Educating Students Together, Inc.
Opening the doors of college opportunity since 1987
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
According to the Pew Charitable Trust, when foster youth leave high school and do not enroll in college, within two to four years, many experience unemployment, go on public assistance, battle homelessness, or become involved in the criminal justice system. The outcomes for foster youth who do attend college are equally as direr. Less than 3% of former foster youth ever graduate from college without the support of a warm and caring individual. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, colleges and universities continue to struggle to graduate low-income students. While 66% of the wealthiest students complete their studies and graduate, only 16% of low-income students graduate from college.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
College application assistance
We guide students through all stages of the college application process.
Where we work
Awards
Biddy Mason Award for Leadership 2019
LACCD Black Faculty & Staff Association
Community Service 2017
College of Alameda
Scholarship Honoree 2016
Bridge Builders Foundation
Community Honoree 2016
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority
Tribute to Black Women Community Leaders 1995
National Council of Negro Women
Affiliations & memberships
Southern California College Access Program Network 2020
Black Equity Collective 2020
Give Blck 2020
Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce 2018
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Students who enroll in college after the tour.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Working to transition foster-youth out of the foster care system into college.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
While less than 1% of high school students ever receive a full-ride scholarship (i.e., tuition, housing, books, transportation, and supplies), 25% of EST's College Access Program participants received one. Our goals are to not only improve the percentage of students who apply to highly selective or selective colleges and find the money to pay for it but we also work on the following sub-set of goals.
1) 60 students will consistently participate in and complete the program.
2) 80% of students who complete the program will attain an average or above-average score on their ACT.
3) 80% of all program participants will be accepted to and enroll in a four-year college.
4) 80% will remain in touch with their mentor and report having a strong network of support they can reach out to when they need help.
5) At least 60% of students complete a degree within six years.
6) 100% will complete their financial aid modules, ensuring that they will make sound financial decisions in the future.
Our internal evaluation process includes gathering baseline data during student intake, tracking the services delivered to each student, surveying students and parents, collecting college acceptance and enrollment data, and tracking students through their college career. Projected outcomes are based on past program performance.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
College Counseling and Preparation. We begin working with students as soon as they enter our program to ensure that they are completing and passing the A-G courses (classes required for college entrance). Next, we help them identify colleges that will best suit them, even offering fully funded tours of colleges across the country. We guide them through their college essays and applications and assist them in developing a brag sheet to help their teachers and counselors write strong letters of recommendation. Tutoring is provided to students in need of additional academic support and all our students participate in a 12-week ACT prep course to help them achieve the highest score possible. (The ACT is a standardized test comparable to the SAT but, is widely considered to be a more equitable testing instrument for students of color.) High ACT scores are critical to both the college admissions and scholarship application processes if students are interested in full-ride (tuition, housing, books, and supplies) scholarships. Wi-fi hotspots are provided on an as-needed basis to ensure students can consistently participate. Before we begin class, we check in with every student to assess their social and emotional well-being by anonymously asking them if they are feeling high or low. We follow up with students who mark words like “depressed, glum, down, lonely, or miserable.”
Mentoring and Networks of Support. Monthly mentoring sessions begin during students’ first days with the program and continue all the way through college. This year we are adding a summer peer mentoring component, connecting high school seniors with college students from our program, expanding their network of peer support. Research shows that mentorship is a highly effective non-academic strategy to support the success of foster youth and it is considered a best practice. The strong bonds that our students and mentors develop facilitate trust and open communication. Students know that they don’t need to wait for the next mentoring session, they can reach out to their mentor whenever they need help. Once a student has started college, their mentor will help them navigate campus resources, connect with other EST students on campus or at other nearby schools, and guide them in the development of a positive, supportive network on campus. Our students know they are never alone.
Financial Coaching and Support. As early as their junior year of high school, our counselors help students identify and apply for scholarships to help pay for college. This year, we launched Scholarship Club, which engages parents/guardians of our students in the process of helping to research and identify scholarships. The first Sunday of every month, we host a meeting of the Scholarship Club. The only rule is that each person has to bring at least two new scholarships to share with the group. We also help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The internal resources that we have for meeting our goals include dedicated staff and board members (N=15) who are primarily higher education professors or former college administrators, and a cadre of experts who volunteer (N=50) to assist our program participants in the area of writing college and scholarship essays to stand out from the crowd, standardized test preparation, and mentoring. The external resources that we have include strong community partnerships. Our partners include:
County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services—refer foster youth
L.A. County Office of Education-refer foster youth
L.A.U.S.D. -refer foster and low-income students
San Fernando Valley Advocates-refer students
Village Nation-refer low-income students
United Friends of the Children-invitation to college recruitment event for foster families
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority-provide volunteer mentors
College Path Los Angeles-provide training for the volunteer mentors
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children)-refer foster youth
She Ready (Tiffany Haddish’s Foundation)-refer foster youth
Project Joy -refer foster youth
Youth with a Purpose-refer foster youth
Faith Foster Families Network-we work with this organization through Holman United Methodist Church to recruit foster youth
Southern California College Access Network-hold meetings for 100 nonprofits working in the college planning and access space
Brotherhood Crusade-refer students and donate
Valero Energy Company-sponsor of our ACT prep class
Microsoft- features our program in their annual give event for employees
Sony Pictures Entertainment funds materials needed for summer school
The Gene Hale Foundation-major donor
The Matthew and Roberta Jenkins Foundation-major donor
Bank of America-major donor
Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce-refer students
Walmart -donate
Union Bank-annual donor
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
$2 million in institutional scholarships was awarded to program participants last year with a goal to increase this amount every year.
$100,000 in outside scholarships was awarded to program participants last year with a goal of also increasing this amount every year.
80% of program participants increased their standardized test scores.
5,135 students have been served
350 is the average number of program participants each year.
100% are accepted into four-year colleges.
Alumni work in the fields of medicine, engineering, education, as chemists, research scientists, art historians, etc.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
For students who experience foster care or live in single-parent households, a college education can seem as unreachable as the stars. EST works with two of our nation’s most vulnerable populations for several reasons. We know that if foster youth graduate from high school and do not enroll in college, within two to four years many are unemployed, on public assistance, homeless, or involved in the criminal justice system. We also know that the proportion of black children living in low-income single-parent households has increased exponentially to 55 percent, decreasing their chances of achieving a college education. Target Demographics Foster and low-income (average household income of $40,000 or less) underserved youth from inner-city communities.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand what we should keep or change the following year. , To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We added an ACT prep component to our program. We noticed that many high-performing students did not have the ACT or SAT score to get into selective or highly selective colleges. Low standardized test scores were holding colleges back from offering our students the scholarships that they needed to attend. We hired a student who is a Computer Science Engineer. She reverse-engineered the ACT test (a test that our students do better on than the SAT). She took her own score from a 16 (or 890 on the SAT) to a 32 (or 1460 on the SAT). We believe that adding this component to our program will be a game-changer for our students. This summer students have posted 1520, 1560, and a perfect 1600 on their practice exams. All of our students, except one, were below 1000 when they started.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Educating Students Together, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 08/27/2022
Celeste Wall
Dr. Charlotte Forte-Parnell
Retired administrator/Antelope Valley College
Dr. Mitchell Hamilton
Professor of Marketing/Loyola-Maymount University
Dr. Lance Robert
Professor of Political Science/ Los Angeles Southwest College
Cynthia Barnett
Retired Professor of Sociology/Moorpark College
Chinyarai Hamilton
homemaker
Dr. Yasmin Delahoussaye
Retired college president/Los Angeles Southwest College
Gregory Delahoussaye
President/CEO of Educational Student Tours
Celeste Wall
Board Chair/Educational Student Tours
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/30/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.