Updated: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the seed funding for Richmond Promise.
For a decade, every graduating senior in Richmond has had access to a simple but powerful gift: $1,500 a year to continue their education.
The money came from a 2014 agreement between the city and Chevron, the Environmental and Community Investment Agreement (ECIA), which
provided $90 million dollars to the community over 10 years, with $35 million for Richmond Promise. The result? A nonprofit scholarship program that has supported thousands of students.
Richmond Promise, which administers the no-strings-attached scholarships, on Wednesday celebrated its 10th cohort as it seeks new ways to sustain and expand its mission following the planned 2024 cessation of Chevron’s payments. Excited students, proud parents and siblings, and a number of political officials gathered at the Richmond Art Center to welcome this year’s group of about 450 students.
Richmondside spoke to a number of scholarship recipients, who shared what it feels like to have such support as they pursue their higher education dreams.
“I feel very optimistic, and I feel very excited to start a new adventure,” Richmond High senior Alexa Vidaurre said with a big smile on her face.
Vidaurre is pursuing a dual degree in mechanical engineering and business administration from UC Berkeley and said the scholarship will help offset the extra expense of earning a double major. But more than anything, she is excited to build meaningful connections through Richmond Promise that will help prepare and guide her through college.
“Getting to know everybody else who’s had help and meeting other students who are also pursuing their own education at different schools — that connection is going to help me kind of build confidence,” Viduarre said. “And have less imposter syndrome surrounding pursuing that higher degree.”
Scholarship recipients played an interactive bingo game designed to help them meet students from different area high schools.
Jordan Versher, a Pinole Valley High School senior, exchanged information with El Cerrito High School seniors, checking off his bingo card as he celebrated what lies ahead. Versher said the money will help make a dent in his tuition for Morehouse College in Atlanta where he plans to major in biology degree. He hopes to attend medical school and become an anesthesiologist.
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“I made it through my four years. It was hard. I did it. I’m happy. I’m having relief, and I’m excited.”
— Jordan Versher, Pinole Valley High School senior
“It means a lot because it’s a scholarship that’s for the people of Richmond who have been living here for a long time, which is really a really good opportunity,” Versher said. “I made it through my four years. It was hard. I did it. I’m happy. I’m having relief, and I’m excited.”
This year’s cohort is smaller than last year’s but still on par with the average since COVID, with scholarships being awarded to nearly 75% of 600 eligible youths.
“We’re happy with the number,” said Richmond Promise Executive Director Christopher Whitmore. “We’d love to see as many eligible students as possible into our program, if that’s the pathway that they choose for themselves…and we are excited to serve them.”
Richmond Promise has helped 4,200 youths since 2016
Since launching in January 2016, Richmond Promise has awarded scholarships to more than 4,200 students pursuing two- or four-year college degrees or career technical education certificates as long as they met two conditions: proof of residency in Richmond or North Richmond and graduation from a high school within the West Contra Costa Unified School District boundary.
Today, the program serves more than 1,300 scholars who are pursuing associate and bachelor degrees, or career technical education certifications, at more than 200 colleges and universities across the United States. The majority of Richmond Promise scholars identify as people of color, first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds.
The primary source of funding was the $35 million Chevron agreement. But just having money wasn’t enough. Richmond Promise has also worked to create a “college graduating culture” in a school district where many students perform below grade level standards on state benchmark tests. The nonprofit has aimed to make higher education more accessible to all students, regardless of class, race, or even grade point average.
Students in the program receive the money annually, for up to six years, and also have access to mentors, career training workshops and additional support as they navigate higher education. The money is sent directly to the institution’s financial aid office and is used almost exclusively to offset tuition costs.
“We know a lot of folks don’t necessarily think that $1,500 is a lot per year,” Whitmore said. “But for our students, many of whom come from low-income households, $1,500 per year that does not have to come from family savings or from a student’s personal finances can certainly make the difference between whether attending an institution of higher education is a viable option or not — and we have heard that directly from them.”
Unlike many merit-based scholarships, Richmond Promise is not based on GPA or test scores. Its focus is on residency and school district enrollment, making it accessible to a more students, including those who may not have had traditional academic advantages but still want to pursue higher education.
For Chandani Battle, an El Cerrito High School class of 2018 graduate, Richmond Promise helped her navigate a cross country move to earn an economics degree from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Battle had taken all the right steps to be the first in her family to receive a bachelor’s degree. She played tennis for the city of Richmond’s team (which no longer exists), graduated with a 4.6 GPA and applied to and explored a myriad of college scholarship options, many of which she received.
“I left knowing that I would figure it out, but I realized how much of a struggle I was going to have when I got there. I was a little naive in that sense,” Battle said. “So when I did struggle a lot, and I didn’t really know how to move forward, or what opportunities to look for, that’s where Richmond Promise was able to step in and give me an opportunity and a chance to keep the momentum of my education.”
She said Richmond Promise staff members helped her find her first internship, take her first LinkedIn profile headshots and edit her resumes, helping her eventually land a financial analyst position at Goldman Sachs after graduating in 2022.
She worked in finance for two years before deciding to come home and play a more intentional role for her community. She became a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, a two-year rotational program where fellows consult on projects in government, nonprofits, business and political campaigns.
Part of her rotation was working for Richmond Promise.
“I realized that it’s important to give people a reason to want to come back and want to invest in their city,” Battle said. “A city that doesn’t invest in their youth and in their children and in their people — I don’t see why folks would want to be back and be invested in that community. So I do think it’s important to have resources available that are specific to Richmond.”
Richmond Promise launches new intensive career program
Ben Enos, communications director for Richmond Promise, said that is what makes this program and scholarship special. It gives anyone from Richmond the resources to dream bigger because of their community. And the organization is now dreaming bigger as well.
Richmond Promise just launched a program for second year scholarship recipients called RP Leads. It takes a cohort of 10 to 15 students and launches them into an intensive career program.
The organization is also looking at different funding sources to eventually increase the annual scholarship to $2,000 and expand programing.
It will be an uphill battle, however, now that the Chevron payments have ceased. The nonprofit has turned to wealthy organizations and foundations to subsidize and expand operations and is hoping the city of Richmond will be a potential anchor funder for scholarships. The Richmond Promise team gave an overview of their program to the Richmond City Council on Tuesday.
“At the moment in terms of finances, we have a good reserve and we managed our money strategically through the years,” Enos said. “We have individual donors, we have some grant funding. And, similar to most nonprofits in the education sector, we’re always on the lookout for new grants and new funding streams.”
Enos and Whitmore are hopeful for the future but recognize that there are many other barriers to entry for higher education.
Whitmore noted that the organization expected to offer scholarships to more than 500 students this year, but the number dropped to 450, so they are exploring why some students backed out.
He also said that the number of eligible students has also dropped, from 1,000 in previous years to 600. (The WCCUSD and districts statewide have been experiencing declines in enrollment.)
“Our staff, at the beginning of this year with the change of the administration, noted that there were fewer students in response to headlines in Washington,” Whitmore said. “There are fewer students in our school sites who were expressing interest in our workshops, fewer students expressing interest in completing things like the (federal student financial aid) application or the California Dream Act application, fearful that including personal information might have adverse impacts on either themselves or their family.”
He said the other main deterrent for students pursuing higher education are the rising costs, so some students may have moved away.
“I imagine that students are making a decision for themselves: ‘Do I want to go to a four-year institution and make a financial sacrifice for four or five years, or do I want to go work straight out of (high school) and support myself and support my family,’ ” Whitmore said.
Making Waves Academy senior and scholarship recipient Adriana Ponce Mata said she isn’t nervous about going to college after watching her sister go through the Richmond Promise program. Her sister, Andrea Ponce Mata, became the development coordinator for Richmond Promise after graduating from UC Berkeley.
“It makes me feel like, okay, I have the support to go to college,” Adriana Ponce Mata said. “But then also, if I ever kind of get stuck on what to do after college — that’s a big thing for a lot of us — I know that there’s opportunities to come back and to work here and kind of develop myself as a person within my career.”
Mata, who is going to UC Merced, said she would like to return to Richmond after graduation and give back to the community, a sentiment she’s heard from many scholarship recipients.
Outside the Richmond Art Center, Mata held her scholarship certificate proudly as she posed for a picture with her sister. Not far from them were several other families doing the same. In those moments, the promise of a “college-graduating culture” felt real and appeared tangible in every smile, every proud family member, every student ready to take the next step.
