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Opening Doors, Shaping Futures
At Pivotal, we know that with the right support and resources, our scholars can accomplish anything they want. But it can sometimes be hard for a young person to know what their options are for the future. This can be particularly true for young people from foster care who may not have access to a family member to help them research and learn about potential careers. To help showcase some of the professional paths that might be open to them, our corporate partners have stepped up to host...
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Paving the Way: Pivotal Scholars Explore De Anza College
For many of our scholars, stepping onto a college campus brings higher education one step closer to reality. In April, De Anza College’s NextUp program hosted an immersive, on-campus experience, and six of our high school scholars visited the campus to learn about the opportunities available to them. The NextUp program is a dedicated support initiative for students from foster care.
Pivotal’s Post-Secondary Coach Sarah Gentle, who serves students at De Anza,...
End of Year Celebration with Pivotal
Last month, we hosted an unforgettable end-of-year celebration at Cataldi Park in San Jose to honor our post-secondary students. The day was filled with summer vibes, delicious food, and even better company as we came together to celebrate our scholars’ hard work and achievements as the school year came to a close.
It was a perfect summer day for a BBQ, and everyone enjoyed delicious food, laughter, and community camaraderie. Many scholars and graduates brought their families...
National Foster Care Month Re-Cap: A Look Back
May is National Foster Care Month, and at Pivotal the month was filled with powerful moments of learning, celebration, and connection, thanks to the support of our trusted partners, scholars, and community members. Here’s a look at how we celebrated our scholars and our work throughout the month:
Building Awareness with Coffee & Conversation
Throughout May, we also hosted a series of Coffee & Conversation virtual events. These 45-minute sessions gave community...
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...
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,...
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...
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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...
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...
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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...
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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...
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Thank you Dream Makers!
Last month, we came together to celebrate members of the Pivotal Dream Makers Circle and corporate partners. The Dream Makers Circle is a special group of supporters who contribute $3,000 or more annually to Pivotal. These generous individuals ensure that we can serve every foster youth who walks through our doors and help make their dreams a reality.
Our scholar speaker, Dunhoja demonstrated how important this help can be:
You can watch all of Dunhoja’s powerful speech below.
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