The Power of Staying Connected: Pivotal's Alumni Association

Traditionally, Pivotal’s programming ends when a scholar graduates from college. We send our graduates out with as much support and preparation as we can to help them on their path to success. But for many of our scholars, graduation from college is just the beginning. They now face new challenges: finding jobs, settling into professions, or navigating post-graduate programs. They still need connection and community as they move into their adult lives. 

Pivotal alum and President of the Pivotal Alumni Association, Monica Rivera, understands this deeply. Her journey with Pivotal did not stop when she aged out of a program or crossed a stage. Instead, it evolved as she realized that she and her fellow alumni still needed support as they began to build their lives after school. This understanding quickly evolved into a commitment to ensure that no alum ever has to navigate adulthood alone. And so the Pivotal Alumni Association was born, a community that continues to grow, heal, and learn together. 

From left to right at last year’s End-of-Year Celebration: Alumni Association Secretary Angelica Aguilar, Alumni Association President Monica Rivera, and Alumni Association Vice President Samantha Figueroa Hernandez.

As President of the Alumni Association, Monica has helped shape a space where alumni are recognized not for how far they’ve come despite their history, but for who they have become because of their experiences. The Alumni Association exists to serve Pivotal alumni across different ages, life stages, and paths by offering connection, peer support, leadership opportunities, and a sense of belonging. 

The Association centers healing, mutual support, and shared growth. Alumni show up for one another not as mentors but as peers, linked by lived experience. Together, they celebrate milestones, process challenges, and reconnect with the parts of themselves that were once focused solely on survival. 

At Fore! Foster Youth, Monica and members of the Pivotal Alumni Association came together to celebrate graduating scholars and remind alumni that they will always have a place within the Pivotal community. Monica also sponsored an alumni bay for the event.

Through gatherings, conversations, and alumni-led initiatives, Pivotal alumni are creating what Monica often describes as a “constellation,” with each person shining brighter in their own way because they are connected. 

The Pivotal Alumni Association exists to affirm that growth and learning continues and that community matters just as much in adulthood as it does in youth. Through her leadership, Monica is helping redefine what alumni engagement can look like and helping ensure that every scholar who becomes an alum knows that they will always belong in the Pivotal community.