Latino at-risk students receive academic scholarships

OVER $40,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED TO NCLR’S ESCALERA PROGRAM GRADUATES IN EAST LOS ANGELES
PRESS RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA—On Friday, June 12, 2009, the NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Escalera Program: Taking Steps to Success will graduate more than 74 students from its AltaMed Services Corporation site in East Los Angeles, California. Created by NCLR, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, and funded by PepsiCo Foundation and PepsiCo Inc., the Escalera Program promotes economic mobility for Latino youth by increasing educational attainment, career planning, and access to information about advanced careers. Before participating in the program, these students were labeled “at risk” of not graduating high school, and now they will receive over $40,000 in academic scholarships to attend institutions of higher learning.

“Escalera is NCLR’s recipe for supporting the personal, social, and leadership development of young Latinos, while effectively cultivating the future talent pipeline and increasing the number of highly-skilled, educated Latino youth,” says Simon Lopez, NCLR’s Senior Director of Workforce and Leadership Development Programs. “NCLR is proud to partner with AltaMed Health Services Corporation, PepsiCo Foundation, and PepsiCo Inc. in delivering an effective, high-quality after-school program that creates a pathway to success for Hispanic youth.”

In East Los Angeles, where high school graduation rates for minority students are low, the Escalera Program challenges young people to aim higher, demand more, and work harder toward achieving their goals. Through the program, young Latinos have the opportunity to access academic support, career planning services, and case management resources; obtain peer-to-peer mentoring; participate in paid internships; and interact with mentors from corporate America.

For more information, visit www.nclr.org