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Mission
The mission of Aim High is to provide underserved urban youth with challenging, innovative and highly supportive educational programs, most notably our exemplary summer school. The goal of Aim High is to ensure that our students are well-prepared for success in school, have a deep appreciation for their community, and are aware of the issues—personal, local and environmental—that affect their lives. Our vision is to inspire youth to reach for their dreams.
Key Facts
Geographic areas served:
San Francisco, Oakland, Redwood City, and East Palo Alto, CA
Target demographics:
Low-income Bay Area youth ages 11-14; Aim High graduates age 15-19
Results to date:
Through high-quality summer enrichment programs, Aim High has touched the lives of over 5,000 low-income youth in the Bay Area, and has employed over 1,000 teachers - approximately 30% of whom are graduates of the program - over the last two decades.
Aim High’s impact is significant:
-More than 90% of graduates report that Aim High has helped them to be better prepared to learn in school, make new friends, and be aware of issues that affect their lives.
-94% of students report maintaining or improving their GPAs since attending Aim High.
-98% of Aim High’s class of 2002 graduated high school on time in Spring 2006; by comparison, only 71% of students graduated on time in the state of California.
-95% of Aim High grads went on to attend 2- or 4-year colleges.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 2008: 1,100 students at 12 campuses
Obstacles:
Aim High strives to offer high-quality summer learning to every deserving and underserved middle-schooler in the Bay Area, but restrictions on capacity forced us to turn away 300 new applicants in 2008. Over the next 5 years, Aim High hopes for ambitious expansion, increasing our summer capacity to more than 1,500 students and broadening our programs to include year-round, college-track support throughout high school for small cohorts of Aim High graduates.
Your donation of 100,000 enables us to:
run one Aim High campus for one year
Your donation of 5,000 enables us to:
pay one Master Teacher for one summer
Your donation of 300 enables us to:
support one student for one week
Board Members and Affiliation:
Scott Wu, President
Blue Horizon Equity
David Simpson, Vice President
GoldMail, Inc.
Lawrence K. Weiss, Vice President
Lau Financial Services
Glenn A. Shannon, Treasurer
Shorenstein Properties
Edward G. Poole, Secretary
Anderson & Poole
Albert M. Adams, EdD, Head
Lick-Wilmerding High School
Stephen Davenport
Writer & Volunteer
Brian David
Visage Mobile
Lara Druyan
Allegis Capital
Robert L. Falkenberg
Babcock & Brown
James Harris
Morgan Media Group
James Kalamas
McKinsey & Company
Larry Kane
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
David A. Lahar
Auriga Partners, Inc
Alec L. Lee, Jr, Executive Director
Aim High
Evernease McKnight
Church & Community Volunteer
Karan A. Merry, Head
St. Paul’s Episcopal School
Yolanda Newman
Tax Advice, Inc.
Adolfo Riedel
SEIU Local 521
Mark Salkind, Director
The Urban School of San Francisco
Hildy Shandell
Genesis Microchip, Inc.
Patrick Tenney
Variant Perception Capital Management
Bruce Wheeler
Retired Banker
Sandra Diane Yuen, PhD
Consultant
Past and Current Funders:
Bank of America
Dept. of Children, Youth, and their Families
Oakland Fund for Children & Youth
Dean Witter Foundation
Gap Foundation & Community Relations
Koret Foundation
Charles McCabe
Oakland Unified School District
Shorenstein Company
Wachovia Foundation
Daniel and Katherine Whalen
Anonymous
Bothin Foundation
Cisco Systems Foundation
East Bay Community Foundation/ Amy Enstein-Barstow Memorial Fund
Bob and Martha Falkenberg
GGS Foundation
Goldman Sachs Foundation
Hellman Family Philanthropic Fund
David Lahar and Julie Westcott
Louis R. Lurie Foundation
Lopez Low Foundation
Morgan Stanley
Pacific Forest & Watershed Lands Stewardship Council
Stephen & Hope Pilch
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Robina & John Riccitiello
San Francisco 49ers Foundation
San Francisco State University
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silver Giving Foundation
Kimberlee Swig
Patrick and Marney Tenney
Steve & Anita Westly Foundation
Caroline Wood & Seymour Kaufman
Key Staff
Alec L. Lee, Jr., Executive Director
Laura Foulke, Director of Development