California Foster Youth Education Summit

Empowering the Future of Foster Youth Education

June 23rd, 2025 Foster Care System

California Foster Youth Education Summit

On April 7th and 8th, Pivotal’s Director of Program Partnerships, Ashley Matysiak, MSW and CEO Matt Bell attended the California Foster Youth Education Summit. This annual two-day conference hosted by the California Foster Youth Education Taskforce brings together individuals and organizations from across the state working to improve the educational and life outcomes for students from foster care.

Sharing Best Practices for Supporting Foster Youth

Ashley and Karina Garcia-Lopez from First Star, Inc. led a presentation with two foster care alumni to discuss best...

Chelsey Souza, Pivotal Chief Development Officer, named a 2025 Woman of Influence

June 17th, 2025

Chelsey Souza Named a 2025 Woman of Influence by Silicon Valley Business Journal

We’re thrilled that our Chief Development Officer, Chelsey Souza, CFRE, has been named a 2025 Woman of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal! With nearly 25 years of experience in fundraising, enabling philanthropy and building community, Chelsey brings strategic leadership, integrity, and passion to everything she does for Pivotal and the young people we serve.

Before joining Pivotal in 2023, Chelsey led Essex & Drake Fundraising Counsel as President and...

June 16th, 2025

Our Impact

Briana's Story

“Sometimes success feels like staying afloat.”

That’s how Pivotal scholar Briana describes her life journey. Briana emancipated from foster care at 18, two years before the Extended Foster Care bill passed. Also known as AB12, this California law extended services to foster youth beyond their 18th birthday, but it passed long after Briana could take advantage of it. She was on her own. She had started at Dominican University six months earlier, with the help of a...

2025 Children's Summit, attended by Ashley Matysiak, Pivotal's Director of Program Partnerships. Photo in top right taken by Timothy Alcorn of The Social Ground Foundation.

June 11th, 2025

Pivotal Joins the 2025 Kids in Common Children’s Summit

On April 24th, Pivotal had the honor of attending the annual Children’s Summit, hosted by Kids in Common, a long-time Pivotal Partner. Since 2008, this annual event has brought together over 250 cross-sector leaders in Santa Clara County (SCC) dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families for the better.

The summit focuses on racial equity and social justice, continual improvement, and successful collaboration through educational workshops and data-driven...

Equinix and Pivotal staff posing with scholars

June 6th, 2025

Our Impact

Pivotal Career Day at Equinix

What happens when you bring together ambitious young scholars and some of the leading minds in digital infrastructure?

Recently, Pivotal hosted an unforgettable Career Day at the offices of our corporate partner, Equinix. Equinix connects organizations through secure, reliable, and sustainable data centers. Six post-secondary scholars and one high school scholar had the opportunity to tour Equinix’s state-of-the-art facilities alongside Pivotal staff members Ashley, Adam,...

May 22nd, 2025

Our Impact

In Her Own Words: Jennifer

Being from foster care is a lot. For me, the challenges I faced while in the system knocked me off my educational path. I struggled with substance abuse, homelessness, and incarceration. I didn’t graduate from high school, and I never really knew how to get to college. Growing up, it was never something that I thought I could do. I just assumed it wasn’t for me.

I eventually got my GED and decided to go to San Jose City College to get certified as an alcohol and drug...

May 21st, 2025

Our Impact

Acer Bridging the Digital Divide for Foster Youth

Five years ago, Pivotal surveyed our scholars to understand if they had access to the technology they needed for school. We were shocked to learn that only about 40% of our students had access to a reliable laptop.

“To do my schoolwork, I either had to spend hours at the local library or write my papers on a tablet,” said Destiny, a former foster youth and Pivotal scholar attending San Jose City College. “I didn’t have internet at home, so I had to go sit on a...

May 19th, 2025

A Warm Welcome to Our Newest Board Member!

We are delighted to welcome Robyn Klitgaard to Pivotal's Board of Directors!

Robyn has always felt a deep commitment to community impact and education. Her father was the first in their family to attend college, doing so while serving in the US Air Force. With a career spanning over three decades, Robyn dedicated herself to public service, serving for 32 years with the Santa Clara County Probation Department, taking on roles as both a Probation Officer and Supervising Probation Officer. She...

May 7th, 2025

Our Impact

Future in Focus: Harmonic Hosts a High School Career Day Experience

Pivotal recently partnered with video and broadband service provider, Harmonic, to host a career exploration day for our high school scholars. The day was designed to offer a glimpse into the wide range of opportunities in the tech world, right here in the heart of Silicon Valley.

“Being in foster care often means that students have limited exposure to different types of careers. We live in the heart of Silicon Valley and want to give our students the opportunity to learn about career...

April 29th, 2025

Our Impact

The Art of Ambition: Jaya's Growth with Pivotal Support

Jaya’s Pivotal journey began when she started high school. Seeking support to navigate her way through high school and prepare for college, she learned about Pivotal from her foster mom and joined the program in her freshman year.

“I’m lucky in that I have had a lot of support from my foster mom and others in my support circle. But it’s great to have my Pivotal Coach, Daisy, who can specifically help me with academics.”

Daisy has been working with her since her...

March 27th, 2025

Our Impact

Social Work Month 2025: Thanking our Social Work Interns

March is Social Work Month, and we want to celebrate the current and future social workers who support our students. Social workers play a critical role in the child welfare system and are often an important part of our scholars’ lives.

In 2010, Pivotal created an internship program to help new social workers-in-training learn about the nuances of working with foster youth. We train undergraduate and graduate students in social work programs to be Pivotal coaches, working...

March 19th, 2025

Welcoming our Newest Board Members

Earlier this year, we were thrilled to welcome two new members to Pivotal’s Board of Directors: Deborah Perry Piscone and Tamesa Rogers

Deborah Perry Piscione is the co-founder and CEO of the Work3 Institute, an advisory firm that helps enterprises evolve into an AI, web3 + work3 future of business.

“I joined Pivotal's board because I believe every young person deserves the opportunity to pursue their dreams, regardless of their circumstances,” says Deborah. “What...