The San Antonio Area Foundation is supporting more than a dozen youth-serving nonprofits as part of an unprecedented push toward increased postsecondary enrollment in our region.
Leaders from 16 local nonprofits gathered in July at the Area Foundation’s headquarters to launch a key component of the Future Ready Bexar County Plan (FRBCP).
This event was the kickoff for the Area Foundation’s first group of Future Ready Impact grantees, slated to receive $7.1 million through six-year grants to help more middle and high school students map out their future.
The Area Foundation Future Ready Impact grant recipients are: Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas, Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio, CAVALRY, Empower House SA, Girls Inc. of San Antonio, Girls on the Run Bexar County, Good Samaritan Community Services, Healthy Futures of Texas, Lemonade Circle, Rise Recovery, San Antonio Education Partnership, SAY SÍ, Students of Service, Urban Champions Academy, YWCA San Antonio and Youth Do Vote.
Lea Rosenauer, president and CEO of Girls Inc. of San Antonio, said the FRBCP program will enable partners to amplify their strengths toward a common goal.
“I truly do believe the youth development ecosystem and nonprofit ecosystems in San Antonio are so unique that we are able to work together for the betterment of local youth,” she said.
Brandi Coleman, founder and CEO of Lemonade Circle, concurred — being a FRBCP grantee will allow partner organizations to improve their services and strengthen each other.
“It’s good to be surrounded by other amazing leaders to grow professionally and see what we can do because we are stronger together,” she said.
With the Area Foundation’s role as an anchor partner in FRBCP, these 16 grantees will strengthen their afterschool and summertime programs to boost the percentage of Bexar County high school graduates enrolling in a college degree or credential program to 70% by 2030. That rate stood at 50% when the plan was launched in 2022 and has already increased to 56%.
Ryan Lugalia-Hollon, the Area Foundation’s chief impact officer, said our region’s philanthropic leader is fully committed to help grantees strengthen and grow effective programs that ensure every student receives guidance and support to succeed after high school.
These grantees are uniquely positioned to strengthen college and career advising during non-school hours, helping more young people connect with trusted and qualified options for their future. The Area Foundation and its partners seek to bolster their advising support for students starting in sixth grade.
The ultimate goal is to have all students in FRBCP school districts meet with a safe adult at least once during the school year from sixth grade through 12th grade.
Briana Hagelgans, K-12 and postsecondary director with UP Partnership, said one overarching goal behind Future Ready is for youth development partners to work even more closely with local school districts and post-secondary institutions.
“Our internal data is showing that youth development organizations in school districts are already providing support, but that support is not reaching every student and not every grade,” Hagelgans said. “The question now is how can we do that in a more intentional way where we’re creating a circle of support … Each path looks different for each student, and so it’s really important to get connected to somebody — a trusted adult to help them navigate what those pathways look like.”
Gaining more inspiration for their mission, grantees learned about a unified advising pilot program that four of the FRBCP nonprofits offered to all seventh graders in the East Central Independent School District (ECSID) the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
They provided one-on-one college and career counseling to middle schoolers over a two-day period. Hagelgans said the advising pilot was so successful that 83% of ECISD middle schoolers indicated a desire to participate again, and now the program is being expanded to include two additional school districts, as well as incorporating eighth-grade students.
Ada Saenz, CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio, expressed excitement over lessons that could be learned from both the advising pilot program and from FRBCP partners.
“There’s a high need for the work that we do, so coming together with some of the best in the business to form this collective feels really good,” Saenz said. “We’re going to make sure that every child in San Antonio has access to the resources they need to achieve their dreams and to thrive.”
