Mission Scholars is seeing its founding vision come to life. Six years after launching its college prep program, alumni are returning to Santa Barbara not only to build promising professional careers but to give back as mentors and leaders to the organization that set them on their journey.
“We are seeing the realization of this early vision with a small group of our college graduates who are returning to mentor and inspire our younger scholars, and it has been one of the most rewarding parts of our work,” Mission Scholars Executive Director Cassie Lancaster. “These scholars love this community, and for them, the ultimate goal is to return, afford to live here, thrive as community members, and give back as mentors and leaders. They are the students our community was right to invest in, and this is the return.”
One of the first to embody that vision is Kathy Ramirez, a Gates Scholar from the inaugural Mission Scholars class. After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering at the University of Southern California, she returned home to work for the City of Santa Barbara. Today, she helps design safer sidewalks, bike lanes and road improvements — the very ones her family uses every day…