Our Impact

KLA Foundation Pledges $300,000 over 3 Years to Support Pivotal's High School Coaching Program

We are thrilled to announce that the KLA Foundation has pledged $300,000 over the next three years to fund Pivotal’s High School Coaching program! In California, only 46% of young people in foster care graduate from high school, and nationally, just 4% earn a bachelor’s degree. We work to make an impact on these alarming numbers through our High School Coaching Program, where, on average, 74% of participants earn high school diplomas and 77% go on to post-secondary education. The...

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Welcoming Candice Chung - Chief Financial and Operating Officer

In late April, Pivotal welcomed our new Chief Financial & Operating Officer, Candice Chung. For nearly two decades, Candice has worked in the non-profit sector, committed to improving outcomes through access to education.  

Most recently, Candice served as CFO of AI4ALL, a national nonprofit that is transforming the pipeline of artificial intelligence practitioners and creating a more inclusive, human-centered discipline. During her time at AI4ALL, Candice developed financial...

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Welcoming Pattie Cortese - Board Member

More great news for the Pivotal team! Pattie Cortese is joining our Board of Directors. Pattie has lived in the Bay Area since 1969. She began her career with Catholic Charities in their Vocational Learning and Treatment Center, working with chronically mentally ill adults to gain skills and employment. Pattie has been active in youth mentoring programs since 1994 and is a founding member of the South Bay Mentoring Coalition, a group of nonprofit organizations working together to promote...

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Onward and Upward: For Denisse, Graduation is just the Beginning

Denisse loved school all her life. It was a sanctuary, a place to escape from the violence and anger she often faced at home. She loved school and was always eager to learn.

“School was my home where I had friends, and there weren’t any bad things. But one day, I got home just five mins late and he beat me with a belt and cables. It hurt to walk. I reported him through my school who then reported him to the police.”

Her dad was arrested but was soon out on bail and Denisse...

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Visit the Foster Youth Musuem

This year, Pivotal partnered with California Youth Connection to bring the Foster Youth Museum to Santa Clara University’s Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation. Created in 2006 by current and former foster youth, the Foster Youth Museum uses artifacts, art, photography, and digital media donated or created by foster youth to provide an intimate look into their experiences.

This is the first time the exhibit has been publicly displayed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pivotal has...

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Pivotal Connect 2023

Thanks to everyone who joined us at Pivotal Connect! We were inspired and touched by the stories of resilience we heard and the beautiful artwork on display in the Lost Childhoods Exhibit from the Foster Youth Museum and Pivotal’s companion Cover to Cover exhibit.

We’re so grateful for all our supporters and we hope you had the chance to meet some of our scholars and hear how much your support really means to them. If you didn’t get a chance to attend or make a donation at...

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The World is Yours - Denisse's Story

Denisse loved school all her life. It was a sanctuary, a place to escape from the violence and anger she often faced in her home situations. She loved school and was always eager to learn.

“School was my home where I had friends, and there weren’t any bad things. But one day, I got home just five mins late and he beat me with a belt and cables. It hurt to walk. So, I reported him through my school who then reported him to the police.”

Her dad was arrested but was soon out...

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Comfort in Art - Sara's Story

Sara has always found comfort in art. When she was younger, when she didn’t know how to express herself, drawing and painting helped her find her voice. Creating helped her find structure and organize her thoughts when she felt her life was overwhelming. By putting her feelings and experiences into something tangible, Sara found a way to express herself and face her trauma. She would show her art to her Pivotal coach, and to her social workers, to help them understand her and her...

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Make the Most of Yourself - Monica's Story

Growing up, Monica and her brother were severely abused physically, emotionally, and psychologically by their mother's partner. Monica found solace in books – she became a voracious reader, finding escape and peace between the pages. But fiction couldn’t protect her from the realities of her life. When she was 11 years old, after a traumatic beating that left her brother black and blue over half his body, Monica knew she had to seek help. She and her brother ran away, Child...

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Full Circle - Molly's Story

When Molly was growing up, her mom had serious mental health issues and struggled to take care of herself, much less her children. At 15, Molly was removed from her mom’s care and the court tracked down her father with the hopes that she could stay with him. He was a biker, affiliated with the Hell’s Angels, and was in rehab battling substance abuse issues. When they met at a restaurant, Molly hadn’t seen her dad in five years. He asked if she had any money. She paid for...

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The Pivotal 2022 Annual Report is Here!

Join us in celebrating the accomplishments of the scholars we served in the 2021-22 Academic Year and read more about how Pivotal aims to reach even more young people from foster care as we continue our mission to provide foster youth with the education, career, and life they want for themselves.

Our cover story is about Anaztajia, who talks about how the Pivotal team went above and beyond to guide her to an on-time high school graduation and acceptance into UC Santa Barbara.

“Pivotal...

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Meet Candy

Growing up, Candy had big hopes and dreams for her future. First, she wanted to be an engineer, then a zoologist, then a pediatrician. When her uncle became a nurse, she saw how dedicated he was to helping others, and the life he built for himself, it sparked her interest. She talked it through with friends, thought about it more, and realized she wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a neonatal nurse. 

Having role models and adults who can provide guidance and lead by example is...

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