A WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT BOARD
SOUTH BAY WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD
Meet Kimberly Rodriguez - Hawthorne
Workforce Challenge:
Hawthorne resident, Kimberly Rodriguez, was a typical 18-year-old trying to earn her diploma with strong grades at Leuzinger High School. The third of four children, none of her older siblings had made it to college. Ms. Rodriguez wanted to be the first in her family to attend college, but the prospect of the financial burden of a post-secondary education was daunting.
While still in high school, Ms. Rodriguez regularly attended the Hawthorne Teen Center, where she learned about the Fit For Gold (FFG) program, a program where high school seniors are trained in a mentorship capacity to provide homework assistance, nutrition information and physical fitness activities to elementary school students. She enrolled in the program, completed the required 80 hours of training and then the subsequent 120 hours of mentorship during the course of her senior year.
Workforce Solution:
Ms. Rodriguez was one of 35 FFG cadets who completed the program in June 2016, which coincided with her graduation from Leuzinger. While in the FFG program, Ms. Rodriguez received the 2016 Gates Millennium Scholarship (GMS), which offers funding to attend any accredited college or university in the United States. Ms. Rodriguez will attend the University of California, Berkeley, in the Spring of 2017 to study Business and Psychology.
Outcome and Benefits:
The estimated cost of her UC Berkeley undergraduate education is estimated to be around $150,000, which the scholarship will cover in full. Moreover, if Ms. Rodriguez chooses to pursue graduate studies in the field of Computer Science, Education, Engineering, Library Science, Mathematics, Public Health or Science, she will also be eligible for the GMS fellowship funding for master’s and doctoral degrees. In addition, Ms. Rodriguez applied for, and was accepted to a part-time work-study program at UC Berkeley, which she will complete while earning her degree.
“Joining the FFG program helped me become more responsible and inspired me to help those needing motivation and aspirations for a better future.”
