation national newsletter! I am excited to be
able to share with you all of the wonderful things happening throughout our nationwide affiliate network. The
“I Have A Dream” Foundation family continues to grow, with nearly 17,000 current Dreamers and Dreamer
Alumni living and working throughout the United States.
As I have learned in the year that I have been fortunate enough to be at “I Have A Dream,” there are
Dreamers all across the country doing amazing things. Just last month, Maritza Guzmán (our Senior
Director of Strategic Partnerships) and I met Eddy Morales, an alumnus of our Portland affiliate, at a White
House reception. The occasion was the culminating event of Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as the
25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. We were there
representing the foundation’s participation in the President’s Commitments to Action to strengthen efforts to
open doors and create opportunities for Latino students as part of our “Dream Big” campaign.
It was a very pleasant surprise to encounter a Dreamer alumnus at the same event. Eddy filled us in on all of
the great work he is doing through his company Morales Public Relations, and as director of the Democracy
Alliance’s Latino Engagement Fund. Eddy also shared the exciting news that he is planning to run for public
office. It was especially touching to have Eddy comment that the “I Have A Dream” program “changed his
life” and that he would “not be where he is today had it not been for the program.” Eddy is just one example
of thousands of Dreamers who have gone on to great success in a variety of fields. We are proud of all of our
Dreamers and will share some of their success stories with you in this new quarterly newsletter.
We also will feature one of our 16 affiliates in each issue. The backbone of the “I Have A Dream” Foundation,
our affiliate sponsors, staff, and volunteers work closely with each Dreamer to facilitate their individual needs.
We cherish the stories they tell of the progress they are making in big and small ways, and we are excited to
share those successes with you here.
All of us at the national “I Have A Dream” Foundation wish you and your families a joyous holiday season!
Warmly and with gratitude,
DONNA A. LAWRENCE
PRESIDENT & CEO
Save the Date
Our annual Spring Gala will take place 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Thursday, June
9, 2016 at The Pierre, a Taj Hotel, in New York City. Please mark your
calendars and plan to join us for an evening to remember!
SPOTLIGHT ON:
ATLANTA
Our
“I Have A Dream”
Vicky Jackson, the Program Director of
the Atlanta “I Have A Dream” A.D. Williams
Chapter, is pursuing her passions in providing low-income youth with the opportunity to seek higher education. Her strong
desire to provide educational opportunities
to the youth in the community has led to
recognition by the National “I Have A
Dream” Foundation and her participation
as an advisor on the Alumni and PostSecondary Network Group.
Although her degree was in information
technology (IT), her passion has always
been in helping others to reach their goals
and create better lives for themselves.
Through her work in education development, Ms. Jackson was able to apply her
experiences to her career with “I Have A
Dream.” She has been employed with IHDF
since 2010 working with 54 Dreamers,
37 of which have graduated from high
school. Of the Dreamers, 27 enrolled in
and went on to pursue post secondary
education. To date, seven of the original
Dreamers have completed their individual
programs.
Ms. Jackson’s chapter requires commitment to community service projects yearly,
pre and post college.
The chapter feels strongly about the Dreamers’
participation in the community and also the importance
of direct involvement with the Dreamers. Mentorship plays
a vital role in the success of IHDF and the program ensures
that Ms. Jackson visits Dreamers directly each semester,
assisting with any help they might need. Through Ms. Jackson’s chapter, Dreamers are provided
with the tools to pursue higher education and develop
career success. The IHDF vision states that all children will
be given the opportunity to earn a college degree, while
also having the ability to fully capitalize on their talents,
aspirations, and dreams of fulfilling their careers. This
long-term comprehensive approach is driven by the goal
of college success and has inspired Dreamers to
overcome extraordinary challenges, as Ms. Jackson of the
Atlanta “I Have A Dream” A.D. Williams Chapter continues to
do.
Leadership
SPONSORS
John Stewart, Jr., Managing Sponsor
Tanya Palmer, Mentor Coordinator
Jeronia Blue, Parent Coordinator
STAFF
Vicky Jackson, Program Director
Find us
WEBSITE www.ihaveadreamatlanta.org
EMAIL [email protected]
Charles, one of our Dreamer Alumni, encompasses the
accomplishments we are so proud to share. Charles is currently a
junior at Lake Forest College, Illinois, double-majoring in English
and Psychology.
ALUMNI
FOCUS
Charles
Program: Northern Chicago
School: Lake Forest College, Illinois
Major: English & Psychology
A significant part of the “I Have a Dream
Foundation” is creating an environment where
our Dreamers can reach and achieve academic
success.
Throughout the last fifteen years the program and the staff
greatly impacted his life. Charles talks about the college preparation
writing and informational workshops that provided access to
critical information that was otherwise not available to him. This
access to important college prep information was due in part to
a wonderful mentorship experience. Members of his family were
located throughout the country, so Charles’ mentor was able to
help fill a void by providing education in multiple life skills. This
sense of mentorship aided Charles in his life and created a wish to
mentor others, which became more apparent in college. He
remembers writing poems to help friends work through problems
they were experiencing. The positive response to his poetry helped
Charles realize that he could be an advocate for education and a
mentor for students that were once like him.
Today, with his successful role in “I Have A Dream” Northern
Chicago, Charles plans to continue climbing the education
ladder and hopes to attend graduate school in psychology
while he continues to help as many as he can. On behalf of the
“I Have a Dream” Foundation, we are proud to have Charles as a
Dreamer Alumnus and look forward to following his journey as it
continues onward!
These qualities illustrate the dynamic nature of our Dreamers and
epitomize Aveon, an East Harlem Dreamer of the “I Have A Dream”
Foundation - New York affiliate.
DREAMER
FEATURE
Aveon
Program: East Harlem
Year: 5th Grade
All of our Dreamers can be described as a
combination of studious, ingenious, mature and
talented.
Aveon is currently in the 5th grade and joined the East Harlem
Dreamer cohort in the summer of 2013. Aveon is an avid
reader and has consistently performed above grade-level in
literacy. Her excellent school performance prompted the “I Have
A Dream” Academic Director to refer her to A Better Chance,
a program that prepares and gives scholarships to youth in
underserved communities. Aveon was the only Dreamer to receive
the scholarship this year. In addition to her academic capacity,
Aveon is enthusiastic about all the activities in which she
participates. She enjoys her dance classes, as well as a family
communication workshop partner series called Parents and
Children Together through Arts. Due to the flexibility of the
program, Aveon and her mother have been able to participate in
this workshop for the last three years.
Aveon is full of great possibilities, with the eagerness and
capacity to succeed. Her parents are also powerful allies in her
development and trajectory to college. To highlight Aveon is to
also recognize her family’s care and efforts in supporting her;
they are a great partner for the IHDF-NY: East Harlem program.
Our Dreamers are what make IHDF fulfilling. Aveon is a strong
example, among the inspiring youth, that encompass the qualities
of a Dreamer. We couldn’t be more excited to see where the future
takes her!
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